Dog friendly weekend in Harrogate
Harrogate is an elegant spa town, with impressive sandstone Victorian buildings, cobbled streets, colourful gardens and hidden walkways lined with independent shops. Famed for its Royal Pump Room where visitors used to 'take the waters' and drink the mineral spring water in the 19th Century. We visited with our dog Bella on our holiday exploring the North, travelling around York, Harrogate and Northumberland.
Don’t miss
We highly recommend visiting Valley Gardens – a stunning 17 acre park that has cafes, Japanese gardens, a boating lake and Sun Pavillion. In summer, band concerts take place on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer.
Where we stayed
Want a little bit of luxury in the town centre, which is incredibly dog friendly? If so, we would highly recommend staying at The West Park Hotel. It was a bit of a last minute booking as our Airbnb sadly did not work out, so we looked around for somewhere a little bit special to make up for it! The West Park Hotel was very welcoming and accommodating, offering us a dog friendly room without hesitation. When we arrived they explained that they now have two dedicated floors with dog friendly rooms because so many people have requested it and do not want to leave their pups at home.
Dogs are allowed everywhere in the hotel, and the bar area of the restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We left Bella in the room whilst we ate downstairs in the evening so she could catch up on her much needed zzz’s. But she joined us for breakfast the next day, where we ate in front of the window in large comfy chairs, reading our newspapers and tucking into a delicious breakfast. It was very relaxing.
The staff were all very friendly to Bella and we loved being just a stone’s throw away from The Stray, an open area of 200 acres of parkland. It was so convenient as it is located directly opposite the hotel.
The hotel does not have any car parking, but the building behind it is a multi-storey car park that isn’t too expensive, so we found it easy to park and walk around to the hotel.
Dog friendly places to eat & drink
We highly recommend The West Park Hotel, where we stayed overnight to eat and drink. The restaurant menu was amazing and the food was divine. We even chatted to the manager after, where he proudly told us that all the food was supplied by local farmers in the North and they even have their own kitchen garden.
Brunch was so good at Hoxton North, we went there twice! We tucked into some avocado, halloumi and poached eggs on toasted sourdough, whilst drinking our tea and coffee, the tea was loose leaf (which I loved), and my husband was incredibly pleased that they served excellent high-quality coffee. The only down side is that dogs were not allowed inside, but we were more than happy to sit outside.
Dog friendly attractions
Free Walking Tour Harrogate allows dogs to accompany you on a tour if they’re well behaved. The tour lasts 1 hour 20 mins by your enthusiastic and entertaining guide Harry. The tour is also suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
We did manage to find some dog friendly shops in Harrogate, including Mountain Warehouse, Sweaty Betty, Trespass, White Stuff, Paperchase, Lush, Joules, Seasalt and Blacks.
Dog walks
The Stray is an open area of 200 acres of parkland in the town, making it perfect for dogs to have a little time out and run around, getting away from the busy streets. Because of its size, The Stray is divided by roads, but it’s very easy to stay clear, and to be honest, we were more concerned about the squirrels who loved dashing around the beautiful old mature trees on the edge of the parkland. Luckily, we managed to avoid them too! There are paved paths through the whole park, making it suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs.
Valley Gardens is an extraordinarily well kept and beautiful English Heritage Grade II Listed gardens situated in regal Low Harrogate. The gardens cover 17 acres, with small pockets of woodland, playparks, crazy golf, boating pool, Japanese garden, pavilion, bandstand and cafes. We particularly loved walking along the Sun Colonnade from the Sun Pavilion, where the lattice roof was covered in vines, allowing dappled sunlight to stream in from above. No wonder so many people chose this as a venue for their wedding. Dogs are allowed off lead, but we kept Bella on her lead as there were a lot of squirrels!
Good to know
• Harrogate is well-positioned place to stay, offering elegant hotels, boutique shops and great places to eat whilst being a great base for venturing to the Yorkshire countryside, which has plenty of brilliant walks.
• A 45 minute drive away lies the city of York, which is also very dog friendly, including plenty of pubs, restaurant and even sight seeing buses!
