After our very first holiday to Disney World in 2014, we told ourselves that would be our last big holiday as we welcomed Lola into our family when we came home in 2014. Fast forward to 2016, and we were lucky enough to go back to Disney World again which was amazing and was made all the better as we had a great family member look after Lola for us whilst we were away.
We all missed her though and decided that our next holiday would involve her, so to cure my Disney blues I’ve been looking at options for a dog friendly holiday to be able to take Lola with us.
There are actually quite a few options you can take when planning British holidays with dogs, however it has proven to be a challenge in the sense that a little more research has needed to be put in.
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Dog Friendly Holidays Options
There are a few options when planning holidays with dogs ranging from camping, staying in a caravan, hiring a cottage, finding a dog friendly hotel that are available when taking your dog on holiday, but we have to decide which one is right for us.
Related Post – Dog friendly holidays by the beach in the South West UK
Dog Friendly Camping
We haven’t been camping as a family before despite Abby begging us to almost every years. As such we don’t have any camping equipment at the moment, I have been factoring in the cost of purchasing this on top of finding a good camp site to stay in for our first time.
I am not sure this option will be the best decision for us for our first holiday with Lola just in case I hate every minute and want to come home after the first night.
Dog Friendly Caravan Holidays
A caravan stay is a good option, we like staying in caravan parks and getting out and about, so finding a dog friendly one is on the list, and we’ll hope that the caravan isn’t awful as it’s pet friendly. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Related Post – What to take for your dog when staying in a caravan
Dog Friendly Cottages
Likewise renting a cottage is an appealing choice as well. To have the home from home will be a lovely idea, but will it feel like a holiday if we’re swapping our own bricks and mortar for different ones?
If a cottage isn’t quite right for you then perhaps think about a lodge. We stayed at Bath Mill Lodge which is pet friendly, and had everything we needed for a dog friendly holiday.
Dog Friendly Hotels
I know dog friendly hotels exist but I’m not sure about these for us this time around. We have definitely narrowed our choices down to a caravan or a cottage. As I’ve been weighing up the cost difference between the two, a caravan option is coming out a lot cheaper.
Cottages can be very expensive so for this time we have decided to go with the choice of a caravan park and reassess if it’s not up to standard for the next holiday.
Where To Holiday With Your Dog
As we have our choice of venue, there is still a lot more to consider such as the area, and will there be enough to do for us all and the dog. We love walking but we can’t spend all day every day walking so there has to be activities for Abby to be able to do, and also a nice dog friendly pub would be a bonus for us.
I am happy to cook breakfast and have picnic lunches whilst on holiday, but I don’t want to be cooking every meal, so takeaways or good weather and pub gardens are going to be a must.
We are lucky living in the South West to have some great beaches, and we always tend to navigate towards Cornwall or Devon for our holidays. This time around, I’ve been doing some research and we have settled on Somerset, slightly nearer to home for us than Devon or Cornwall but with some great beaches, rock pools, dog friendly pubs and National Trust areas.
Do you have a dog? Do you take them on holiday with you?
My friend takes her dog on holiday, she avoids going abroad and sticks to taking her caravan touring that way the dog can always be with her. If we had a dog I would definitely take it with us, there are so many dog friendly places nowadays.
there are and so many more that we need to see in this country too.