Dog friendly holiday in York

Don’t miss

We highly recommend hopping onboard one of the tour buses or boats, we found all of them to be dog friendly. We especially loved the boat tour with City Cruises York Boat, where we could relax and see York from a different perspective.

Where we stayed

We found a fabulous little Victorian terraced house on Alma Road in Fishergate, just south of the city centre, next to the River Ouse and Millennium Fields, and only a 20 minute walk into the heart of the city.

The house was cute, bright and homely, and had everything we needed, including being a short walk away from the shops, but the best thing was walking to the river every morning, which was very picturesque with the autumn trees reflected in the water. Bella loved running around and exploring the nearby parks and meadows which sit along the river.

Dog friendly places to eat & drink

We absolutely loved our brunch at Robinsons Cafe, which is located on the popular, independent high street Bishopthorpe Road. We did have to sit outside as dogs are not allowed inside, but we braved the chilly weather and enjoyed our delicious sweetcorn fritters with poached eggs and halloumi.

We highly recommend visiting Spark in York city centre – a cluster of upcycled shipping containers, housing a collection of awesome little restaurants, centred around a communal seating area of benches with heating lamps. The whole place is dog friendly and you can pick from a great variety of food and drinks from any of the restaurants on your phone.

Dog friendly attractions

We were delighted when we found out we could take our dog, Bella, on York City Sightseeing Bus Tour. Fortunately, we were there in the week and it was super quiet, meaning we had the whole of the bottom deck to ourselves. It was so much fun and a great way to learn the history of York. We would highly recommend it!

Sheltering from the rain, we also decided to hop aboard City Cruises York Boat, where Bella was allowed on the lower and top deck. You could buy drinks on board and relax whilst you travel up and down the River Ouse. It was brilliant and provided a unique view of the city.

York Minster is a beautiful sight and not to be missed! After weaving your way through the narrow, old streets, you will see the magnificent cathedral towering above you. Built between 1220 and 1472, York Minster is the largest gothic cathedral in northern Europe. We did not go inside as it is not dog friendly, but we love walking around it and watching the stonemasons, who had set up an outdoor workshop, chisel beautiful stone carvings which were replacing old, damaged ones.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan (as I am), you have to visit the Shambles – a group of narrow, cobbled streets with medieval overhanging timber-framed buildings crowded together, which was the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. The street is packed with Harry Potter shops, including The Shop That Must Not Be Named! It’s pretty magical, and lots of the cafes are dog friendly.

We were sad that we could not walk along York City Walls, but it completely understandable they do not allow dogs as it is quite narrow, however, as you walk around the city, you will get a good view of the walls anyway.

Dog walks

We just loved walking along the River Ouse every day, walking to Millennium Fields and Danesmead Meadow, where we complete walk a nice little circular walk. If you walk over the Millennium Bridge, there is also a big field on the other side.

We also explore Rowntree Park, a popular landscaped park with duck ponds, dovecote, play areas, herb garden and cafe. Bella loved it, although we had to keep her on lead because of the many swans, ducks and squirrels!

York Racecourse is quite close to the city centre and is a vast, flat area which your dog will love to run around, especially if they’re feeling energetic!

Good to know

• York is extremely dog friendly, with many people welcoming us and Bella into shops, cafes, markets and pubs as we wandered around the city centre.

• We also travelled to Harrogate, National Trust Cragside and the Northumberland coast with Bella, making sure to stop by Bamburgh Castle which was a highlight for us.