Dogs travel well on UK holidays when the accommodation, the walks and the daily routine have all been checked in advance. Most of the trouble owners run into comes from small assumptions, like expecting a pet-friendly cottage to allow a dog to be left alone in it, or the beach at the end of the lane to welcome dogs in August.
The jobs below take an evening to sort out and save a lot of improvising later. They matter more with a young dog, a rescue still settling in, or an older one on daily medication, because those dogs cope least well when the plan changes midweek.
Read the accommodation rules rather than the pet-friendly label
Ask the owner directly how many dogs are allowed, what the charge is per dog or per stay, and which rooms are out of bounds, then get the answers in writing before you pay. Most self-catering properties don’t allow dogs to be left unattended, which rules out day trips to places that won’t take them, so plan around it rather than discovering it midweek. Worth asking as well whether the garden is properly enclosed and where the nearest field or footpath starts.
Pack what the dog already uses
Changing food, feeding times, smells and walking routes all at once is what unsettles most dogs on holiday, so bring the familiar version of each:
- Their usual food, weighed out into daily portions
- Bowls, bedding and a blanket or toy that smells of home
- Medication and any dog supplements given daily, in the original packaging
- Old towels, a spare lead, poo bags and a tick remover
Keep mealtimes and bedtimes roughly where they normally sit, even if your own hours slide, and give the dog somewhere fixed to sleep from the first evening. Dogs that know where their bed is tend to settle much quicker in an unfamiliar house.
Check where dogs can actually go
Coastal councils across England and Wales run seasonal restrictions, usually between May and September, and the list of beaches with summer dog bans is longer than most holidaymakers expect. Look up the specific beach rather than the town, since bans often cover one stretch while a neighbouring cove stays open. Farmland deserves the same attention, because dogs must be kept under close control near livestock and the law on livestock worrying was tightened in 2026. Many gardens, castles and heritage sites also allow dogs in the grounds only.
Sort ID, cover and the journey itself
Update the microchip database with the mobile you’ll actually have with you and add a tag with that number to the collar, which matters far more away from home. Look up the nearest emergency vet and save the number. Cover varies more than owners assume, and pet insurance policies differ on treatment away from home and on kennelling costs if you’re taken ill yourself. For the drive, use a harness or crate, break every couple of hours and never leave the dog in the car.
Sorting these early is the difference between a holiday the dog enjoys and one it merely gets through. Book the place that genuinely suits your dog rather than the one that tolerates it, and the rest of the week usually looks after itself.
