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Cottages · near a pub

14 dog-friendly cottages within a walk of a pub

Words byRachel Polden

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A walkable pub is one of the most underrated things on a dog holiday. You often can't leave the dog to drive out for dinner, and plenty of restaurants won't have them — so a good dog-friendly pub a short stroll from the cottage means the whole party goes, the dog settles under the table, and the evening sorts itself out. It quietly makes a self-catering week.

These 14 cottages are within a genuine walk of a pub — and we state the real distance on each, from fifty yards to about a mile, because "near a pub" gets stretched to mean a ten-minute drive elsewhere. If it's a drive, it's not here. Grouped by region below.

Lake District

Cornwall

Yorkshire Dales

The walkable-pub test

It sounds like a small thing until you're on a wet Tuesday with a tired dog and nowhere to eat. Three things make a pub genuinely useful from a holiday cottage.

It has to be walkable in the dark and the rain. Fifty yards is a coat-on dash; a mile along an unlit lane with no pavement is a different proposition in November. We give the distance and, where it matters, the nature of the walk, so you can judge it for your dog and the season.

The pub has to take dogs. A walkable pub that won't have the dog inside is no use on a cold night. The ones here are, as far as we could verify, dog-welcoming — but policies are the landlord's and they change, so confirm it. Our guide to dogs in UK pubs covers the rules.

Best of all: the owners run it. A couple of these cottages come with a pub run by the same people — Watendlath and its Pheasant Inn among them — which tends to mean the whole set-up is built around walkers and dogs.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as "near a pub" on this list?
A genuine walk — roughly a mile or less, so you can leave the car and stroll to dinner with the dog. We state the real distance on every card (from fifty yards to about a mile), because "near a pub" is used loosely elsewhere to mean a ten-minute drive. If it's a drive, it's not on this page.
Are the pubs themselves dog-friendly?
Usually — country pubs within walking distance of a holiday cottage are among the most dog-welcoming there are, often with water bowls at the door and dogs allowed in the bar. But a pub's policy is the landlord's to set and can change, so it's worth a quick check. Our guide to dogs in UK pubs explains how the rules work, and our regional pub guides list ones we've verified as properly dog-friendly.
Why does a walkable pub matter on a dog holiday?
Because it solves the evening. With a dog you often can't leave them to drive out for dinner, and many restaurants won't take them — but a good dog-friendly pub a short walk away means you all go, the dog settles under the table, and nobody's left behind or driving. It quietly makes or breaks a self-catering week, which is why it's worth planning around.
Which is the closest of all?
Town End Barn at Satterthwaite, near Coniston — the village pub is fifty yards from the door, which is about as close as it gets. Barnstead at Pooley Bridge is a minute's walk from the Pooley Bridge Inn, and Watendlath's owners actually run the pub five minutes away. Each card states the exact distance.

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About the author

Rachel Polden

Rachel writes about dog-friendly UK travel from mid-Devon, where she lives with two retired racing greyhounds, Fern and Maisie. A former commissioning editor at a travel magazine, she now spends her time pacing coast paths and pub gardens, paying close attention to the small print of who is and isn't actually welcome.