I’m currently on a as sit and I’ve found literally my favourite ever dog-friendly cafe.
It’s called The Orchard Tea Gardens in Grantchester, a very quaint village just outside Cambridge and about an hour from London.
It has tables and chairs amongst the apple trees and serves the most delicious coffee and they welcome dogs with open arms. They even serve fresh apple juice fresh from the orchard itself.
Well worth a visit if you’re ever in this neck of the woods. My photos don’t do this is stunning place justice. Would love to hear of any of your recommendations of dog-friendly places. What a gem this place is!
In the U.K., including Scotland, I’ve been able to take my sit dogs on hop on, hop off tour buses, on a river cruise, on a ferry, onto a Ferris wheel and into many pubs, cafes and restaurants. That meant I was with some dogs the whole duration of our sit, because I never left them at home alone. With groceries, I ordered delivery.
In the U.S., where I live, some parts are more dog friendly than others. It’s usually pretty easy to check online. My husband and I’ve taken our dog to many places where we live and when we travel by car or RV, including lots of cross-country. Like a whiskey distillery even offered to let us bring our dog into their dining room, which we hadn’t expected. But overall, the U.K. has us beat for dog friendliness. I think it’s because it has a history of hunting and dogs in pubs, dogs in much of life.
It is a really great place for walking dogs. I’ve got a couple of regular dogs that I look after in this part of the world. One in Grantchester and one in Newnham in Cambridge. We’ve walked through the meadows along the river
many a time and I absolutely love it here. It’s definitely one of my happy places even though I know that sounds cheesy. The sunsets here are spectacular too.
All the way back in September 2017,my friends and I and their dogs went for a long walk starting from the small village of Buscot in Oxfordshire, England. Benji did his usual trick of finding something especially smelly to roll in, and had a small collection of flies following him for the rest of the walk - he absolutely stunk!
On finishing our walk back in Buscot, we really fancied a hot drink and a piece of cake. Buscot Tea Rooms looked lovely, and they did have a garden, but the tables and chairs were very wet as it had rained. We asked if it was OK to sit in the garden, and they were initially reluctant to let us in case it was slippy, and were very happy to welcome the dogs inside. We explained Benji’s fondness for rolling in fox poo and assured them that they would definitely not want him in their lovely indoor seating area! They said we could sit in the garden and came out to dry the seats.
The owner then returned with a hosepipe and offered to wash Benji for us while we enjoyed our tea and cake! What fantastic service!
I know Buscot Tea Rooms well @Debbie. It’s a favourite of mine since first visiting the UK as friends lived in Buscot. Didn’t visit this year though as our friends have moved a little further away. Lovely area for dog walking too.
If anyone sits in the Portland, Oregon, area, I recommend Broder Söder, which serves Scandinavian brunch.
There are several locations and to me the best one is located in Southwest Portland, at Nordia House, which is a cultural center with walkable grounds and Nordic attractions, such as a giant troll. At that location, they offer outdoor seating and welcome dogs during part of the year, when the weather is nice.
Generally, the Portland area is more dog friendly than various other parts of the U.S.
BTW, the photos I posted are of the grounds and attractions, not the restaurant or cultural center — those are of modern Scandinavian design. I didn’t take photos of them, but you can see them on the website if you like.
For folks who aren’t familiar: Many Scandinavians settled in the U.S. Pacific Northwest generations ago. That’s the connection.
If you’re interested in U.S. history, Colonial Williamsburg in the Southern state of Virginia is an amazing place to visit.
It’s 301 acres of living history — you can walk through a “town” full of historic or historically accurate buildings, gardens, etc. The re-enactors are highly trained in history, so you can ask all sorts of questions. You can board ships of that era, visit an encampment and battlefield, as if in colonial days, and much more.
Dogs are welcome to walk with you throughout much of the grounds. They just can’t go into the buildings. They also can ride with you on a carriage if you hire one for a brief ride across the grounds.
If you bring a dog, it helps to go as a couple or more, because then one of you can wait outside with the dog while the other(s) visit the buildings, taking turns.
If you go during holiday season, various buildings will be decorated.
No matter when you go, it’s picturesque. It’s historical, not like Disney-like.
And besides Colonial Williamsburg, that area has other historical attractions. You could easily spend a lot of time in the area, soaking up endless history, if you’re into that.
At both 2022 London meetups Flynn Hayes came along - train to and from Victoria for the first and train to and from Charing Cross for the second. Flynn even got to ride the bus to Charing Cross station as he was pretty tired from his day. (Of course with permission of his family.)
