Because our lovely dog gets stressed if we leave her even with other family members when we go on holiday we have decided to drive through France to Spain and/or Mallorca this summer. We plan to hire a very comfortable estate car. There will be three of us and the dog. We have never done this before and would be very grateful for advice or tips.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Knowing nothing about animal immigration laws, I've seen them on ferries including those apparently belonging to long-haul truck drives. Also in highway rest areas.
What I haven't seen, except in very small villages in both France and Spain, is their common appearance in pubs as much as in Britain.
Posted by
1 posts
We took our dog to France and Switzerland in 2009. There were no problems with entry, nobody at CDG even noticed we had a dog, or bothered to look at all the papers we had to carefully prepared. Dogs are normal family members for the French and are expected go with the family. Nor were there problems finding hotels, using public transportation, or with restaurants. Everybody was happy to see our little dog, gave her water, or a treat. Train travel in France was, at that time, E5 for a dog and half fair in Switzerland, nobody looked to see if the dog had a ticket, we didn't bother to buy her one. She was a huge hit at the top of the Jungfraujoch. They don't have mini Aussies there, and everybody wanted a photo with her. Enjoy yourself, you wont regret taking the dog. I would do it again, and again. So many people came up and spoke with us because of the dog, not that I understood what they were saying. The only thing I would worry about is the heat of summer, where to leave the dog when it is hot?
Posted by
London, UK
68 posts
Hi, I just did this with my dog. Make sure that your dog is chipped and has a passport. We took the ferry from Dover to Calais and drove through France. On the motorways in France there are loads of park areas that you can stop and walk to dog. It was great for us as there are signs with a tree so you know it a park area and you come off the motorway, use the loo, and walk the dog. It was great for us as they had these parks so both our kids and the dog could run around. We also found that hotels in France were happy to let our large dog stay. Once you get to Spain there arent parks but there are rest areas that you can stop at to get out and let the dog walk around. But they are far and few. We drove all the way through France, to Madrid and Marbella. It was a long trip and i would say get the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao. The price works out the same. The only reason why we didnt do this is because the ferry didnt have kennel space for the dog. The amount that you spend in Petrol, food, and hotels is the same as the cost of the ferry and at least on the ferry you can relax!!!