Traveller with a dog beside a train The Dog-Friendly Route

Car-free Europe with a big dog

Find out before you fall for the place.

You can spend an evening on a flat, a beach and the walks around it, and then find the one bus that refuses dogs over 10 kg. I check every connection against the operator’s own rule — on your dates, for your dog — before you spend anything. And I tell you straight when a route doesn’t exist.

Confirm my route · €39 Plan my trip · €139

Try the free check first

Travelling between November and March? Trip plans are 20% off: €109.

Where it goes wrong

Trips with a big dog fall apart late, and always on the same things.

The rule is buried.

The region says no; the coastal train says yes. We nearly skipped Nice and Cannes because the ZOU! coaches refuse big dogs — the TER along the coast takes Mia everywhere.

“Dog-friendly” means 8 kg in a bag.

Most guides never say which dogs. The carrier rule and the big-dog rule are different rules, on the same train, and only one of them applies to you.

Possible isn’t practical.

Paris looked fine on paper. Six flights of stairs, a 30 kg dog and a 30 kg suitcase later, it wasn’t — and the bus you’d take instead doesn’t carry a dog her size.

The timetable shows a connection that doesn’t exist.

On Wednesdays the Helgoland ferry leaves an hour later and lands after the last useful train has gone.

What that costs you is evenings. And the places you wrote off that would have been fine.

Two ways I can help

You have a route, or you have dates and a dog.

Route confirmation

€39 one route · two days

You have a route. I make sure it takes your dog — every connection, on your dates, with the people who run the trains. If a rule is vague, I ask them and send you what they said.

  • One route, start to destination, one way or return — any number of connections
  • The dog’s ticket for every connection: what to buy, where, what it costs
  • The connection to protect, and what to do if the plan slips
  • A better way when there is one
  • A travel card to show staff, with the operator’s rule in its own words

Not included: choosing the place, stays, day trips.

Confirm my route

Trip plan

€139 up to three stays · five days

You have dates and a dog. I find the place — or check the one you have in mind — and the whole way there, so nothing falls apart after you’ve fallen for it.

  • Up to three stays, one way or round trip, with route confirmation for every connection
  • Why this place, and why the runners-up lost
  • Two alternatives worth considering: another place that fits, or another way there
  • Where to look for a stay, and how you get around with your dog from the station
  • Day trips and walks with their dog rules

Not included: bookings. Longer tours are quoted separately. Travel between November and March: €109.

Plan my trip

Not sure which one? Send the request anyway — I tell you which it is when I reply.

How it works

Free request, my reply, then the research.

  1. Tell me the tripFree, about five minutes: where from, what you know about where to, when, who is coming — dog included — and whether you already have a route.
  2. I reply within 24 hoursWhich of the two it is, what I already see, and the day it lands. If I can’t research it properly, I say so and it costs you nothing.
  3. You pay, and I start€39 or €139, after I accept and after you know the delivery date.
  4. I check every operator on the wayOn your dates, on their own pages, and I ask them when something is vague — then I send you what they said.
  5. You book it yourselfDirectly with the operators, in the order the plan sets out. Nothing goes through me. If no route works for you and your dog, the fee comes back in full.

What you receive

Four pages you can book from — or a plan for the whole trip.

A timetable shows you a connection. It won’t tell you whether the fourth train takes a 30 kg dog, that the bus you’d fall back on doesn’t, or that her ticket for the regional train can only be bought at a machine. That’s the part I do.

Route confirmation · €39

One decision, then everything to carry it out.

  1. The decision. Both routes accept your dog, or they don’t — and which to take, side by side, with the one thing that could go wrong.
  2. Your journey. Connection by connection: times, the operator’s rule for your dog, the ticket to buy and where, the connection to protect, and what to do if the plan slips.
  3. The other way. The route you sent, or a better one, with its own warning.
  4. The travel card. Detachable: your trains, the operator’s rule in its own words with a translation, and the sentence to say when a member of staff hesitates.

Trip plan · €139

The same, for every connection — plus the trip itself.

Why this place and why the runners-up lost, each stay with its dog rules and the walk from the station, the day trips, and two alternatives. Read a finished plan — my own Schwerin to Esbjerg trip with Mia, exactly as a customer receives it.

  1. Schwerin
  2. Bremerhaven
  3. Helgoland
  4. Büsum
  5. Esbjerg

From the finished plan

One journey, four ways to be close to the water.

The brief was not “get me to Esbjerg”. It was maximum nature, landscapes you cannot see anywhere else, and as much time near water as possible. Bremerhaven brings the working harbour and the tidal Weser. Helgoland brings red cliffs and open sea. Esbjerg slows everything down and opens up the Wadden Sea.

Then there is Büsum, which nobody would choose. On Wednesdays the Helgoland ferry leaves at 17:00 instead of 16:00 and lands after the last useful train has gone. A search engine shows you a connection that does not exist. So the plan stops there on purpose, books the beach hotel in advance, and carries on at 08:54 the next morning.

Your trip shapes the route. One timetable quirk shapes one night of it.

How I work

I don’t guess. Every rule in your plan links to the operator’s own page, with the day I looked. Rules change and staff decide on the day, so I also tell you the two or three things worth a second look when you book — and if something is unclear afterwards, you can ask me.

Good questions

Before you send your trip idea.

Which one do I need?

You already have a route, or the free check gave you one: route confirmation. You have a place or a feeling and dates: trip plan. Unsure: send the request and I tell you which it is when I reply.

Do I need to know where I want to go?

No. A destination is one way in. So is “a quiet week by the sea, somewhere we can get to without a car”. The trip plan recommends the place as well as the route.

Why not just ask an AI or search myself?

You can, and for a simple direct train it is fine. It falls apart on the connections nobody publishes clearly: the replacement bus with its own dog rule, the regional operator whose muzzle wording is buried in a PDF, the ferry that sails an hour later on Wednesdays. I check the operator’s own page for every connection and tell you the date I checked it.

Are the rules guaranteed?

No, and nobody can guarantee them. I check them on the day I write your plan and say so, but operators change their minds and the conductor has the final word. That is why the plan gives you the operator’s own words to show, not mine.

Do you make the bookings?

No. You get the route, the source links and the order to book in, then you book directly with the operators. Nothing is marked up and nothing goes through me.

When will I receive it?

I reply within 24 hours. If I accept, I give you the delivery date before you pay — about two days for a route confirmation, about five for a trip plan.