Wheelwrights York
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Policies change. We check this guide once a year – last checked September 2026 – but it’s worth confirming before you set off.
York is a good city to visit with a dog and the reason is the walking.
The historic core sits inside a 2.7-mile ring of medieval walls. It’s compact, largely flat, and you can cross the whole of it on foot in about twenty minutes. The green space isn’t out at the edges either – Museum Gardens are in the middle of town, the Ouse path runs straight through it and Rowntree Park is a twenty-minute stroll from the centre. Which means the thing that usually makes a city break hard work with a dog doesn’t apply here. The walk starts at your front door. No driving out to find somewhere to stretch their legs before breakfast, no seven o’clock car journey, no compromise between seeing a city and giving a dog a decent day.
That only holds if you’re staying in the middle of it. We have properties across Micklegate, Castlegate, Petergate, Goodramgate, the Minster Precinct and St Saviourgate, and 18 of our 19 York holiday homes welcome dogs.
Here’s what to do once you’re here.
Start with this, because it’s the question everyone asks and the answer is not the one people expect.
Dogs aren’t allowed on York’s city walls. Assistance dogs only. It’s a firm rule rather than a guideline and while you’ll see people ignoring it, the wall-walk is narrow, unfenced in long stretches and reached by steep steps at every bar – it isn’t a good place for a dog even where nobody’s watching.
The walls are free, open from 8am until dusk, and closed on Christmas Day and in icy weather. If one of you wants to do the circuit, it takes about two hours.
What to do instead: you can follow the line of the walls at street level the whole way round, which gets you the same view of them from below – arguably a better one, since you can actually see the stonework. The stretch outside the walls between Bootham Bar and Monk Bar runs alongside the moat and the daffodil banks and in spring it’s the prettiest walk in the city.
Staying nearby: 7 Monk Bar Court sits on a quiet street right against the walls in Goodramgate, which puts you on that outer path within a minute of the front door. It sleeps two, which makes it the one for a couple with a dog rather than a group. See dates and prices
Ten acres of botanical gardens in the middle of York, with the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey in the middle of them and the Ouse along one edge. Dogs are welcome on a lead. It’s the most central green space in the city by some distance, and the obvious first walk of the morning.
Worth knowing that the Yorkshire Museum and York Art Gallery both sit within the gardens and neither allows dogs inside – but the gardens themselves are open, free, and don’t require you to go anywhere near either.
The riverside path south from Ouse Bridge towards the Millennium Bridge is the default York dog walk, and deservedly so. It’s level, surfaced and takes you out of the crowds within about three minutes.
Rowntree Park at the end has proper open space, a lake, and the Reading Café on the terrace – which has the useful distinction of being both a café and a library, and where you can stop with a dog. There’s more on that and the rest of York’s dog-friendly places to eat in our guide to dog-friendly pubs, cafés and restaurants in York.
If you want to make a proper morning of it, the Park to Park trail runs from Homestead Park in the north down to Rowntree Park in the south – about 2.5 miles and an hour and a half, with dogs welcome in both parks and on leads along the streets in between.
Staying nearby: The riverside path starts at the bottom of Micklegate, so all of our Micklegate properties are within a few minutes of it – from 71 Micklegate – Apartment 2 for two up to 87 Micklegate for six. 71 Micklegate – Apartment 1 has a private courtyard off the living room, which is the one to look at if you’d rather not get properly dressed for the last trip outside. See dates and prices
Eighteen out of our nineteen York holiday homes welcome dogs, from two-person apartments to townhouses sleeping eight. Almost all are inside the city walls or a few minutes’ walk of them – which is why everything in this guide is a walk rather than a drive.
Browse our pet-friendly holiday homes in York
North along the river from Marygate and you’re onto open floodplain – big skies, big space, and considerably fewer people than the southern path. It’s the closest thing to proper open ground you’ll find without getting in a car. Two things to know. It floods, genuinely and often, and when the Ouse is high the Ings are underwater and the path is shut. Check before you set off in winter. And it’s grazed at some times of year.
York Racecourse sits on a large area of common land south-west of the centre, and outside race days it’s one of the best-used dog walking spots in the city – flat, open, and big enough for a proper run. The catch is the racing. On fixture days the Knavesmire is closed to the public, and York has around eighteen race days a year, mostly between May and October. Check the racecourse fixture list before you plan a morning around it.
The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s first reserve, and a surviving fragment of ancient Yorkshire peatland – David Attenborough called it a time capsule when he visited. Fen, woodland and meadow, free to enter, with a car park just off the A1036 near the Askham Bar park and ride.
Be clear about the rules, because a lot of guides get this wrong: dogs must be on a lead and must stay on the boardwalk. It’s an ecologically sensitive site and there are deep holes and ponds off the path. The boardwalk loop is about 1.3km and takes twenty minutes at a gentle pace, so treat it as a lovely short outing rather than somewhere to tire a dog out.
Parkland, meadows and riverside walking about eight miles north of York, with a Victorian water tower and the Home Farm Café. The 3.5-mile circular through the grounds is the one people come for.
Wide, mostly flat woodland paths about eight miles south-east, popular with local dog walkers and carpeted with bluebells in spring. Quieter than anywhere on this list.
Roughly 25-minute drive out towards Malton. Park at the abbey ruins, walk the valley and finish at the Stone Trough – which is in our pubs and cafés guide. The best full day out on this list.
Staying nearby: Days out like these are much simpler from a property with parking. 16 Castlegate has free parking for one car, St Martins View has an allocated space. Castlegate also has an enclosed rear garden, which is a rare thing this centrally and very welcome when you come back muddy. See dates and prices
This is the part most guides skip, and it’s the part that saves you a wasted journey. York is genuinely dog-friendly, but several of its best-known attractions are not.
Dogs aren’t allowed at:
| Attraction | Notes |
| York Minster | Assistance dogs only. The exterior is the draw anyway – it’s visible from most of the city |
| The City Walls | Assistance dogs only, as above |
| Clifford’s Tower | Not permitted inside. The mound and the green around it are fine |
| JORVIK Viking Centre | Assistance dogs only |
| Yorkshire Museum | Assistance dogs only. The surrounding Museum Gardens are dog-friendly |
| York Art Gallery | Assistance dogs only. Again, the gardens outside are fine |
Dogs are welcome at:
The practical approach is to pair a dog-free attraction with a dog-friendly one. Admire the Minster from Duncombe Place, then walk five minutes to Museum Gardens. Look at Clifford’s Tower from the green rather than climbing it.
Worth knowing: Most of York’s indoor attractions sit within ten minutes’ walk of 16 Castlegate, which makes the dog-free ones much easier to work around – do a thing, walk back, head out again, rather than building a whole day around it. It’s a Grade II listed Georgian house sleeping eight over four floors, with a log burner, a professional kitchen and that enclosed garden.
Park and ride. Dogs are allowed on the park and ride buses provided they’re quiet, well behaved and kept off the seats. Given how difficult central York parking is, this is often the easier option if you’re coming in from outside.
Local buses. On FirstBus services dogs travel at the driver’s discretion, up to two per passenger, with no charge.
Trains. Up to two dogs per passenger travel free. Small dogs should be in a carrier; larger dogs on a lead. Worth knowing if you’re arriving by rail – York station is about ten minutes’ walk from most of our properties.
Taxis. Drivers can refuse to carry a dog, so book ahead and say you have one rather than finding out at the rank.
Parking. Central York parking is expensive and limited. If you’re driving, filter for properties with a space – several of ours have one, and it removes a genuine daily annoyance.
A few practical notes
Cobbles get hot. The Shambles, Stonegate and Low Petergate are stone underfoot and they hold heat. In July and August, do those streets early or late and keep to the shade in between.
The river floods. The Ouse rises several times most winters, and when it does the riverside paths and Clifton Ings go under. It’s usually well signposted, but it’s worth checking rather than setting out and turning back.
Busy periods. Race days, the Christmas market, and half terms all fill the centre. If your dog finds crowds difficult, the Marygate and Bootham end of the city stays noticeably calmer than the Shambles.
Water. Most of the dog-friendly cafés and pubs in our eating and drinking guide put bowls out. Museum Gardens and Rowntree Park both have drinking water.
Emergency vet. Minster Veterinary Practice runs the out-of-hours service in York, called York Emergency Vets. It’s staffed overnight, at weekends and on bank holidays by a dedicated night team at their RCVS-accredited hospital on Salisbury Road. The number is 01904 643997 – the same line as the main practice, with an option to be put through to the emergency team.
One thing worth knowing before you need it: Minster describe their 24/7 emergency cover as being for their registered clients. If you’re visiting rather than local, ring and say so and they’ll advise you. Either way, put the number in your phone before you travel rather than searching for it at two in the morning.
Eighteen of our nineteen York holiday homes welcome dogs – two-person apartments, Georgian townhouses, a 15th-century timber-framed building on Micklegate, and houses sleeping up to eight. Almost all are inside the city walls or a few minutes’ walk of them.
Which is the whole point. Everything in this guide starts at the front door.
Browse our pet-friendly holiday homes in York
Or have a look at our guide to dog-friendly pubs, cafés and restaurants in York for where to eat along the way. Any questions about bringing your dog, our FAQs cover it, or call us on 01904 228007.