Dog Friendly City Guide: Philadelphia, USA

Philadelphia is a city built for walking, and a dog notices that before anyone else. The old grid of Center City is laid out around leafy squares, the brick lanes of Old City run down to the Delaware, and a riverside path follows the Schuylkill. Then, a short drive north of the skyscrapers, the city simply turns into forest: the Wissahickon gorge, with its creek, its wooded trails and Forbidden Drive, the old turnpike that follows the water. Few American cities give a dog this much room, and fewer still put it this close to a good hotel.

Getting There With a Dog

A dog flying into the United States from abroad must meet the rules of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the first question is where it has spent the past six months. If that time has been only in countries the CDC lists as rabies-free or low risk, the dog must be microchipped, at least six months old, and travelling with a receipt for the CDC Dog Import Form, which you fill in online before you fly. Time in any country on the CDC's high-risk list for dog rabies brings more paperwork and stricter checks at the port of entry, so read the CDC's guidance on bringing a dog into the United States well before you book.

Once you are in the city, public transport is limited for a dog. The SEPTA rider questions page explains that a pet may travel only in a sturdy carrier that does not block other riders, which suits a small dog and rules out a large one. Center City is compact enough to cover on foot, and a car makes the Wissahickon a short drive.

Where to Stay

Philadelphia is rich in ranked hotels, and the best of them sit within a few streets of one another around Rittenhouse Square. You can browse all of our ranked dog friendly hotels in Philadelphia, but two hold an A and are the places to start.

The Rittenhouse Hotel, at 210 West Rittenhouse Square, holds an A. It is a five star house of 118 rooms facing straight onto the square, and most of those rooms take dogs, up to two at a time, with no weight limit. A dog bed, bowls and free treats are waiting, dog food can be bought at the hotel, and the staff have been trained to look after canine guests. Dog walking and dog sitting can both be arranged, your dog is welcome in the lounge and the garden, and the square across the street is the easiest morning walk in the city. The dog fee is $150 per stay, with no deposit.

Kimpton Hotel Palomar Philadelphia, at 117 South 17th Street, also holds an A, and it is the generous choice: dogs stay free, with no weight limit and no deposit. Most of its 230 rooms take dogs, a bed, bowls and treats are provided, dog food is on sale, and your dog is welcome in the lounge and on the terrace. A settled dog may be left in the room while you go out, and staff can point you to walks, the nearest being Rittenhouse Square a block away.

Its sister hotel across town, Kimpton Hotel Monaco, at 433 Chestnut Street in Old City, holds a B and is the best base for the historic quarter. Dogs stay free here too, with no weight limit, and most of its 268 rooms take them. A bed, bowls, treats and waste bags are provided, your dog is welcome in the lounge and on the terrace, and it may stay in the room on its own.

Two more ranked hotels sit near Rittenhouse. Hyatt Centric Center City, at 1620 Chancellor Street, holds a C and welcomes dogs in its bar, which is rare; there is a $100 pet fee, a weight limit of 50 lb and room for two dogs, and a dog bed can be reserved ahead. ROOST Midtown, at 111 South 15th Street, also a C, is a set of serviced apartments with no weight limit, a lounge open to dogs, and dog walking and sitting on request, for a fee of $175 to $200 per stay. For a quieter stay beside the woods, the Chestnut Hill Hotel, at 8229 Germantown Avenue, holds a D but sits close to the top of the Wissahickon, with no weight limit, two dogs allowed and a fee of $25 a day per dog, capped at $100 a stay.

Eat and Drink

Good Dog Bar, at 224 South 15th Street, is the name that says it all, and it runs its own dog photo contest. The bar welcomes well behaved, leashed dogs in its outdoor dining area when the weather allows, and it sits a few streets from the Rittenhouse hotels.

In Northern Liberties, Craft Hall, at 901 North Delaware Avenue, is a refurbished warehouse with a sports bar and a brewery on site, and, as it puts it, something for everyone in the family, including your dog. Only service dogs go inside, but outdoors the hall runs Unleashed, a hybrid dog park and beer garden where your dog can play while you drink, and a Puppy Porch where the two of you can eat together.

Nearby, Love City Brewing, at 1023 Hamilton Street, welcomes leashed dogs at its outdoor tables. The brewery explains that health department rules keep dogs out of the taproom and brewhouse, so plan on sitting outside, and ask your server if your dog needs a water bowl.

The hotels fill the gaps. At the Hyatt Centric, your dog can join you in the bar. At the Palomar and the Monaco, the terrace and the lounge take dogs, which makes an evening drink at your own hotel the easiest plan of all after a long day on foot.

Walks and Parks

The city's rules are short and clear. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation's dog regulations require every dog to be on a leash of six feet or shorter and every owner to clean up, and they allow dogs throughout the parks system except in posted animal-free areas, usually playgrounds, ballfields, spraygrounds, courts and gardens. The same page lists the fenced dog runs where a dog may come off the lead, each looked after by a local volunteer group with its own posted rules.

The Wissahickon Valley Park is the walk to build a trip around. Fairmount Park took in its 1,800 acres in 1868, and today the gorge carries more than 50 miles of rugged trails. The easiest of them is Forbidden Drive, the old Wissahickon Turnpike, which runs beside the creek and is the one route in the park the Friends of the Wissahickon describe as wheelchair accessible, which makes it the gentle choice for an older dog. The Friends of the Wissahickon rules are simple: dogs must be on a lead of no more than six feet at all times. Their visitor questions note that there are several entrances with free parking, and that swimming in the creek is illegal, so keep your dog out of the water.

Rittenhouse Square is the neighbourhood's front garden, a small, tree shaded square of benches and paths that every Rittenhouse hotel treats as its own dog walk. On the river side of Center City, Schuylkill Banks gives you 4.5 miles of trail and 29 acres of open space along the tidal Schuylkill, and the city's Schuylkill River Park dog run, at 25th and Spruce Streets, sits beside it for a run off the lead.

The other fenced runs on the city's list are spread through the neighbourhoods: the Winter Street Greenway at 2100 Winter Street near the Parkway, Mario Lanza Park at 214 Catharine Street in Queen Village, Mitchell Park and Seger Recreation Center at 1000 Lombard Street, Columbus Square at 1200 Wharton Street, Pretzel Park at 4300 Silverwood Street in Manayunk, Lanier Park at 1600 South 29th Street in Grays Ferry, and Black, Coyle and McBride Playground at 2150 East Huntingdon Street.

A Day Out

Start early at the Wissahickon, before the trails fill, with a walk along Forbidden Drive beside the creek. Drive back into town for lunch, then take your dog for a gentle stroll around Rittenhouse Square and a run at the Schuylkill River dog park. As the afternoon cools, head to Northern Liberties and let your dog loose in the dog park at Craft Hall, then finish with a beer at Love City's outdoor tables or a nightcap at Good Dog Bar.

Good to Know

Pack a six foot lead, since that is the longest the city allows, and waste bags for every walk. Playgrounds, ballfields, spraygrounds, courts and gardens are usually posted as animal-free areas, so give them a wide berth. Each dog run is kept by a local volunteer group and has its own rules posted at the gate, so read them before you let your dog off. In the Wissahickon, keep to the trails and out of the creek, and bring water for your dog on a warm day. On SEPTA a dog must ride in a sturdy carrier, and Good Dog Bar, Craft Hall and Love City all keep dogs to their outdoor tables.