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Rhea · User Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 44

Hi All,

We are looking to take a 4 night mid week break in October and would really like to take Bruce with us.

We don't want to keep Bruce in the car too long, so are looking at maybe a max drive of 3-4hrs from kent.

I've had a brief look on the internet for some ideas, prices, availability etc.

As a lot of you lovely RR forum members are clearly more experienced than us at dog friendly holidays etc... i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of a good location with plenty to do for us and lots of adventures for Bruce.

Many Thanks
Rhea

Rigsby · User Joined: 07 May 2008 Posts: 116

Helsbury Park in North Cornwall - we took our 3 dogs there. You wont find anywhere more dog friendly! It has its own 100 acres for walks and is 5 minutes drive from Bodmin Moor and not much further from the beach. Lots of dog friendly pubs nearby too. I think they have now built an indoor swimming pool there (for the humans!). Only down side is the cost but it is brilliant. Smile

ollie&bex · User Joined: 26 Apr 2009 Posts: 168

Have a look on the website cottages4u.co.uk..... all areas in uk covered and they have dog friendly cottages too.... we've been a few times and very reasonably priced!! JX Very Happy

karen · Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:04 pm Post subject:

Have just returned from a fab holiday in Wales booked through them too. Very dog (and child) friendly. Wales was brilliant with a dog, so easy. However, apart from the Gower coast in South Wales, you have to search for dog friendly beeches - there are some, the Knapp (nr Barry) and Newton (nr Porthcawl).

Rigsby · User Joined: 07 May 2008 Posts: 116

Friend of mine has just returned from Spring hill Farm cottages in Northumberland and said the accommodation and scenery were beautiful and masses to do and fabulous beaches for the three dogs - secure garden too. Smile

ollie&bex · User Joined: 26 Apr 2009 Posts: 168

Hi, just noted your location which I didn't look at last time, Dorset coastline is lovely, tends to be stone beaches so not a problem taking dogs on to, just hard on human legs to walk!! Weymouth is nice and you have Chesil beach and the Fleet Lagoon. Lyme Regis is also worth a visit. We have always camped there so can't recommend any cottages but I'm sure they'll be plenty available in the area. Hope this helps, JX

Bud · Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:05 pm Post subject:

we live in Rochester in Kent with our Staffie and in June we took a week of and went round the south coast in a VW camper van...you dont have to look far...Camber sands was the most fun for Bud, Minnis bay, Joss bay all these beaches will be available to dogs after september so no problems there, or if you go b4 its before 10am and after 6pm to walk them on the beach...all the sites we stayed at were dog friendly. we enjoyed it so much we went and bought a campervan and go at weekends when we are not working...Trust me you'll love it

Rhea · User Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 44

Thanks for all the ideas everyone!!! Some great ones!
I knew you were all experts!! Very Happy

Right looks like i'll be surfing the web over the weekend for availability etc...

I'll get the camera ready for some pics of Bruce's first holiday!!! Can't believe we've had him 8 months, where's that time gone??

Thanks again.

Rhea
x

Sharonr - Admin · Site Admin Joined: 05 Feb 2008 Posts: 2610

This website looks quite good too: http://www.petholidayfinder.co.uk/ Wink

_________________
SHARONR - ADMIN

"My sunshine doesn't come from the skies,
It comes from the love in my dog's eyes".

Paul&Annie · User Joined: 21 Dec 2008 Posts: 109

So great to hear that you want to take Bruce on holiday with you, holidays with your dog are the best!

Moss goes all over the country with us and it is surprising how many hotels are happy to accept one dog. Two or more is sometimes more tricky. Even if a hotel website does not advertise that it is happy to have dogs come to stay it is always worth asking as many do, from the independants to the big chains. We find the charges vary from £2.50 a week to £7.50 a night for a dog.

We live in Kent and often go to the New Forest with Moss as we can be there in about three hours. We have tried lots of hotels and guest houses there, but we keep going back to Burley Manor. It has a faded charm but the up side of that is that nobody minds when you come through the front door in your wellies with a bouncy wet dog. Dogs are allowed everywhere except the dining room, which means that they are allowed in the lounge / bar. So when you go to the lounge for afternoon tea after a long walk you find lots of dogs sitting under the coffee tables ready for hoovering duty, so you will be in good company. I prefer the superior rooms, but my friends that we go with say I am too fussy! Even so I would always recommend a room with a view of the deer park. There are grounds for exercising your dog and they provide proper dog poo bins, but if you walk through the village you are in the forest in a couple of minutes and can walk for hours! In the New Forest you do need to bear in mind that there will be horses, donkeys and cattle grazing, but they never take any notice of dogs or people.

www.theburleymanorhotel.co.uk

Do you play golf? The New Forest is unusual in that there are several courses that allow dogs and Moss has spent many happy hours with his lead tied to a golf trolly acting as caddy for Paul. If you want details let me know and I will provide you with the websites.

We saw a lovely dog friendly hoiday cottage in the New Forest on a small caravan site, even though we haven't tried it out yet. It was on a stream with direct walks into the woods. I seem to remember that there were stiles on the woodland paths which are fine for us lifting a Jack Russell, but big dogs often find them difficult to manoeuvre. If you go to

www.english-country-cottages.co.uk

and look up Mill Pool Cottage in Sandleheath you will find more details.

I think that the nicest dog friendly hotel we stayed in was North Cote Manor in North Devon, which is more like four hours drive. It is a lovely hotel with beautiful grounds for exercising your dog. The dog walks directly from the hotel are generally around very quiet lanes and some farm land so are great if your dog doesn't mind being on a lead. Away from the hotel there are Woodlant Trust / Forestry Commision sites and public foot paths for walking too.

www.northcotemanor.co.uk

The best bit of that holiday was a beach a short drive away called Crow Point. It is down a toll road which only costs about £1.50 but you get miles of sandy beach all to yourself. There are lots of beaches and in October you may find that the summer time restrictions on dogs have finished.

If you are thinking of visiting any beach I would recommend www.goodbeachguide.co.uk to check out the dog restrictions before you go.

Norfolk is great for country walks and beaches. We stayed in a lovely dog friendly hotel there in a pretty village, but I wont give you the details of that one as I don't suppose you will like the 4.00am cockerel any more than we did!

Other sites that you may find useful for holidays, days out and travelling are

www.drivingwithdogs.co.uk This gives directions for dog walk stops within 5 minutes of all motorway junctions, which is great for long journeys.

www.doggiepubs.org.uk This is handy when you go to an area that you don't know and want somewhere to stop for lunch with your canine companion.

www.maps4pets.com This has details of dog friendly accomodation all
over the country.

One top tip is that when you book a holiday then go to yellow pages and find the details of the nearest vet. On a trip to Norfolk Moss ate something that he shouldn't (what else in new?) and was so sick he needed an anti-vomiting injection. It can save time if you have a phone number handy.

Happy holidays! Hope you will share Bruce's holiday photos with us.