One Woman and Her Dog on Holiday

A holiday in Pembrokeshire with a Puppy

This is the first holiday I booked with Poppy (then only 6 months old!) and so we started slowly. There are many websites around for dog-friendly holidays, holiday cottages, B&Bs etc. What the accommodations don’t tell you is that there is often a restriction on the Number – or type – of dog(s) that you are permitted to take with you.

There are numerous websites (see links below) which advertise dog-friendly accommodation (please see links below) so that seemed like a good start!

Requirements: Far enough away that it felt like a real holiday – Pembrokeshire was decided upon – , a beach, long enough for a puppy to run for miles (Poppy had never been on a beach before), but both the beach and the location needed to be dog friendly.

I found a charming Guesthouse , in a small village called Marloes called the Foxdale Guest House, which I booked immediately as it ticked all of the boxes and was situated just a few hundred meters from the sea.

I then looked at the Visit Pembrokeshire website (http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com) to find out what we could do and see during our 3-day stay.

Poppy Chewing Stick on Beach — Poppy (2008-2020) aged 6 months

I was surprised at the number of activities which the area had to offer, to be honest – many of which (e.g. horse riding, scuba diving, windsurfing and climbing) were not open to puppies, of course, but have been noted for the future!

Marloes offers some spectacular scenery, a wide variety of landscapes, some fantastic walks and plenty of birdlife for those interested. It is a very peaceful and tranquil place – so if you are looking for wild nights out this is not the answer!

Marloes is situated within the Pembrokeshire coast National Park.

But the beach was the main attraction for us and Marloes Sands turned out to be one of the finest and cleanest beaches in the country and because my mother and I enjoy looking at places of geological interest, we spent a lot of time scouring the cliffs and beaches, where the geology is breath-taking and there are many fossils to find, corals brachiopods, trilobites and much more. (In theory – I have to admit that we came home with very little in the way of fossil finds, but this was mainly due to us being entertained to the full by a puppy who was having the time of her life!)

Poppy enjoying the sandy beach in Pembrokeshire — Poppy enjoying the sandy beaches in Pembrokeshire

The Guest house was fantastic: clean, roomy, homey and the owners were wonderful with Poppy!

They even had a campsite within their grounds!

Pembrokeshire is a wonderful county, with so much to offer, and I will certainly be returning again to explore the area further with Purl and Bobbin, and maybe even bring home some fossils!