Pets and hotels

Definately, yes. Not every hotel allows dogs, but many do. If you use a consolidator website like Booking.com, you can query which hotels in the areas you would like to visit allow pets. Usually, you must pay a small surcharge, and doggy isn't allowed in the breakfast room. Dogs are usually not allowed in high-end restaurants, but often welcomed in more casual dining establishments. Waiters will even often bring Fido a bowl of water. However, your little friend can't accompany you through museums, churches and most historic buildings (chateaux and such). I've never traveled with my dog on French rail, but in Germany, dogs travel for the same ticket price as children. However, you can only buy the ticket at the station on the day of travel. If the train is particularly full, they may not sell a "Hund" ticket. A frequent idea you see on this website is that travelers want to meet and connect with the local population. But to be perfectly honest, Pierre and Monique probably aren't sitting there just waiting to hear all the fascinating travel stories Ricknik Bob and Betty from Cleavland would like to share with them. But a friendly, well-behaved dog is a great ice-breaker. My pooch has probably introduced me to far more people in Europe than I could have ever met by myself.

tom thanks so much for the info. i really don't want to leave my pet for the month that i hope to visit.

Since you are planning to fly with your dog to Europe, investigate this thoroughly now. I don't have dogs, but my sister does, and here are some things I've learned by helping her book her flights: You will probably need to get the European chip (it has more digits than the American one). Make SURE your vet puts in the correct one. My sister had to have her dogs "chipped" twice, despite requesting the correct kind the first time. And even though she lives in Washington, DC, her vet had to order the European chip, so you need to allow time for your vet to get one. You will have to get the approved size and kind of carrier. Even though my sister had already flown with her dogs, when she changed airlines, the new airline had different rules, so she had to get a new carrier just for this. You will have to pay an extra fee to carry the dog, and these fees are constantly increasing. There's no way around this, but do include it in your budget (in addition, of course, to chip fees and carrier costs). There are three ways pets can be carried: in the cabin, as "checked baggage," and as "cargo." Avoid the third at all costs. Your dog's size will determine if you can carry it in the cabin or must put it in the hold. Flights have limits on how many pets they will carry, so get your reservation in early. Since you're coming from Chattanooga, you will have to connect in the US. You will need to do some research on what's involved with possible connections. Airlines have restrictions on when they will allow dogs to travel, based on anticipated temperatures at the airport. Once my sister was going to fly from DC to Moscow through Atlanta, but Delta wouldn't allow it as they deemed it potentially too hot at that time (she ended up going through Frankfurt instead, but that won't work from Chattanooga).

thanks so much for the great information.