The hotels that welcome them as guests, the boarding houses where they are looked after while you are away, and the specialists who move animals across borders — because a journey is only as good as the welcome waiting at both ends.
Hotels that welcome them
Suites where the dog is a guest, not an exception — beds, menus and walkers arranged by the concierge.
London · United Kingdom
The great London hotels
Where the dog checks in before you do.
A handful of Park Lane and Mayfair houses have welcomed dogs for a century. A bed is turned down with yours, a menu arrives with room service, and the doorman knows the route to Hyde Park by heart. Book the suite, mention the guest of honour at reservation, and everything else appears.
The insider note
Ask the concierge for the park times the regulars keep — early morning in Hyde Park is when London's best-connected dogs take the air.
Paris has never seen a reason a dog should stay home.
The palace hotels of the right bank receive small dogs as a matter of course — under the table at lunch is a Parisian tradition older than the hotels themselves. Larger dogs are welcomed with advance notice, and the concierge will arrange a walker for the hours you are at the couture houses.
The insider note
A dog at a café table draws no comment in Paris; a dog left barking in a room draws the manager. Arrange the walker before you need it.
The great chalets of Zermatt, Courchevel and St Moritz are built for dogs that walk — valley trails from the door, snow to the chest in January, and a fire that is lit for whoever reaches it first. Staff keep towels by the door and treat a muddy dog as a sign the day went well.
The insider note
Book a chalet with a boot room; it becomes the dog's room by unspoken agreement, and everyone's stay improves.
The converted estates outside Florence and Siena take dogs the way they take children — as family. Acres of private land mean the morning walk happens on your own drive, and the kitchen will prepare something plain for a dog whose stomach travels worse than its manners.
The insider note
Ask for a ground-floor suite opening to the garden. The estate dogs will call on yours by the second morning.
Private boarding houses and country estates where they holiday too — suites, not cages, and a daily report card.
The Cotswolds · United Kingdom
The country boarding houses
Their holiday while you have yours.
The best boarding houses in England do not advertise and do not have vacancies in August. Dogs live in the house, walk the estate twice daily, and sleep in a room with an Aga, not a kennel block. Owners receive a photograph each evening — the dog, usually, looks better rested than they do.
The insider note
Book the boarding house before the flights. The good ones fill their summer places with returning guests by spring.
For the animal that does not travel well — the elderly cat, the nervous rescue — a vetted live-in sitter keeps the routine untouched: the same door, the same hour, the same chair. The good agencies interview both sides and insure everything; the great ones send a sitter your dog remembers from last year.
The insider note
Introduce the sitter on a short trial weekend before the long trip. A dog that already knows its guest barely notices you leave.
The specialists who move animals across borders — paperwork, cabin or hold, and someone waiting at arrivals.
London · United Kingdom
The relocation specialists
Paperwork, cabin or hold, and a familiar face at arrivals.
Moving an animal across a border is a logistics exercise in veterinary certificates, import permits and airline rules that change by season. The specialists exist because getting it wrong means quarantine. They collect from your door, manage the documents, fly with the animal when needed, and hand over at the other end — on a private charter, the dog simply boards with you.
The insider note
Start the paperwork eight weeks out; rabies titres and import permits run on the veterinarian's calendar, not yours.
London to the Continent with a dog, done properly.
Within Europe the mechanics are settled: microchip, rabies vaccination, and an animal health certificate issued within ten days of travel. Le Shuttle carries dogs in the car with you; the ferries have pet lounges; and most European trains welcome a dog at your feet. It is the calmest cross-border journey a pet can make.
The insider note
The tapeworm treatment for the return to Britain must be given by a vet between one and five days before arrival — book the French vet when you book the crossing.
When the destination is far, the planning doubles.
Long-haul is where the honest conversation happens. Some animals should not fly twelve hours in a hold; some routes allow cabin travel for small dogs; some destinations — the Gulf among them — require months of preparation and a licensed importer. A good specialist will tell you when the kindest answer is the boarding house at home.
The insider note
Ask the specialist which airlines they use for their own animals. There is always a short list, and it never matches the cheapest fare.
On many European routes, small dogs under a set weight travel at your feet; on most long-haul routes they travel in a temperature-controlled hold. Private charter is the exception — there, the dog simply boards with you.
How far ahead should I plan?
Eight weeks is the comfortable minimum for international travel — vaccinations, certificates and import permits run on the veterinarian's calendar, not yours. The best boarding houses book out a season ahead.
Are these boarding houses and specialists vetted?
Introductions to boarding houses and relocation specialists are made only through partners approved by Velori. If you run a house or a practice that belongs here, apply through List with us.
Velori is a digital planning membership — it does not board, transport or provide veterinary advice for animals. Entry rules for pets change; always confirm requirements with the destination's official authorities and your veterinarian before travel.