An excerpt from Dog Days Out – things to do

Swim with your dog in a 1930s lido, Penzance, Cornwall 

Built in the year of King George V’s silver jubilee, this popular lido in Penzance – which underwent a multi-million-pound renovation and reopened in 2016 – sits right by the swirling seas and is usually only open to two-legged swimmers. But for one day each October, at the end of the season just before it closes for winter, dogs are invited to dive in alongside their owners for a dip in an historic pool. Don’t expect it to be warm, though, as this pool – unlike the adjacent geothermal pool – isn’t heated and instead enjoys temperatures just one or two degrees higher than the ocean itself. It’s a great day out if you can bear a bracing swim – or if you come packing a wetsuit!  

Ride the rails in South Devon, Devon

Take a trundle along the tracks of the South Devon Railway, where dogs ride for just £1 and you’ll get to watch the bucolic landscapes between Buckfastleigh and Totnes zoom past on this 22km return journey by steam. 

Mess about in boats with Canoe Wild, Kent

Small and medium-sized dogs are welcome in the canoes on Canoe Wild’s trips up and down the Great Stour, just outside Canterbury. You can hire your own by the hour and go for a roaming paddle or join a sunrise or sunset tour that will take you all the way to Grove Ferry. If you’re lucky, you might spot beavers along the way! 

Cook your-self lunch on a coastal foraging expedition, Pembrokeshire    

The Pembrokeshire coastline is a thriving habitat for fascinating flora and fauna – some of which can make a fine foraged lunch in the right hands. Join Dan Moar on his coastal foraging excursions along the southern beaches of the Pembrokeshire National Park and you can help him cook up a storm using seaweed, razor clams, mussels and cockles all found on your walk along the beaches.  

Ride the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway, Cumbria 

On the edge of the Lake District National Park, sandwiched on the coast between the Irish Sea and the fells of Cumbria, Ravenglass is a pretty spectacular location as it is. Exploring it on foot might feel like the obvious thing to do – there’s plenty of exceptional walking here – but going by rail on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway has a special kind of appeal.  

Opened in the 1870s, it was the first public narrow-gauge railway in the country and is now one of the longest-surviving, too. Departing from the main station at Ravenglass, it travels 11km inland to Dalegarth, passing the coastal estuary and trundling through native woodland that’s home to red squirrels and buzzards. You could hop off for a wander along one of the request stops – buy the guide by Alfred Wainwright from the gift shop before you board – or just head directly to Dalegarth for a tea stop at the dog-friendly cafe. 

Go in search of eagles on Skye, Isle of Skye

On the Isle of Skye’s west coast lies the waters of Loch Harport, protected by a smattering of small islands and coastal headland. This sea loch has some spectacular scenery, with the Cuillin Ridge visible in the distance on a clear day. But it’s not just fine views you’ll come for, as here live not one, but two pairs of white-tailed eagles. They got here thanks to a reintroduction programme that began in 1975 on the Isle of Rum, around 25km south of Loch Harport. Since then, hundreds of pairs of breeding birds of prey have made the west coast of Scotland their home, and you can spot them and even feed them on boat trips with Wild Skye.  

Go seal watching safely, Norfolk 

By far the safest way to see Norfolk’s enormous seal colonies each winter is by boat. Bring your binoculars and jump on board Beans Boats, which cruise around to Blakeney Point in North Norfolk, where thousands of these blubbery creatures flop about on the sand.  

Take a walking tour of hull’s best pubs, Yorkshire  

There may be no other Hull resident with a passion for his home town like Paul Schofield, and it especially shines through on his pub walks. Whether or not it’s anything to do with the local ale he imbibes is beside the point: this man is a font of Hull knowledge and he delivers it with the gusto of a Labrador in a steakhouse. Book a private pub tour and learn the quirks of Hull’s old town streets – including the story behind the Land of Green Ginger and the smallest window in Britain – while stopping in some of its oldest drinking houses. 

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Written by
Lottie Gross

Lottie has spent four years finding the best dog-friendly places in the UK and around Europe with her dogs and putting them into books and articles for Bradt Guides, The Telegraph and The Times. Arty, her Manchester Terrier, is refined creature who prefers the finer things in life, while Lottie is a keen walker in any weather, much to her dog’s dismay.