Northumberland gives a walker two very different counties to choose between, and this list is lopsided in favour of one of them. Seven of the twelve cottages are in Seahouses, every one of them under half a mile from the coastal walk that runs out of the harbour, and an eighth sits on the coastal path at Bamburgh. Embleton adds a ninth, a mile from its bay. The other three face inland: an 1892 country house in Alnwick near the River Aln, a stone cottage at Harbottle below its crags, and a single storey house at Alwinton where a Coquetdale route is 0.1 miles from its gate, the shortest door to walk distance on this page.
What the twelve share matters more to a dog owner than where they sit. Each one has outdoor space its owners call enclosed, each states how many dogs it takes, and each lies within a mile of a route listed on the Wildpack map. The allowance runs from a single dog at Cove Cottage to four at Ravenslaw House. Half of them have a real fire or stove, and all twelve list a pub inside a mile. The result is a week in which the car can stay parked for most mornings, because the first walk of the day begins at the garden gate.
Ravenslaw House, Alnwick
Ravenslaw House is the outlier in this guide, a five star house built in 1892 for eighteen guests, which once belonged to William Hardy, the fishing tackle maker. Nine bedrooms each carry their own en suite, and three of them are on the ground floor. Downstairs there is a lounge with an open fire, a dining room with a second one, a conservatory and a reading room, while the sheltered patio holds a hot tub and a four seater sauna. A gate opens into the enclosed garden.
A riverside route, Alnwick Pastures and River Aln, sets off 0.8 miles away, and the town itself, with its castle, the Alnwick Garden and a vast second hand bookshop, is close enough to reach on foot. For a day on the sand, Alnmouth Beach lies a 3.4 mile drive south. The concession is arithmetic. Four dogs is the largest allowance here, but shared between eighteen guests it still leaves most households in a big party bringing only one.
- Sleeps: 18
- Dogs welcome: 4
- Nearest walk: Alnwick Pastures and River Aln Walk, 0.8 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, through a gate from the house
- Best for: A large family gathering with four dogs that wants a riverside stroll and a castle town in one
Tapestry Cottage, Harbottle
Tapestry Cottage is a detached stone house in a quiet village with open countryside around it and a number of walks leaving straight from the property. Six people sleep upstairs in three bedrooms, one with a free standing bath, and the lounge stove comes with a starter supply of logs and kindling. The garden is enclosed, with a patio and barbecue, a covered veranda, and a fire pit beside a chimenea for evenings under the dark skies.
Harbottle's Crags and Drake Stone route is 0.8 miles away, the most obviously upland route in the guide, and Rothbury is nearby for cafes and independent shops. A pub is within walking distance. What it cannot offer, though, is the coast: the nearest dog beach on our map, Alnmouth, is 19.8 miles away, so anyone hoping to mix sand into the week should book a house further down the list.
- Sleeps: 6
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Harbottle Crags and Drake Stone Walk, 0.8 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with a veranda, chimenea and fire pit
- Best for: A hill walking family of six who are happy to leave the beach for another trip
Wellmeadows Cottage, Seahouses
Wellmeadows Cottage takes three dogs, which is unusual for a village house of this size, and six guests across three bedrooms. The lounge at the front keeps a real open fire. Kitchen and dining space lead into a conservatory with French doors to a south facing enclosed garden, and up three steps at the far end of that garden is a summer house fitted out as a games room with snooker, table football, air hockey and darts.
The coastal walk from the Farne Islands ferry starts 0.4 miles from the door, and the owners describe the stretch south to Beadnell as about 2 miles of dune, links and low rock, with a choice of the path along the top or the sand below. Most walkers go out on one and come back on the other. The sand only works when the tide allows, though, so a dog that prefers the beach will need its walks timed around the tables.
- Sleeps: 6
- Dogs welcome: 3
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.4 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, south facing, with a games room summer house
- Best for: Two families or one with teenagers, bringing three dogs and wanting something to do after dark
Jess's Hideaway, Seahouses
Jess's Hideaway is a ground floor apartment in the middle of Seahouses for four people and two dogs, with everything on the one floor. The open plan room is bright, the kitchen has a breakfast bar, and the bunk room, a double with a single above, has French doors straight onto the fully enclosed garden. Out there, a raised and covered deck has seating and a dining table, and a pergola with a chimenea gives the evenings a focus.
This house and Harbourmaster Cottage share the shortest coastal distances in the guide. The coast walk from the ferry quay is 0.2 miles away and Seahouses North Beach 0.1 miles, and boats leave the harbour for the puffins and seals of the Farnes. The fire is the caveat. It is an LED electric unit styled as a wood burner, so this is a base for the beach rather than for a fireside winter week.
- Sleeps: 4
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.2 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with a covered deck and pergola
- Best for: A small family with two dogs who want the harbour, the sand and the chip shop all on foot
Cockle Cottage - Seahouses
Cockle Cottage sits in a quieter corner of Seahouses and sleeps four in two bedrooms with light nautical touches, a king size with an en suite walk in shower and a twin. A hallway with a cloakroom leads to an open plan lounge and dining room arranged around an electric fire in the style of a wood burner. At Christmas the owners decorate the house for the season, which suits anyone planning a December week with the dogs.
The Seahouses coastal walk is 0.4 miles off and Seahouses North Beach is 0.3 miles, close enough for a first lap before breakfast, with Bamburgh and its castle reachable for a longer day. The honest limit is the outdoor space. It is a fenced rear patio on two levels with pots and furniture, private and enclosed, but there is no lawn, so a dog that likes to run will have to wait for the beach.
- Sleeps: 4
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.4 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a fenced patio garden on two levels
- Best for: Two couples with two dogs booking the coast over Christmas
Station Cottage, Seahouses
Station Cottage has two lounges for five guests and a large, fully enclosed lawn behind it. One sitting room has a flame effect fire and the other forms part of an open plan lounge and diner stocked with books, games and consoles. The garage holds a pool table, air hockey, darts and table tennis, plus room for bikes, surf gear and golf clubs.
Station Cottage is 0.2 miles from the coastal walk out of the harbour, and the owners point out that the same path leads north to Bamburgh, its castle and the Grace Darling Museum, and south to Beadnell Bay, which makes two full days on foot with the dogs. The catch is in the bedrooms and the fires. Neither heat source is a real one, and the third bedroom is a single, so five works best as a family rather than as adults sharing.
- Sleeps: 5
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.2 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a large lawn with a bench and patio set
- Best for: A family of five with two dogs that need a proper lawn after the coast path
Bridge End Cottage, Alwinton
Bridge End Cottage is all on one level in the hamlet of Alwinton, an older cottage with a new wing built around a glass window wall that looks out over the valley. It is the house in this guide best equipped for wet dogs: a lobby and boot room on the way in, a drying room, and an outside tap for rinsing paws. The lounge has a wood burning stove in a feature fireplace and a shelf of maps for planning the next day.
The Coquetdale: Alwinton to Barrowburn route leaves just 0.1 miles from the house, the closest walk on this page, and the Cheviot Hills, Harbottle Woods and the National Park are all within easy reach. Two things to weigh up. The neighbouring property keeps free range chickens, which the owners mention for exactly the reason you would expect, and the nearest dog beach on our map is 20.4 miles away.
- Sleeps: 5
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Coquetdale: Alwinton to Barrowburn, 0.1 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, large, with a play house and valley views
- Best for: A walking family of five whose dogs are reliable around poultry
Harbourmaster Cottage, Seahouses
Harbourmaster Cottage sits where a peaceful lane runs out in Seahouses, a two bedroom house sleeping four, with a double, a twin and a family bathroom. The lounge has leather seating and a coal effect electric fire, and the kitchen diner has a table big enough for maps as well as supper. The beach, the shops and the pubs are all walkable, so the car can stay parked most of the week.
Like Jess's Hideaway, it is 0.2 miles from the harbour coast walk and 0.1 miles from Seahouses North Beach, and boat trips leave the harbour for the grey seals along the coast. The practical limits are space and parking. The enclosed patio is at the front rather than behind the house, there is off street room for one small car only, and the owners prohibit charging an electric vehicle at the property.
- Sleeps: 4
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.2 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a front patio with outdoor furniture
- Best for: A couple with two dogs arriving in one small car and planning to walk everywhere
Beach House, Bamburgh
Beach House is a Grade II listed cottage sitting right on the coastal path in Bamburgh, a short stroll from the village and close to the castle. The lounge is warmed by a wood burner, the dining room has French doors to the rear garden, and one of the three bedrooms is a ground floor double beside a walk in shower. Out in the enclosed garden there is a patio with a charcoal barbecue, plus a store of windbreaks, body boards and buckets to take down to the sand.
A coastal loop from the castle to Budle Bay starts 0.5 miles from the house, and Bamburgh Beach is the same distance away, its long stretch of sand running below the castle. Budle Bay, at the far end of the loop, is a bird sanctuary. The concession is the allowance: only two dogs for a house that sleeps six, which suits one family better than two.
- Sleeps: 6
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Bamburgh Castle to Budle Bay Coastal Loop, 0.5 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, with a patio and charcoal barbecue
- Best for: One family of six with two dogs who want the castle beach without driving to it
Duck Down Cottage, Embleton
Duck Down Cottage is a two bedroom house in Embleton, a coastal village with a shop, three pub restaurants and a golf course. Inside it is one open plan lounge and dining room, a modern kitchen and a large walk in shower, with two steps up to a double and a twin, both lit by skylights and fitted with blackout blinds. Parking is off road for two cars, and the house sits among the Romantic collection as well as the family one.
The Embleton Bay walk is 0.7 miles away and Embleton Bay beach a mile, and the owners suggest following the shore past the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle to Low Newton by the Sea, where a pub sits beside the beach. Getting into the garden is the drawback, though. It is reached from the back along a shared path and up four steps, so it is not a garden you open the door onto at midnight.
- Sleeps: 4
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Embleton Bay, 0.7 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a raised patio reached by a shared path and steps
- Best for: A couple with two dogs who want Dunstanburgh and a beachside pub at the end of the walk
Cove Cottage - Seahouses
Cove Cottage is a family house close to the centre of Seahouses for five, with the harbour, the beach and the village shops all reachable on foot. The large conservatory has sofas and looks onto the rear garden, which is enclosed and laid to lawn, and there is a second, attractive garden at the front. The master bedroom upstairs has sea views. Membership of The Ocean Club in the village, with a 20 metre indoor pool, can be arranged.
From here the Seahouses coast walk is 0.4 miles and Seahouses North Beach 0.3 miles, with routes on to Bamburgh, Beadnell Bay and the Grace Darling Museum. The limit is a firm one. Only one dog is welcome, the lowest allowance in the guide, so a household with two will have to book one of its Seahouses neighbours instead.
- Sleeps: 5
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.4 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a rear lawn with garden furniture
- Best for: A family of five with one dog and a swimmer who wants a pool on wet days
Ash Lea - Seahouses
Ash Lea was once the home of one of the original Seahouses boat builders, and its refurbishment reused some of the remaining boatyard timber. It sleeps six in three bedrooms, the king en suite. In the lounge are a wood burner and a cushioned window seat, the hallway has hooks and space for boots, and an extension at the back holds a kitchen and diner lit by skylights and wide bifold doors that look over the garden.
Ash Lea sits 0.2 miles from the coast walk by the harbour, and the path north towards Bamburgh keeps the castle in view ahead. Seahouses North Beach is 0.3 miles from the door. The bifold doors open onto a raised deck, and the generous enclosed garden lies four steps below it, built from the old boatyard wood, so a dog that struggles with steps will need lifting down to the lawn.
- Sleeps: 6
- Dogs welcome: 2
- Nearest walk: Farne Islands Ferry to Seahouses Coastal Walk, 0.2 miles
- Enclosed garden: Yes, generous, four steps down from a raised deck
- Best for: Six friends with two agile dogs who want a real fire and the coast path to Bamburgh
Practical Advice for Booking a Northumberland Cottage Near a Walk
Being close to a route is the easy part to check. These are the details worth asking about before you pay a deposit:
- How many dogs, against how many people. Cove Cottage takes one dog, Wellmeadows three and Ravenslaw House four, but Ravenslaw sleeps eighteen. Every other house allows two.
- What the garden really is. Cockle Cottage has a fenced patio on two levels, Harbourmaster Cottage's patio is at the front, and Duck Down's garden is up a shared path and four steps. Station Cottage and Cove Cottage have lawns, and Bridge End's garden is large.
- Whether the fire is real. Half the twelve have a real fire or a stove. Jess's Hideaway, Cockle Cottage, Station Cottage and Harbourmaster Cottage all use electric or flame effect fires.
- Livestock and wildlife. Bridge End's neighbours keep free range chickens, and Budle Bay on the Bamburgh loop is a bird sanctuary.
- Coast or hills. Seahouses, Bamburgh and Embleton put a dog beach within a mile. Harbottle and Alwinton are about 20 miles from the nearest one, which is the price of a valley walk from the gate.
- Parking. Harbourmaster Cottage has off street space for one small car and does not allow electric vehicle charging.
Map of Dog Friendly Cottages Near Walks in Northumberland
Most of the pins crowd onto a few streets of Seahouses, with Beach House a little way north at Bamburgh and Duck Down south at Embleton. The other three sit well inland: Ravenslaw House in Alnwick, and Tapestry Cottage and Bridge End Cottage little more than a mile apart in upper Coquetdale. The routes, beaches and other stays around them can all be found on our interactive map.
12 places on this pageMap these places, and thousands more
The Wildpack Map plots every dog friendly walk, beach, stay and attraction we have listed across the UK. Open it to see what else is within reach in Northumberland, filter by what your dog needs, and get directions to the car park.
What's Nearby?
More for a walking holiday in Northumberland:
- Dog walks on the Northumberland coast: Routes from Bamburgh to Amble for the days you take the car further down the shore.
- Dog walks in Northumberland National Park: The hill country beyond Harbottle and Alwinton, for anyone staying in Coquetdale.
- Dog friendly beaches in Northumberland: Druridge to Bamburgh, with the access rules for each stretch of sand.
- Dog friendly cottages with a log burner in Northumberland: For a winter week when the fire matters more than the walk.
- Dog friendly cottages within a mile of a walk: The same distance test run across the whole of the UK.
To browse all of the county's dog friendly stays, go to Northumberland.
Final Thoughts
Northumberland suits the dog owner who wants the walk to be the holiday and is honest with themselves about whether that walk is sand or hill. Seahouses is the straightforward answer, with seven houses here, a harbour, a beach and a coast path in both directions, and its houses are mostly sized for four to six people with two dogs.
Three dogs and a games room point to Wellmeadows. A family that needs grass should take Station Cottage, and a couple who want the castle beach on the doorstep should look at Beach House. Duck Down is for Dunstanburgh and a pub at Low Newton. Inland, Bridge End is the one for a walking family with wet kit and a steady dog, Tapestry Cottage for the crags, and Ravenslaw House for a gathering big enough to need four dogs and two fires.
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