Travelling in Europe with a dog was an amazing experience. We left the UK on 9th March 2022 and took the Eurostar to Belgium. I travelled to a total of 16 countries before I headed back to Thailand. In total I’ve been to Singapore, Thailand, Netherlands, England, Scotland, Belgium, Germany Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Slovenia. Check out what I got up to in each place and my tips below. You will see links to all of my Youtube videos which show the full details of each place I have visited.
Belgium
I spent 5 nights in Belgium, basing myself in Brussels. I stayed at this great pet friendly Air BnB which was right in the city. During my 5 nights I did day trips to Bruges & Antwerp as well as spending time exploring Bruges itself. We mainly spent the time drinking Belgian beer and eating Moules Frites (well the humans did)! Trains in Belgium were super pet friendly and I didn’t get charged a fee once. Belgium was very pet friendly and I went everywhere with my humans. I was even allowed into restaurants where I was allowed to sit on the seats. I had a great time here and would recommend to all of my furfriends.
Germany
We travelled from Brussels to Cologne as our first stop in Germany. Our hotel of choice was the Ibis Cologne Centrum. It was a bit further out of the main centre and stayed here for 2 nights. We then headed further South down to Frankfurt where we stayed at Niu Charly. It was right next to the train station and stayed for another 2 nights. Trains in Germany were also very pet friendly with no fees and I got to sit on the seats (on my blanket). I was also able to go pretty much everywhere with the humans, even indoors in restaurants which was amazing. Germany is really pet friendly.
Switzerland
From Frankfurt we headed into Switzerland to Zurich. Again it was just a short stop for 2 nights as we were primarily making the journey to get down to Sicily. The journey to Zurich was a bit of a nightmare. We had some delays and had to switch trains a couple of times, but that was the only nightmare train journey we had and it actually wasn’t so bad. We stayed at Altstadt Hotel right next to the river. It was a lovely location for exploring the city and the Old Town. Switzerland is renowned for being pet friendly and I wasn’t disappointed. The only place I wasn’t allowed to go inside was Movenpick ice cream shop. Every other shop allowed me in no problems.
From Zurich we took the train to Chur. This would be where we would board an early morning train through the Alps. We therefore only spent 1 night here. We stayed at the Drei Konige hotel. It wasn’t particularly fancy but it did the job for 1 night stay.
The next journey was on the amazing Bernina Express scenic train. The train takes you through the Swiss Alps into Tirano, Italy. The views from the train were breathtaking. Videos and photos just don’t do it justice. The journey took just over 4 hours and was worth every penny.
Italy – Tiarano & Milan
We spent a total of 7 and a half weeks in Italy. We had heard that Italy wasn’t so pet friendly so we were a bit worried. However, we had nothing to worry about at all. We found Italy was super pet friendly. Our first stop was 1 night in Tirano. This was the station at the end of the Bernina Express so we opted to stay 1 night to check out the small town. We stayed at the B&B Corte Rossa next to the train station. It was small and compact with a small balcony which was perfect for a 1 night stay.
The next morning we took a local train from Tirano to Milan. It was a pretty basic train so not the best introduction to Italian trains. But the journey took us past Lake Como which was lovely scenery to look at.
We spent just 1 night in Milan as my humans had already spent a lot of time here on a previous trip. We stayed at B&B Hotel Milano Central Station. As we were only spending 1 night in Milan we wanted to be close to the station for arriving and leaving. It was a lovely little hotel, part of a big chain. Great location and great rooms.
Italy – Napoli
We took the Frecciarossa 1000 train from Milan to Napoli which took around 4.5 hours. As it was a reasonable distance we chose to go in Premium Class. This was a good choice as the seats were much nicer and we got some free snacks. This was the only train that we had any slight issue travelling with a dog. About 2 hours into the journey the conductor came and told me I had to sit on the floor. I’d always sat no the seats on my other journeys, sitting on my blanket. But rules are rules and I spent the next 2.5 hours on the floor. But that didn’t dampen my spirits!
I spent a full 3 weeks in Napoli. Southern Italy was always the aim of my trip so it was nice to spend a decent amount of time in one place. After moving around every couple of days, it did get quite tiring. It felt like we were living out of a suitcase. We stayed at a great Air BnB just off the Piazza Garibaldi which was a great location. It was perfect for all the day trips we did as it was right next to 2 different train stations.
Napoli has quite a bad reputation and most people we spoke to said we needed to be careful. However, we didn’t really ever feel any kind of issues. We of course were a bit more cautious but apart from a few homeless people around the station we felt pretty safe.
We did a few days trips from Napoli to Vomero, Vesuvius, Sorrento, Bagnoli and of course Pompeii. Napoli was a great place to visit all of these places from. We thoroughly enjoyed our 3 week stay here and would definitely come back in the future.
Italy – Palermo
We spent a whole month in Palermo. To be honest, when we booked it we hadn’t realised just how big Sicily was. In hindsight we probably would have split our time between Palermo and other Sicilian cities. However, it means we have plenty of things to do for another time. We still had plenty of things to do in Palermo and the time flew by. There was especially lots of amazing food and drink to try. A a couple of nights was spent in Agrigento and also did a day trip to Cefalu and Bagheria.
We had the most pet friendly Air BnB. The owner was so amazing and I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Palermo.
Spain – Barcelona/Castelldefels
We flew from Palermo to Barcelona with Vueing airlines. Vueling is a great pet friendly airline with a generous weight allowance of 10kg. This is perfect for me as most airlines have a limit of 8kg. As I am about 8kg without a bag, I’d have to chance it otherwise which is a big risk. As we arrived over the weekend accommodation was so expensive in Barcelona. So we booked Aparthotel Centric in Castelldefels. Castelldefels is only about 25 minutes on the train from Barcelona so was still handy. You could get a direct bus from the airport too in less than half an hour.
We did spend 1 day in Barcelona itself which had a pet friendly mall! But the town of Castelldefels was super nice too. On a weekend they had a nice market. There was also a lovely beach to walk down and we met a lovely 13kg Westie named Olaf!
Spain – Reus
After Castelldefels we took the train to Reus, which took about an hour and a half with 1 change. We stayed at a lovely apartment we booked on Air BnB, although the host wasn’t that great and it wasn’t so clean. But the apartment itself was great in a lovely location. We spent 3 nights here just chilling out and taking in the sights. There’s not a huge amount to do here. However, I managed to get my pet passport while I was here which was easy to do.
Spain – Tarragona
It was getting tough to find accommodation at this stage so we ended up booking 2 nights in Tarragona in another Air BnB. The train was only 20 minutes from Reus so was really handy. This one was a lot nicer. It was a ground floor apartment with a nice terrace area. The Old Town was really nice and we tried some local paella.
Spain – Valencia
A 2 hour train ride took us down to Valencia where we spent a week. We had problems getting on the train as they said I needed a ticket even though I was in my bag. I have not paid any ticket or fare on any of the trains I had been on throughout my whole trip so this was a shock to me. It cost €20 for my ticket alone! I also had to be fully enclosed in the bag so I was not happy!
I found Spain in general the least pet friendly place in Europe I’ve been to. Valencia itself was great and the humans got to eat lots of tasty paella. Dogs aren’t really allowed inside many places, which is not so bad in the summer when you can sit outside. But even some places didn’t allow us to sit outside. So we were quite pleased we didn’t have so long in Spain overall.
I had to pay another dog fee on the train on the way back too. First we stopped at Castellon de la Plana. The humans ticket cost €2,70 but I still had to pay €20, what the heck?! Thankfully the conductor couldn’t be bothered with the admin so we ended up not paying. But on the way back to Barcelona for my flight I had to pay the full fee again.
Croatia – Split
We flew with Vueling again from Barcelona to Split. This flight wasn’t so enjoyable as I had to keep my head inside my bag the whole time and I really didn’t like it. The Air BnB we had here was really great. It was in a great location to walk into the Old Town. It was really hot while we were there, many days over 40 degrees so it was a bit tough to do much. We tended to go out more around 6pm when it started to cool down. We did a day trip to Plitvice Lake which was incredible. As it was quite shaded it was the perfect day out. We also went to Krka Waterfalls, which was smaller but a lot busier. My humans also managed to watch Croatia play France as well as go to the Ultra Europe music festival. 6 weeks was great here, although I’d like to come back when it’s a bit cooler to be able to do some more outdoor things.
Road Trip
I did a 3 week road trip through Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and even going through Albania. In Croatia I visited Makarska, Imotski and Dubrovnik. Whilst in Bosnia and Hezegovina we visited Stolac, Ravno, Trebinje, Sarajevo and Banja Luka. In Montenegro I visited Kotor, Virpazar/Skadar Lake & Durmitor National Park. In Albania we stayed in Zogaj. You can read all about this road trip in more detail here.
Croatia – Zagreb
We spent a total of 2 weeks in Zagreb split over 2 different stays. Zagreb is the Capital City of Croatia and we had heard mixed reviews of it so weren’t really sure what to expect. Zagreb had been badly affected by an earthquake a couple of years ago so there was plenty of destruction still plain to see. A lot of people had headed to the coast as it was summer holidays when we were there so the city itself was pretty quiet which was perfect for us. There were lots of parks to visit and we generally just spent the time chilling out and taking daily walks around the city, stopping to eat and drink along the way. It was super pet friendly and I pretty much got to go everywhere with my humans. I really enjoyed both stays here.
Serbia – Novi Sad & Belgrade
We decided to take another road trip and headed into Serbia, my 15th country in total. What surprised us was that Serbia is probably the most dog friendly we’d been to on the whole trip. Our first stop was Novi Sad where we only stayed for 1 night. It was a great little city, with the Fruska Gora National park to explore which was great for a long walk. The food was great too. The best thing is that I could literally go anywhere, even into shops, malls and supermarkets. Everyone loved me wherever I went!
We spent the most time in Belgrade, about 10 days in total, split over 3 different Air BnB’s. So we got to explore different parts of the city. We really loved Belgrade, it seemed to have everything. It had an Old Town as well as the riverside, and again, everywhere was just so pet friendly and accepting of me. I would recommend to anyone wanting to travel with their doggos.
Slovenia – Ljubljana & Lake Bled
We only had limited time in Slovenia as the humans only had 6 days left of their Schengen visa and we had to do my papers in Germany to leave. So we could only spend 1 night in Ljubjana and 1 night in Lake Bled. It was a bit rushed but we got to see the highlights, although would have loved to have stayed here for longer. Ljubjana is a great city with lots going on. Lots of great bars and restaurants to sit at and watch the world go by. Lake Bled is a beautiful lake with a lovely walk all the way around it. I probably preferred the lakes in Croatia over here though, but I still recommend coming here and checking it out.
Germany – Munich
My final stop of my epic 10 month trip was Munich. Of course, no trip to Munich would be complete without sampling the epic Munich beer, the Brauhauses and the incredible food. We had time to sample a few different beer halls as well as the beautiful English Garden (which also had a beer garden ;)) I managed to get my export papers here too ready for my departure. Germany is amazing, it’s so dog friendly, the food and drinks are just amazing and it has something for everyone.
I hope you all enjoyed my wonderful journey around Europe. We really had an amazing time and love that it is so pet friendly compared to Asia. I hope to return again soon and explore many more countries that Europe has to offer 🙂
Woof woof, Wylie x
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If any of my travel tips help, please feel free to leave a small donation which would be greatly appreciated 😊
