Dog Friendly City Guide: Manchester, England

Manchester is a city of pubs, bars and old warehouses, and a dog fits into it without fuss. The Northern Quarter and Ancoats are a tight grid of independent bars, cafés and pizzerias where a dog under the table is part of the furniture, and the brewery tap tucked into a railway arch under Piccadilly station says dogs welcome on its own sign. Head south and the city opens out into Chorlton and Didsbury, leafy suburbs with big parks, a lake and pubs with beer gardens at the back. The trams take dogs too, so a day can start with brunch in town and end with a walk by the water. This guide is built from our own venue data, the two hotels we have assessed in the city and places that state their welcome for dogs themselves, with every rule checked against the body that sets it.

Getting There With a Dog

Arriving from abroad, your dog has to meet the Great Britain rules set out on the government's bringing your pet to Great Britain pages. It must be microchipped before, or at the same time as, its rabies vaccination, and you must wait at least 21 full days after the first vaccination before travelling. Your vet issues the right pet travel document for the country you are coming from, and a dog must have a tapeworm treatment given no less than 24 hours and no more than five days before you arrive. Pets must come in on an approved route, and getting any of this wrong can mean up to four months in quarantine, so check the route as carefully as the paperwork.

Once you are in the country, the train is the easy way in. Under the National Rail Conditions of Travel, you may take up to two dogs with you free of charge. They must stay on a lead throughout the journey, station included, and they are not allowed on the seats. Piccadilly is the main station, and the taproom at Sureshot is five minutes away on foot.

Getting around is just as simple. Transport for Greater Manchester lets pet dogs travel on Metrolink for free, up to two per passenger, on a lead and under control, and off the seats. That puts the city centre, Chorlton and Didsbury all within a tram ride of one another.

Where to Stay

We have assessed two hotels in the city, and both hold a B rank and meet the Roch Dog Friendly Standard. Hotel Gotham takes dogs in most of its rooms and puts a dog bed, food and water bowls and free treats in place. Your dog can join you in the bar and the lounge, out on the terrace and in the garden, and the review singles out rooftop access as a perk. Staff will arrange a dog walker and point you to local walking routes, and a settled dog may be left in the room while you go out.

INNSiDE Manchester suits larger dogs, because it sets no weight limit. Most rooms take dogs, and a bed, bowls and free treats are laid on. Your dog can come with you to the bar, the lounge, the terrace and the public areas, and the hotel's standout touch is an afternoon tea for dogs. A dog may be left in the room, and it is worth telling reception before you go out.

Eat and Drink

Start in the Northern Quarter. Common on Edge Street is a bar and the home of Nell's Pizza, serving craft beer and cocktails alongside New York style pizza, with DJs and art on the walls, and it welcomes dogs. A few doors away on Oldham Street, The Koffee Pot has been feeding the city breakfast since 1978, and it is a casual place to settle in with a dog for a long brunch.

Walk on into Ancoats, the old mill district. Rudy's Pizza on Cotton Street is the first Rudy's of all, still turning out Neapolitan pizza from its ovens, and it welcomes dogs. Round the corner in Cutting Room Square, Elnecot is a neighbourhood bar and kitchen serving lunch, dinner, brunch on Saturdays and a roast on Sundays, and it welcomes dogs. Back towards the station, Sureshot pours its beers fresh from the brewery next door in an arch under Piccadilly on Sheffield Street. Its own sign reads dogs welcome, it takes card only, and Nell's pizza can be collected from a couple of doors down.

In the centre, Mowgli serves Indian street food inside the Corn Exchange on Exchange Square, and it is a good stop before an evening at the arena. On Peter Street, Albert's Schloss is an Alpine beer hall with breads and pastries baked on site each day, Alpine plates made in house, a long list of European beers and live entertainment seven days a week, and a small dog can join you in the early part of the evening. For a long lunch by the water, go to The Wharf at Castlefield. It is a big canalside pub with cask ales downstairs, a restaurant upstairs and a large terrace over the canal basin, and when you book with a dog the pub will put your table in an area where dogs are welcome.

South of the centre the pace drops. In Chorlton, The Font on Manchester Road serves food until ten alongside cask ales, ciders and cocktails, and welcomes dogs. On Beech Road, the Trevor Arms is a short walk from Turn Moss and has dog friendly areas inside and a cosy beer garden at the back. In Didsbury, Expo Lounge fills a former furniture shop on a corner of Wilmslow Road, with a terrace and big windows that fold right open, and it is open from nine every morning. Further along the same road, Ye Olde Cock is a historic pub with a beer garden, and its owners list it as dog friendly.

Walks and Parks

Manchester City Council publishes the dog rules for each of its parks, and they are short and clear. Heaton Park in the north of the city is the big one, a Green Flag park open from eight in the morning to dusk. Dogs are kept out of the children's play area, the animal centre, the football pitches, Brick Hill and Hill 60, the dairy paddock, the Woodlands café and toilets and the garden centre. They must be on a lead in the western pleasure ground, the farm centre courtyard and in front of the stables café, among the places the council lists. That still leaves a great deal of open parkland for a long walk.

In the south, Chorlton Water Park is a Local Nature Reserve built around a lake. The lake is a flooded gravel pit, dug out when the M60 motorway was built in the 1970s, and today it is ringed by grassland, woodland and a network of accessible paths, open from dawn to dusk. Dogs are kept out of the children's play area and the toilets, and the rest is theirs to share.

In Didsbury, Fletcher Moss Park on Wilmslow Road has been the city's since 1919, when Alderman Fletcher Moss gave the gardens to the people of Manchester. Its botanical gardens, visitors centre, café, tennis courts and toilets are closed to dogs, and dogs go on a lead in the picnic gardens and the seated area of the Top Terrace. The wider park beyond them is open from dawn to dusk.

A Day Out

Give a day to Didsbury. Take the tram south, start with breakfast on the terrace at Expo Lounge, then walk down Wilmslow Road to Fletcher Moss Park for the morning, keeping your dog on its lead through the picnic gardens and away from the botanical gardens. Come back up the road for lunch in the beer garden at Ye Olde Cock. If you have the legs for more, Chorlton is a short tram ride across, and a loop of Chorlton Water Park followed by a drink at the Trevor Arms on Beech Road makes a gentle second half to the day.

Good to Know

Across the city, a council order requires dogs to be on a lead on all roads, pavements, footpaths, alleyways and in cemeteries, and in named parks and picnic areas. It is an offence to take more than four dogs into a public place, to let a dog into an area it is excluded from, such as a play area, or not to pick up after it, and you must put your dog on a lead if an officer asks. The council's page sets out the order, which runs until July 2028. At Hotel Gotham, dogs stay out of the restaurant, there is a 50 lb weight limit and the fee is 35 GBP per stay. At INNSiDE, dogs stay out of the restaurant and the fee is 10 GBP a night. At Albert's Schloss, small, non-barking dogs are allowed until 7pm and not in the restaurant area, so say you are bringing one when you book and they will seat you in a dog friendly area. At The Wharf, dogs sit in the dog friendly areas only, so mention your dog when you book.