For dog-walkers

Planning a day out with the dog? We've got a huge variety of dog-friendly places for you to explore with your pooch, from the best walking spots to holiday cottages that welcome well-behaved dogs

Visitors on a spring walk at Haresfield Beacon and Standish Wood, Gloucestershire
Visitors walking their dog at Tarn Hows, Cumbria

Best places for dog walking 

We've some fantastic locations and landscapes for you and your four-legged friend to explore and enjoy - here are just a few suggestions.

It's a dog's life

For your four-legged friends...

Dogs in the garden of a holiday cottage on the Holnicote Estate

Dog-friendly holiday cottages 

Many of our places are as mad about dogs as you are, and welcome dogs on leads into their grounds. Plus, over 160 of our holiday cottages welcome well-behaved dogs, so they can join you on your break away.

Two dogs outside the Guardian's entrance to The Workhouse

What your dog can expect 

We're as mad about dogs as you are and many of our places provide facilities for you and your dog, such as shady parking spaces, water for drinking bowls and hitching posts where dogs may be left.

Friends and their dog enjoy food at the Stables cafe at Waddesdon

9 walks with dog-friendly cafés 

After a long stroll in the fresh air with your four-legged friend, it’s nice to have somewhere to sit back and put your feet (or paws) up. We’ve chosen some of our favourite walks with dog-friendly cafés, so you can enjoy getting outside.

Walking in Murlough National Nature Reserve, County Down

Take the lead on dog walking with help from Forthglade 

We've partnered with natural pet food maker Forthglade so you and your dog can get even more out of special places we care for.

Find out how we're working together
Visitors exploring the parkland in autumn at Croome, Worcestershire

All about dogs 

Dog lovers and walkers, you'll find everything you and your pooch need to know about visiting our many dog-friendly places in our round-up of articles.

Dogs at our places
Django the German Wirehaired Pointer eyes up a collection of apples

Dogs of the National Trust 

From Virginia Woolf's spaniels to Biscuit the Staff Morale Officer at The Argory - Dogs of the National Trust reveals the tales (or should that be 'tails'?) of the pooches who have lived and worked at National Trust places past and present, and the people who love them.

Buy your copy
More of a cat person?
Charley the cat outside Claydon House, Buckinghamshire

Meet the cats of the National Trust 

Many of the former residents at our houses were cat lovers and today a number of our places are still home to feline friends. Here are a few of our favourite cats found at our places, from a boisterous Bengal who prowls the gardens at Cotehele to Samson, a mighty Maine Coon at Knightshayes.

Read their stories
Heathland flora in the New Forest, Hampshire

Ticks and Lyme disease 

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks. Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures found in woodland and heath areas. Find out what to do if you're worried about ticks or Lyme disease.

Follow our lead...

Help us keep the countryside a safe, healthy and enjoyable place for you and your dog, other visitors, wildlife and livestock:

  • Keep your dog in sight and under control - use a lead if requested
  • Don't let your dog chase wildlife or farm animals
  • Watch out for local notices. There may be restrictions in woodland or farmland at sensitive times of year, during the lambing season, or between March and the end of July when ground-nesting birds are on eggs or raising their young
  • Please always pick up after your dog. At many of our sites we've dedicated dog bins for you to use

Different restrictions apply at each of our places and at different times of year, so please check before you visit exactly where you and your four-legged friend can roam.