(Advertisement, as various links are included)
You can always go on holiday. A holiday needs to be planned. AND a holiday with a dog needs to be organised. It does – at least a little holiday planning is part of the deal.
That's why I'm writing down my experiences today – how I plan a holiday with a dog and what tips I can pass on to you for the journey.
Where To?
Staying Home or Going Abroad?
To kick off the holiday planning, I first need to decide on the destination for my trip. Are my dog and I staying at home? Or would we rather travel abroad?
If foreign shores are the goal, I need to look into the entry requirements and transit regulations and find out what they mean for me and my dog.
As you can read in our article about the journey to Greece, for example.
I can also highly recommend this website:
Entry/transit requirements on Hunde-Urlaub.net
But as you can read there too – to be absolutely sure which rules currently apply, please do your research in advance and in good time via the relevant embassy.
City? Country? River?
Once the decision about the country has been made, it's time to get into the details. Do we want to go straight into the city, or somewhere near a city, or out into the countryside – ideally near water or up in the mountains with a stay in an alpine hut?
Personal preferences and tastes play a big role here – both the dog's and the human's. Find something that appeals to you and where everyone's needs are met.
Don't forget: willingness to compromise!
When?
What Time of Year?
Great, now we know where we're going – so we can move forward with the holiday planning and think about when we want to travel.
Spring? Summer? Autumn? Or winter?
People with a dog and school-age children are more restricted and "have to" travel during the peak season. Please bear in mind the temperatures during the summer holidays and let that factor into your choice of holiday destination.
If you're travelling "just" with your dog, I can personally highly recommend the shoulder seasons. We're generally not fans of intense heat, so we prefer a holiday in the blooming spring or the golden autumn.
Things are a bit quieter in the off-season too, and you can often find good-value deals from accommodation providers.
What Accommodation?
Now we're getting down to business! Where do you want to stay during your holiday?
Are you interested in a dog hotel? Do you want a regular hotel that accepts and tolerates dogs? Or would you prefer a standalone holiday home, a rustic alpine hut, or a cosy apartment?
My favourite man, Murphy, Archie and I prefer to be self-catering, so we tend to go for holiday homes or apartments. That said, from time to time I'm also happy to be spoilt culinarily in a hotel – which is why we alternate our accommodation types every now and then.
Of course, also so I can share the various impressions and experiences with you ;)
Below you'll find a link list for searching for accommodation. On larger platforms, the advanced search almost always (exceptions not excluded) includes an option to filter by "pets allowed".
Here's where you can find accommodation for your holiday planning:
Of course, you can also ask "Dr. Google" directly and see what he comes up with. The platforms aren't mandatory. I usually do a mix: search on platforms first, then Google myself, and where possible write directly to the properties/landlords/hotels personally.
I like to make direct contact to be on the safe side and to clarify any additional costs for the dog.
What Activities with Your Dog?
What do you want to do with your dog at your holiday destination? Are you "extreme sports enthusiasts", well-trained and eager to climb every mountain together?
Or are you more the water babies who love to grab a shady spot by the lake and regularly cool off in the refreshing water?
Even if you and your dog are "culture lovers", you can explore the local people and places together.
But always be mindful of what is reasonable for your four-legged friend, what they enjoy and what they would choose for themselves.
Finding Sights with Google Maps
Our holiday planning actually starts at home, where I begin by searching for sights using Google Maps – and I've had great experiences with it in terms of ratings and usability.
And by sights I also mean all kinds of natural wonders, national parks and the like – not just tips in cities, in case that's what you assumed.
When it comes to dog-friendliness, you'll need to look that up yourself. You can often already find something in the reviews; if not, visit the website (if there is one) and check there.
Useful tips for Google Maps
When you open Google Maps and zoom in, you can spot "Highlights" (1). Clicking on one opens both a brief preview (2) and a sidebar on the left (3), where you can read the reviews and a whole lot more information.
Creating lists in Google Maps
Note: For the following section you'll need a Gmail account.
To keep track of everything, you can save sights to lists.
Where do you find the highlights of your holiday destination?
When you tap on one of the lists, the following view opens:
(1) In the top left you can see which list you're in.
(2) Below that is the scrollable list of your saved highlights.
(3) On the right, on the map, the teal pins show you where each highlight is located.
You can tap either on the item in the list on the left or on the pin on the map to get the full details.
To get back to the list, tap the 3 lines in the top left:
Finding and creating hiking routes with Outdooractive or Bergfex
We plan most of our hiking routes with Outdooractive. Bergfex is another great option.
With Outdooractive it's also worth creating an account so you can plan routes, build lists and save trails to your wishlist.
You can plan hikes in advance or track them live. I find the advance planning really handy — we know roughly how long a route will take and how much elevation gain to expect.
You can also document everything by adding photos, details, route descriptions, travel info and more. And if you want, you can share the hike with the Outdooractive community.
Where else can you find ideas for things to do with your dog?
If you're staying at a hotel, the most obvious first step is to head to the reception and simply ask. We've already picked up some brilliant tips this way — locals always know what's going on!
You can also try the tourist information office and ask there or browse the leaflets on display.
And of course there are plenty of other search engines you can use too.
Emergency! Vet contacts for every eventuality
Anything can happen — even on holiday. Ever since Archie, our little epilepsy patient, joined the family, I make a point of looking up vets in the area beforehand and saving their contact details.
Even though we always hope we won't need a vet while we're away, we prefer to go by the motto:
Better safe than sorry!
I hope these tips are helpful — and with that, I wish you lots of fun planning your next holiday with your dog!
