I’ve been nipping across the Delaware River Bridge from New Hope for years and have always been intrigued by the shops and restaurants of Lambertville, a small town on the New Jersey side of the river. Settled in 1705, this village was once a vital link for stagecoach and river traffic between Philadelphia and New York. Today, it remains unspoiled by T-shirt shops, tattoo parlors, and that most mysterious of tourist-town plagues, the cat-theme souvenir boutique. There’s a great little bookstore, a microbrewery (River Horse Brewery, 609-397-7776) that offers tours, funky home furnishings stores, and restaurants that feature everything from French cuisine to sushi. My one beef has always been that country-inn aficionados had no place to stay (though Lambertville does have several lovely B&B’s).

Until now. The historic Lambertville House had served as a hotel almost continuously since 1812, but for the past two decades it was a dilapidated eyesore on Lambertville’s main drag. That is, until new owners undertook a massive restoration and renovation, giving the inn a new life as a luxury hotel. Now there are 26 rooms and suites, furnished in antiques and classic reproductions; the inn has been included in the National Register of Historic Places. Features include gas fireplaces, private balconies, and whirlpool tubs. Of course, Lambertville itself is the primary attraction, but the presence of the new, improved Lambertville House finally lets you absorb the town’s history.

Room rates at the Lambertville House range from $159-299 per night; continental breakfast is included. The village has numerous excellent restaurants, from casual to gourmet, within blocks. For information call 888-867-8859; on the Web: www.lambertvillehouse.com.

Is the Inn at Montchanin Village a village, or is it a hotel? Actually, it’s both. The historic 19th-century hamlet, which once housed workers from nearby Du Pont gunpowder plants, has been converted to an inn consisting of 11 buildings. Each of the 26 rooms and suites is exquisitely decorated with antiques, and many feature comforts such as fireplaces, private porches, and whirlpool tubs. Furnishings are elegant Du Pont family relics or area antiques, along with a smattering of contemporary crafts. The inn itself, a project of Missy and Dan Lickle (she’s a Du Pont descendant), is located 10 minutes from urban Wilmington, in the heart of rich Brandywine Valley country. A former blacksmith’s shop has been converted into Krazy Kat’s, an eclectic gourmet restaurant whose New American cuisine is worth the trip alone.

Rates range from $150-325 per night and include a full breakfast for two at Krazy Kat’s. Call 800-COWBIRD; on the Web: www.montchanin.com.

Visiting the Hudson River Valley’s two premier tourist attractions—Kykuit, the grand Rockefeller Estate, and Sunnyside, Washington Irving’s gracious home—really makes a person think. Mostly, a person thinks, “Gosh, I want to live like that.” Now, you can, at least for a holiday, at the Castle at Tarrytown, the former home of a street-paving magnate. This 29-room inn really is a castle—a late-19th/early-20th-century stone manse, part Gothic, part Romanesque, that towers over the Hudson River an hour north of Manhattan. Features include what you might expect in a mansion modeled on Norman fortifications in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland: turrets and parapets, three-foot-thick granite-block walls, and oak-paneled dining rooms. Guest rooms are designed in eclectic styles, like the castle itself, with furnishings representing the Empire, Federal, Georgian, Regency, and Queen Anne periods. Equus, the castle’s four-star restaurant, is a destination for gourmands and guests alike.

Rates range from $175-675 per night, with the highest ticket being the Lismore Suite, located in the turret. A Rockefeller package, which includes two nights lodging, dinner, picnic lunch, and tickets to Kykuit, is available with prices ranging from $770-1,490. Call 914-631-1980.

The Inn at Corolla Lighthouse, opened in 1995, is one of two luxury inns in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. (The Sanderling, located on the oceanfront, is the other.) But when you sleep in Corolla on the Currituck Sound, you awake not to the crashing of waves, but to the seductive lapping of the sound’s waters against the dock. A bonus: sunsets you can watch from your own private deck, where Adirondack chairs include cup holders that are just the right size for a wine glass. Or, you can stroll out to the gazebo on the inn’s private pier, which extends several hundred feet into the sound. Many rooms offer gas fireplaces, double whirlpools, and king-size beds. North Carolinian Brooke Juneau, a guest during a recent stormy weekend, says that although the weather put the kibosh on outdoor activities, it was a “perfect” visit spent strolling between the bed, the bathtub, and an eclectic array of restaurants.

Guests of the inn have full use of the amenities of the surrounding Corolla Light resort community, which includes a private beach, outdoor tennis courts, pools on both the sound and the ocean, and an indoor sports center with tennis courts and an Olympic-size pool.

Better yet, grab one of the inn’s bikes and cycle two blocks up the road to the beach, where you can ride on the hard-packed sand and admire the dunes, the wild horses, and the pounding surf. Beach cycling is a heck of a lot more fun than riding on a boardwalk.

In summer, rates at the 41-room Inn at Corolla Lighthouse range from $129-269 per night; value packages are available. Call 800-215-0772; on the Web: www.outer-banks.com/the-inn/. The inn serves continental breakfast. Numerous restaurants are located in nearby Corolla as well as in Duck, about 15 minutes south.

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