Creative destinations with dog-friendly cottages
Perhaps you want to share a nostalgic return to Windermere with your 4-legged pal? Maybe you’re pining after stick-throwing sessions on the Welsh cliffs? Desiring a rambling escape to the Scottish Highlands? Cue dog-friendly holiday cottages, which provide a pad for you and the pooch in all corners of the UK and beyond. This guide has plenty of inspiring destination choices where you’ll find pet-ready rentals.
Look for cottages with dogs allowed in Scotland
Dogs are bound to love the sheer freedom that comes with a retreat to Scotland. The right to roam across the fells and glens here is a celebrated piece of law that means you’re allowed to cross huge tracts of land without having to worry about restrictions. That also covers your pooch, so long as they are kept under proper control.
The Highlands are a dog’s dream come true
Few wildernesses in the UK can match the sheer vastness of the Scottish Highlands. Peppered with thistle blooms and carved by deep lochs, this is the onetime stomping ground of William Wallace and crew. The town of Aviemore is a great place to aim for. Just steps away is the Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, with falcons in the skies and the sloshing waters of Loch an Eilein, where the flat paths are good for older pooches.
Dog-friendly holiday cottages in Fort William
If you’re keen to conquer the highest peak in Britain, Fort William is the place to go. The well-trodden Pony Track route to the summit is perfect if you’ve got the canine in tow. It’s 10.5 miles in total, with few steep sections that rarely cross sheep-filled fields.
Loch Lomond dog-friendly cottages
If you don’t want to delve too deep into the hinterlands of Scotland, then a trip to the point where the Lowlands meet the Highlands really lends itself to 2- and 3-day cottage breaks. Loch Lomond is right there. Its waterside trails can be easy-going for tired paws, and you’ll always find a pet-friendly pub where a pint and a treat are the order of the day.
Wales has loads of holiday cottages with dogs allowed
If you’re keen to bag dog-friendly cottages by the beach, then Wales’s western haunch of the UK could just be the perfect place to look. A long and winding coastline here packs in all sorts, from salt-scented fishing towns where dolphins dance on the waves to high cliffs and green river estuaries.
Beach-side cottages with dogs in Pembrokeshire
While the beaches in bustling towns like Tenby are off-limits to 4-legged visitors, the 186-mile-long Pembrokeshire Coast Path is sure to have somewhere where your pup can experience the wild waves of the Celtic Sea. In fact, the jewel in the south coast that is Barafundle Bay is totally free-to-enter for barkers, so loose the leash to enjoy the sparkling sands and aquamarine shores there.
Adventure to the Gower Peninsula
A whole medley of dog-friendly cottages lurk on the headland that reaches westwards from Swansea. They offer doorstep access to a designated area of outstanding natural beauty – the first in the whole of the UK, no less. The pup can join on dune-walking excursions around Oxwich Bay, or treks along the castle-topped Penard estuary – just watch out for golfers and wild ponies.
Consider off-radar Ceredigion
More than 60 miles of waymarked trails on the Ceredigion Coast Path connect up all the coves and cottages of this great slab of central-west Wales. The pastel-painted houses in the town of Aberaeron are a real favourite. Leave behind their Georgian facades to hit Cardigan Bay, where you can spot porpoises from the lookouts of Castell Bach.
England and dog-friendly holiday cottages
England is a real jewel to explore with your dog. It’s got all sorts of landscapes ready to be sniffed at, from the wave-lashed coves of Cornwall to the rolling North York Moors.
Dog-friendly cottages in Yorkshire
Yorkshire is positively brimming with things to do with the pooch. Culture-loving hounds can stand proud on the crumbly bulwarks of Helmsley Castle, where you’ll be able to unravel Civil War history between stick throws. Meanwhile, the Pocklington Canal is well-marked and peppered with watering holes – for both beer lovers and bowl drinkers.
A dog-friendly cottage in the Lake District
Ramblers flock to the fells of the Lake District right throughout the year, many with a lead in hand and treats in pocket. 4-legged visitors are made welcome with special dog tickets on the boat cruises across Lake Windermere, not to mention oodles of long-distance hiking paths around the vales by Scafell Pike.
Find holiday cottages with dogs allowed in Cornwall
When the crowds descend on St Ives and Padstow in the summer, consider heading to Cornwall‘s wilder backcountry to treat the hound. It’s covered in large part by Bodmin Moor, where the Stripple stones and tors provide the perfect backdrop for an escape to nature.