Are you looking for a dog friendly holiday to Scotland? If so, then going to the highlands is the perfect option. It has a balance of museums, walking, great food, and beautiful scenery. This staycation was great because we could take the dog with us, and we had the best dog friendly holiday in Scotland. I will tell you about where we stayed, what activities we did, and why we loved it so much.
The first reason we loved this dog friendly holiday to Scotland was the drive. For us, this was 500 miles. You might think the 8 hour drive is a reason NOT to take your dog, but the journey can be part of the holiday if you plan in the right stops along the way. It was the most scenic journey I’ve ever been on.
The first day of our drive took us through Cumbria, then over the border into beautiful Scotland. We decided to stay a night in a dog friendly hotel on the way about 40 minutes outside of Glasgow, called Knockderry Country House Hotel, which I can’t recommend highly enough. Then the second day of our journey took us through Glencoe. We detoured up to Ben Nevis for a 5 mile walk to Steall Falls, then drove cross country past Loch Ness to our lodge.
The journey home we did in one day, and stopped to see the Kelpies, which was free and very dog friendly.
The Holiday Lodge
Kiltarlity Lodges are a collection of about 28 lodges, just outside of a village called Beauly and about 25 minutes drive from Inverness. We originally found the lodges on Airbnb, then found their main website and booked directly through the company who manage the properties, Solid Luxury. They are the perfect base for your dog friendly holiday to Scotland.
We stayed in Breckland Lodge 4, which is one of their newer lodges. This is a 2 person lodge, with a super king bed, ensuite shower room, then open plan living/dining/kitchen area. There are TV’s with streaming services in both the lounge and bedroom. The lodge was spotlessly clean, inside and out. There is an office & site manager on site if you need help with anything who are very friendly.
If you book directly through their website instead of Airbnb, you can see lots of packages you can add to your stay. We added bath robes, and a BBQ package of locally sourced venison sausages and burgers.
The Hot Tub
A hot tub was top of my list of priorities when finding the perfect place to stay for our trip. Nearly every single lodge at Kiltarlity has a hot tub, some are the normal electric ones and some have a 2 person wood fired one. The lodge we booked had a wood fired hot tub. This was my first experience with a wood fired hot tub, and I must admit it was more high maintenance than I anticipated.
Upon arrival there is a fire set up in the log burner next to the hot tub ready for you to light. Plenty of matches, logs and firelighters are ready for the duration of your stay. However it takes a minimum of 3 hours for the hot tub to reach a good temperature, while you add logs every 30 minutes. So it did feel like you couldn’t properly relax as you wanted to ensure the fire was still going.
It also meant we had to take into consideration if we wanted to go out for the day, being back in time to heat up the hot tub later on. It was worth the effort though! Once you are soaking up the amazing view of fields and mountains with a glass of bubbly, it’s definitely worth the effort. It was under cover, so you could use it rain or shine.
Dog Facilities & Walks
The lodge came with a food & water bowl for your dog – make sure to bring everything else you may need! If you’ve never taken your dog on holiday before, you should check out my blog post How to have the best holiday in a dog friendly Airbnb.
Both of the outside decks attached to the lodge are enclosed, but to take your dog to the grass to use the toilet you need to put them on a lead. You can easily do a 20 minute leg stretch walking around the site with your pooch, there are dog poo bins dotted around. There are maps and recommendations in your welcome pack bigger dog walks off the site.
Local activities for your dog friendly holiday to Scotland
When choosing the right location for our dog friendly holiday to Scotland, we wanted to make sure we could do outdoor adventures but also get into Inverness to experience the nightlife. Here are a list of the local attractions that we tried and tested during our stay!
1. Starting Obvious – Dog Walks!
The best walk we did in this area was at the Reelig Glen. This was 5 minutes drive from the lodge. Walking here felt like you were in an old fairytale, with the quiet misty atmosphere, and it has some of the tallest trees in Europe. When you arrive at the carpark, there is clearly signposted 2 walking routes that you can take – we did both of them in about an hour combined.
2. Visit Inverness
On our first trip into Inverness, we took the dog to explore the city. A popular activity is walking alongside the river, and there are plenty of shops and cafes to explore – including the famous Leakeys Bookshop, but we didn’t risk trying to take the dog in there.
For lunch we went to the Black Isle Bar. This dog friendly bar/restaurant serves their own craft beers and homemade woodfired pizzas, which were delicious. It was nice and casual for lunch, and the dog got loads of fuss and attention, particularly from a friendly group of Americans.
The highlight of Inverness was going in for a drink and live music in the evenings. Macgreggors is a popular bar in the centre of Inverness known for their Whisky Tasting Experience and live music. When we visited, a musician called Stuart MacKintosh played the accordion and sang. Stuart also had the crowd on their feet dancing the Gay Gordons, a classic Scottish country dance. There were other local musicians who spontaneously joined in on certain songs, which gave it an open mic night vibe. The experience was everything you would hope for on a Scottish night out. We didn’t take the dog to Macgreggors.
3. Do a Whisky Tasting Experience
There are no shortage of locations to do Whisky tasting experiences in the highlands. I would recommend going for a proper distillery tour if you have time!
The Singletons Distillery in Glen Ord is about 30 minutes drive from Kiltarlity Lodges. I would highly recommend the distillery tour, however you can also just visit to have a drink in their bar without booking. The tour and tasting experience lasted about 1.5 hours. In it, we got taken through the distilling process from start to finish, with a tasting at the end. They give you sample bottles to takeaway, if someone in your party is the designated driver. We did leave the dog at the Lodge for this experience.
4. Visit Culloden Moor
Here is one for the Outlander fans. Culloden Moor is only a 35 minute drive away. It is part of the National Trust for Scotland, and the Moor itself is free and open to the public to walk around, and we saw plenty of dogs there. The museum tour was well worth the money and very educational. A five minute drive away from Culloden Moor is Clava Cairns, a 4000 year old burial site, and the real life inspiration for the standing stones featured in Outlander.
5. Visit Loch Ness
You couldn’t go on this Scottish Highlands adventure without going to try and spot Nessie. We had planned on doing a boat trip on the Loch, however the weather wasn’t on our side. In the end we drove to a view point and walked the dog for a short while. There are plenty of boat tours available, and you can visit Eilean Donan Castle.
There are so many more activities in the local area, particularly lots of walking and outdoor adventures you can have. We had an unforgettable holiday and can’t wait to go back. I hope I’ve convinced you to book your own dog friendly holiday in Scotland for a UK staycation, I promise you won’t regret it!
