Sleepovers are exciting enough – but what if you could stay over at some of the world's most fascinating and fun destinations? From natural history museums and halls of fame to iconic toy stores, we've found 30 places to rest your head – although we doubt you'll want to get any sleep at all. Get VIP access to famous exhibitions and wake up in some of the most unique rooms, surrounded by history.
Sleeping bags at the ready: click or scroll through the gallery for some of the most unexpected sleepover destinations in the world...
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to undertake Operation Secret Slumber at Washington DC's International Spy Museum. Adults and children alike will have after-hours access to the museum’s exhibits, go on espionage missions and get the chance to interrogate a real spy. You’ll get bedtime snacks and breakfast before one last mission and your final debrief.
Baseball-loving families can indulge their love of the sport with Extra Innings Overnights at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, upstate New York. Spend the night amid the artefacts of the sport’s heroes and try the hands-on exhibits before settling down to a baseball movie and a late-night snack.
Follow in Ben Stiller’s footsteps with your own Night at the Museum at New York's American Museum of Natural History, where the 2006 comedy took place. Instead of rubbing shoulders with a starry cast, you’ll be among bats, wolves, dinosaurs and an enormous blue whale. Watch a 3D film and go on a fact-finding fossil mission by torchlight before your evening snack and a night in the halls. A light breakfast is provided when you wake up, too.
Children can surround themselves with history by spending the night near America’s national treasures – the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. The National Archives in Washington DC has various themes for sleepovers, including space travel and a scavenger hunt – and you even get an official archivist making you pancakes for breakfast the following morning.
This massive aircraft carrier was used in WWII against the Japanese, and nowadays the USS Lexington invites children to camp overnight and learn all about the ship’s distinguished past. Kids can roam the 11 levels of the ship on a scavenger hunt, hear ghost stories, watch an IMAX movie and sleep in the crew’s original quarters.
A wild night is in store when you sleep over at LA’s Natural History Museum. The African Mammal Hall and the giant dinosaur exhibits are impressive enough, but they’ll look even more stupendous after dark when you’re allowed to roam on your own. If that whets your appetite, you can do the same among the Ice Age exhibits of La Brea Tar Pits, fewer than eight miles away.
It’s not every day you get to sleep beside a locomotive or a giant heart. But the Franklin Institute’s Camp-In sleepovers offer both children and adults-only groups a night of science shows, hands-on workshops and exclusive tours – not to mention a chance to gaze at the stars from the incredible rooftop observatory.
Spend the night 'Dozin' with the Dinosaurs' at Chicago’s Field Museum and see how science comes alive. Families with kids aged six to 12 are taken behind the scenes by torchlight and even get to play musical instruments from around the world. Once everyone’s tucked up in their sleeping bags, it’s time for after-dark storytelling.
If you're visiting the Capitol Reef National Park, why not spend the night in a covered wagon like a real cowboy? Capitol Reef Resort offers stays in its classic Conestoga Wagons (which are exactly like those you could have seen in the 19th-century Wild West) on its 58-acre resort in Torrey, Utah. Just one mile from the entrance of the national park, you'll bed down under the stars and wake up to stunning Red Cliff views.
The USS Hornet, an aircraft carrier converted into a maritime museum, is moored in Alameda, California. There are two sleepover options available: Night Ops: Live-Aboard Overnight Adventure, where you tour key areas of the ship to see various spaces and systems, discussing the history, science and engineering behind them; or Night Wings: An Aviation Themed Overnight, a chance to meet naval aviators, sit in a cockpit and learn the science behind the principles of flight. Whichever you choose, you'll have fun learning all about the ship and its history.
Liked this? Click on the Follow button above for more great stories from loveEXPLORING
Kids can spend the night in the shadow of the giant T-rex with the Dino Snores exhibit at the Natural History Museum in London. Guided by torchlight, they’ll follow a trail through the museum before joining a dinosaur T-shirt-making workshop. There’s a grown-up version too, with dinner, drinks, live music, comedy and an all-night monster movie marathon.
If a day in the world’s largest captive rainforest isn’t enough, extend your stay close to the Eden Project’s bio-domes by sleeping in the on-site glamping site. You can choose between quirky Airstreams, bell tents or Landpods, and while the site echoes the Eden Project’s eco-friendly ethos, it has all the modern conveniences for a comfortable stay. If you really want to get back to nature, there's wild camping available in the nearby campsite.
Kids will have their own unforgettable toy story to tell after a night in one of London’s oldest toy shops. Book a Hamleys Dream Sleepover (themed to their personal interests) for up to 15 children and they’ll get the run of the seven-floor shop on a VIP tour and treasure hunt. Bedtime milk and cookies, breakfast, entertainment and a luxury goodie bag all combine to make this a fantastically extravagant (and expensive) place for a birthday party.
Deep in the mountains of western Serbia, you'll find the country’s only open-air museum offering a taste of rural 19th-century life in the authentic wooden-tiled houses of Sirogojno’s 'ethno village'. Once everyone leaves, you can enjoy the rustic life in one of the simple wooden cabins – but they’re not so simple that they don’t have kitchens and bathrooms.
They like things a bit kooky at Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art – Mona for short – and that extends to any overnight guests. Once you’ve had a good look around this cutting-edge gallery, spend the night in one of its neighbouring luxury pavilions. Filled with original works of art from the gallery, these six state-of-the-art apartments are a stylish way to soak up contemporary Australian art.
It’s not quite an adventure on the high seas, but a night on HMS Belfast, moored by the Thames in London, will be exciting enough. Aptly named 'Kip in a Ship', this attraction lets school and youth groups of at least 20 youngsters sleep in sailors’ quarters and learn how this immense warship played an important part in the D-Day landings. They’ll hear individual sailors’ stories and get a private tour of the captain’s deck.
Liking this? Click on the Follow button above for more great stories from loveEXPLORING
Walk around the imposing fortress in the Albanian town of Berat and you’ll step back more than two millennia. Berat Castle’s beguiling mix of Byzantine and Ottoman architecture includes a museum, more than 20 Orthodox Christian churches and the Red Mosque. Unlike at most fortresses nowadays, people still live within these walls – and you can too, by staying at the cosy and cute Hotel Klea.
Families can bed down beneath enthralling exhibits during the Science Museum's new 'Astronights' attraction, held throughout the year in London. Inspired by the Turn it Up: The Power of Music exhibition, the evening includes lots of hands-on workshops, shows and activities that delve into the power of music – all rounded off with a delicious breakfast.
Discover Australia’s prehistoric past during nocturnal encounters with crocodiles, fossils and the country’s own native dinosaur, the Muttaburrasaurus. Enjoy a buffet dinner and a screening of Night at the Museum (naturally) before cuddling up to a Stegosaurus. After you’ve had your breakfast on the rooftop cafe overlooking Sydney Harbour, take the time to explore the museum’s special exhibitions.
More than 1,100 years of history await at Warwick Castle, where time flies as you traipse around its turrets, towers and dungeons. If you really want to get into a medieval mood, you can stay the night in a woodland lodge or themed tent. But if that’s not glamorous enough for you, book one of the sumptuous rooms in the 14th-century Caesar’s Tower and revel in its regal splendour.
Delve into Iceland’s past at the Wilderness Center in Egilsstadir, where the museum recreates life in this far-flung eastern part of the country. Better still, sleep in one of the rustic rooms in a wooden farmhouse that’s furnished in rural 19th-century Icelandic style. You’ll also be on hand for hiking and horse-riding tours of this remote landscape. Time your visit for the summer and you can ride in the midnight sun.
Calling all history buffs: join the Colchester Castle team for a sleepover experience like no other. 'Knightzzz At The Museum' (get it?) includes meet and greets with historical characters, a tour of the Castle (including exclusive spaces not normally open to the public) and a late-night hot chocolate, with a light breakfast the next morning.
Wigtown is Scotland's national book town, and The Open Book is just one of the many bookshops you can visit. And after the last customer has perused the shelves, you can even stay the night and get the chance to run this bookshop at the heart of the town’s vibrant community. You can book the stay through Airbnb, tucking yourself away in the self-catering apartment upstairs, plus you can run the bookshop below it for the duration of your stay. Change displays, price books, re-categorise them and live out your bibliophile fantasies.
Fans of Harry Potter will recognise this quaint property as the young wizard's childhood home, Godrick's Hollow. It's nestled in the historic town of Lavenham, Suffolk, which attracts plenty of visitors year-round. Best known by 'Potterheads' as the place where Harry encountered Lord Voldemort for the first time, the house was originally a 14th-century hall house and hunting lodge, owned by the de Vere family, who were extremely wealthy wool traders. You can stay through Airbnb in one of two four-poster en suite bedrooms and experience the special guest sitting room, where you can toast marshmallows over the fire or practise your spells.
Thought to have been Queen Elizabeth ll's favourite location, Balmoral Castle draws thousands of visitors to its beautiful grounds and is where the British Royal Family spent many of their summer holidays. Balmoral Castle was bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852, and was often described by the late Queen Elizabeth as a “paradise in the Highlands”. But did you know you can live like a royal by staying in one of the royal estate's cottages? There are eight to choose from, each with its own charm and facilities.
The Otago Museum has been collecting objects from around the globe for over 150 years (although many are far older than that). From ancient relics to modern scientific discoveries, you can sleep surrounded by these fascinating items. All sleepovers include an education programme from museum staff, hands-on time in the Tūhura Otago Community Trust Science Centre, a night-time gallery activity and a mystery adventure. The museum also offers creative writing sleepovers for senior students who can spend an afternoon, night and morning at the museum, absorbing the surroundings and composing creative masterpieces.
Sri Lankan Expeditions arranges visits and overnight stays with the Vedda, a minority indigenous people who live in the forests of Sri Lanka. They maintain their distinctive cultural identity and traditional lifestyle, living in mud huts, speaking their own language and following unique rituals and customs. You can stay in the remote village of Dambana with them and a guide, even trekking through the jungle to see how the Vedda hunt using handcrafted bows and arrows.
Ever wondered what it would be like to sleep on a trampoline? You can find out at a High Altitude sleepover party (as long as you can bring a minimum of 20 friends along) – they even provide you with a pair of comfy jump socks. Your sleepover begins with an hour of bouncing to your own choice of music at 7pm, then it's dinner time, followed by a hot chocolate before bedtime. Find yourself a trampoline, make yourself cosy for the night and finish off strong with breakfast in the morning and another hour of bouncing (or perhaps the other way around).
Get back to nature via a stay at Cefn Coch Farm in Wales. The owner, Joe Hope, is a farmer and ecologist who runs guided nature walks, and you can also volunteer with The Cambrian Wildwood, a community project, during your stay. Activities include tree planting and using cactus guards to protect saplings. If you're lucky, you'll spot the herd of wild horses that have been introduced to the landscape to encourage biodiversity.
After a day wandering the fascinating exhibits, you can sleep over at the British Museum. Each event has a different historical theme and you'll take part in workshops, activities and storytelling designed to bring the past to life. No matter the theme, however, you'll sleep in the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries, surrounded by kings from the ancient world. After a light breakfast, you get the museum to yourself for a little longer, with an exclusive trail before the general public arrives.
Liked this? Click on the Follow button above for more great stories from loveEXPLORING