You can’t beat that holiday feeling, although there’s nothing worse than having to say goodbye to your beloved pet before you jet off.

With dog ownership skyrocketing during lockdown and the prospect of travel for vaccinated Brits a real prospect later this Summer, many pet owners will be starting to plan their next (or even first) holiday with their dog. Did you know that two million dogs travel on commercial flights each year?

To make things a bit easier, we analysed 50 cities across Europe to find out the best place to take your dog on holiday. Our research looked at the number of pet friendly hotels and restaurants, number of outdoor spaces to walk your dog in, average temperature (because you don’t want a hot dog) and how long it takes to travel by plane.

Here’s what we found:

Paris is the best destination for your dog

Forget a romantic weekend away with your partner, Paris was crowned the best European destination for dogs in our travel index. With a score of 211, its vast array of pet friendly hotels and eateries made the French capital top dog, and with a flight time of only 80 minutes from London Heathrow, it’s one of the easiest major cities to get to on the continent.

Berlin is the second best place to take your dog on holiday

The German capital wasn’t far behind Paris in our index with a score of 211, and although it might not be the number one destination for your dog, it’s still a great option. With an average temperature of 13 degrees C, it’s one of the coolest cities on the list (in more ways than one) so you don’t need to worry about your dog overheating. Like Paris, there’s also lots of accommodation and places to eat alongside your dog.

Rome has the highest number of hotels for hounds, but it only just makes it into the top 10

Despite having more pet friendly hotels than any other city on the list (596), Rome only just made it into the top 10 best destinations for dogs. It’s high average temperature of 21 degrees C and long travel time meant its overall index score was dragged down to 167.

Barcelona is the top Spanish city

Spain has long been a popular destination for many Brits, and our study found that Barcelona is the top Spanish city to take your dog to. It finished 11th on our index with a score of 167 (just behind Rome). Although it only has 62 dog friendly hotels to choose from, it has over 120 parks and outdoor spaces for your canine companion to enjoy.

Limassol, Valletta and Monaco are the worst cities to take your dog on holiday to

The bottom three cities on our list boast only 13 dog friendly hotels between them, while the Cypriot capital doesn’t have a single pet friendly restaurant. All three also have an average temperature above 20 degrees C, which could be too hot for your dog.

The list in full:

City

Number of dog friendly hotels

Dog friendly restaurants

Parks

Average high temperature (degrees C)

Travel time in minutes

Index score

1

Paris, France

351

184

280

16

80

216

2

Berlin, Germany

254

126

87

13

115

211

3

Prague, Czech Republic

195

110

83

13

122

199

4

Milan, Italy

195

295

96

18

121

190

5

Moscow, Russia

183

131

260

9

229

190

6

Hamburg, Germany

163

51

51

13

101

181

7

Krakow, Poland

144

104

81

13

150

175

8

Warsaw, Poland

89

119

56

12

150

172

9

Vienna, Austria

157

86

69

15

140

169

10

Rome, Italy

596

352

129

21

157

167

11

Barcelona, Spain

62

149

131

20

128

167

12

Amsterdam, Netherlands

32

64

58

14

81

163

13

Bordeaux, France

115

45

30

12

102

162

14

Munich, Germany

172

49

27

13

114

160

15

Brussels, Belgium

46

49

33

14

74

153

16

Istanbul, Turkey

213

113

160

19

235

152

17

Madrid, Spain

55

178

73

19

148

150

18

Zurich, Switzerland

66

50

29

14

109

148

19

Venice, Italy

97

49

67

17

140

147

20

Budapest, Hungary

86

118

52

16

153

145

21

Kiev, Ukraine

54

47

71

12

197

141

22

Stockholm, Sweden

48

24

62

10

153

139

23

Lyon, France

60

53

21

17

100

138

24

Helsinki, Finland

39

30

53

9

173

132

25

Oslo, Norway

27

0

65

10

134

132

26

Dublin, Ireland

5

0

77

13

87

129

27

Nice, France

75

38

33

20

126

122

28

Bratislava, Slovakia

52

17

39

15

137

119

29

Copenhagen, Denmark

18

0

50

11

116

118

30

Geneva, Switzerland

39

28

19

15

103

114

31

Tallin, Estona

33

48

30

9

250

112

32

Vilnius, Lithuania

21

31

15

10

136

107

33

Belgrade, Serbia

68

50

20

17

160

105

34

Bern, Switzerland

24

14

12

13

100

105

35

Bruges, Belgium

24

10

12

13

74

104

36

Riga, Latvia

35

22

21

10

160

103

37

Lisbon, Portugal

24

51

56

21

145

101

38

Ljubljana, Slovenia

43

12

16

15

131

97

39

Sofia, Bulgaria

37

25

32

15

188

91

40

Valencia, Spain

16

34

48

20

144

89

41

Zagreb, Croatia

35

9

23

16

139

88

42

Porto, Portugal

22

30

42

19

145

88

43

Tirana, Albania

30

730

10

21

184

82

44

Athens, Greece

42

69

21

22

225

81

45

Reykjavik, Iceland

5

0

23

7

178

80

46

Bucharest, Romania

26

25

35

17

198

76

47

Seville, Spain

26

33

36

24

165

72

48

Monaco, France

7

7

11

20

126

54

49

Valletta, Malta

5

12

4

22

195

22

50

Limassol, Cyprus

1

0

14

20

284

17

Methodology

We analysed five different factors across 50 different European cities.

  • Number of dog friendly hotels (data taken from TripAdvisor)
  • Number of dog friendly restaurants (data taken from TripAdvisor)
  • Parks and nature (data taken from TripAdvisor)
  • Average high temperature (data taken from Holiday Weather)
  • Travel time by plane from London Heathrow (data taken from Trip Advisor)

Each city was given a score between one and 50 for each category, and then ranked by an overall index score out of 250.