Introduction
In 2021 my husband and I were taking our sausage dog, Huey, for his daily walk. We got talking about how now that the pandemic seems to have subsided and borders are opening back up, perhaps we should book an overseas trip! We dabbled with the idea of exploring Europe for 3 months, or maybe road tripping through the US, but we knew that there was absolutely no way we were going to leave Huey – our fur prince baby – for more than a few weeks. However, we also knew that we definitely wanted to give this long term travel thing a spin.
So, I started doing my research, toying with the idea of bringing Huey with us. It seemed crazy, of course – especially because we lived in Australia, a country with some of the strictest biosecurity laws in the world! There really wasn’t much evidence to support it being a good idea, but I stumbled upon a couple of people who had done it before and that’s all I needed. After hours and hours of researching online, reading government websites and travel blogs, I discovered that while taking a dog out of Australia was going to be a real pain in the tail (not to mention getting a dog back in), it was doable! Now, almost 2 years later, we’ve taken our dog to 20 countries, and can confidently say that bringing Huey along on our quarter-life-crisis year of travel was the best decision ever.
You can check out our Ultimate Dog Travel Guide here, which details all of the preparation and logistics of taking your dog on holidays with you.
In this post, I just wanted to provide a rundown of our personal journey including where we went, how long we stayed in each place, our methods of transport, and what we got up to in each location.
Overview
Duration: 303 days
Countries Visited: 19
Distance Travelled: Over 48,000 km
Number Of Flights: 12
Number Of Accommodations: 83
I will delve into the specific towns, cities and locations we visited in each country below, but first here’s a quick summary of all the countries we visited and how long we stayed in each:
- Country #1: United States of America – 42 days
- Country #2: Canada – 35 days
- Country #3: France – 19 days
- Country #4: Norway – 26 days
- Country #5: Germany – 19 days
- Country #6: Czech Republic – 7 days
- Country #7: Hungary – 8 days
- Country #8: Croatia – 40 days
- Country #9: Montenegro – 5 days
- Country #10: Italy – 10 days
- Country #11: Switzerland – 2 days
- Country #12: Ireland – 56 days
- Country #13: Northern Ireland – 6 days
- Country #14: Scotland – 12 days
- Country #15: Wales – 7 days
- Country #16: England – 28 days
We also did day-trips to Finland, Sweden and Austria.
We spent 2.5 months in North America, road-tripping through the USA and Canada, before flying to Europe where we spent 4.5 months. The last leg of our trip was the UK where we explored for almost 4 months.
You’ll notice that we missed out on some very popular (and affordable) destinations like Asia, South America and Africa. For one, this was because we didn’t want to rush across all of the continents, and opted for a slower approach to travel. Secondly, as this was our first time travelling with a dog and we had intentions of heading back to Australia once our trip was done, we didn’t want to visit any countries that were difficult to enter with a dog, or that would make re-entering Australia with a dog more complicated than it already is. We opted to stick with Rabies Free or Rabies Controlled countries, leaving the High Risk/High Rabies countries for our dog-free holidays.
Now that we’re more confident in travelling with Huey and are much more familiar with the general rules and regulations, we would love to spend some time exploring parts of Asia and South America with our pooch.
Dog-Friendly World Trip Itinerary
North America
Our first stop on our big trip was Los Angeles, and I know what you’re thinking, why LA? There were several reasons:
- As we were planning this trip after the heights of the COVID pandemic, many countries still had restrictions in place for international travel. At the time of us booking our flights, the US was one of few destinations that no longer required pre-arrival Covid testing or mandatory quarantine.
- Due to Australia’s strict biosecurity laws, all pets leaving the country have to be transported by an authorised Pet Transport company. This means that firstly, you can’t just book the flight for fido yourself, and secondly, it’s quite an expensive process. We initially wanted to start our trip in Europe, but to keep Huey’s first flight shorter and more affordable we opted for America. We used JetPets who organised all of the paperwork for Huey’s flight between Sydney and Los Angeles. They also supplied an IATA approved travel crate, and were extremely helpful in navigating our trip planning (we would definitely recommend them!).
- Exploring the USA’s mid-southwest was on our bucket list, and we definitely wanted to road trip through Arizona and Utah, so Los Angeles was a good starting point.
United States – July 12 to August 24
We took a one-way flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, picked up a rental car, and road-tripped our way through parts of California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. We dropped our car off at Las Vegas Harry Reid Airport before flying up to Seattle where we picked up another rental car. We spent the rest of our time in the US exploring beautiful Washington state.
Los Angeles: Hollywood Sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame, In-N-Out
Palm Springs: Joshua Tree National Park, Pioneertown
Phoenix: McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Lost Dutchman State Park, Goldfield Ghost Town
Sedona: Yavapai Vista, Bell Rock, Jerome, Red Rock Parkway
Williams: Grand Canyon National Park, Sycamore Falls, Route 66
Bluff: Monument Valley
Moab: Colorado River, Arches National Park
Panguitch: Bryce Canyon National Park, Red Canyon & Dixie National Forest
Hurricane: Zion National Park
Las Vegas: The Strip, Hoover Dam
Seattle: Kerry Park, Downtown, Gold Creek Pond
Winthrop: Winthrop town, North Cascades National Park, Leavenworth
Olympic Peninsula: Olympic National Park, Neah Bay, Cape Flattery, Forks, La Push, Port Angeles
Enumclaw: Mount Rainier National Park
Canada – August 24 to September 28
From Washington state, we drove across the border into Canada and made our way towards the Canadian Rockies, where we spent most of our time hiking beautiful trails and admiring the stunning lakes.
Canmore: Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, Kananaskis Country, Calgary
Jasper: Icefields Parkway, Jasper National Park
Vancouver: Downtown, Lynn Canyon Park, Fort Langley
Europe
France (part 1) – September 28 to October 5
After returning our rental vehicle in Vancouver, we boarded a plane bound for Europe! We had a quick stopover in Calgary, before landing in Paris, France. We caught an Uber from the airport to our AirBNB, and used public transport to get around during our week in the city of love.
Paris: Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triomphe, Montmartre, Luxembourg Gardens, Louvre, River Seine, Notre Dame, Tuileries Garden
Norway – October 5 to October 31
To make sure we had a chance of seeing the Northern Lights but were also in and out of Norway before it got unbearably cold (and dark!), we took a flight from Paris to Bergen in early October. After spending some time driving around the south of Norway, we flew from Bergen to Tromso to explore the North and the Lofoten Islands. We initially had no intention of visiting the country’s famed capital, but ended up spending two nights in Oslo as the most affordable flights back to France stopped there anyway. We are glad we snuck it in as we found it to be a charming little city.
Bergen: Bergen Wharf, Fantoft Stave Church
Sogndal: Flåm, Myrdal, Sognefjord, Kaupanger
Geiranger: Geirangerfjord, Djupvatnet, Trollstigen, Hjelledalen, Lovatnet
Senja: Trømso, Finnsnes, Heston/Segla
Lofoten Islands: Svolvaer, Henningsvaer, Rørvikstranda beach, Hamnøy, Reine, Sakrisoy, Å
Oslo: Sentrum (City Centre), The Royal Palace/Palace Park, Grünerløkka, Torshov
France (part 2) – October 31 to November 9
After flying back to Paris from Oslo, we picked up our long-term lease vehicle and made our way south to the Loire Valley. After some time exploring charming towns and fairytale castles, we continued towards the eastern border, stopping at some of the gorgeous storybook towns in the Alsace region before entering Germany. We were especially impressed by Colmar, so we readjusted our itinerary so we could pop back closer to Christmas to explore the famed Christmas Markets.
Loire Valley: Loches, Château Villandry, Château de Chaumont, Château de Chambord
Alsace Region: Colmar, Ribeauville, Hunawihr, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg
Germany – November 9 to December 1
We drove into Germany and headed straight for Bavaria, the country’s largest state. We spent some time exploring the Bavarian countryside and mountains, before heading north to Düsseldorf. While heading up to this part of Germany would’ve made more sense earlier in the trip, we wanted to delay our arrival so that we could check out some of Germany’s famous Christmas Markets, most of which only start in mid/late November.
Füssen: Lake Eibsee, Neuschwanstein Castle
Berchtesgaden: Berchtesgaden National Park, Ramsau, Königssee, Salzburg (Austria), Hallstatt (Austria) & Gosau (Austria)
Munich: Marienplatz, Hofbräuhaus München
Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf Christmas Markets, Cologne Christmas Markets, Eltz Castle
Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Rothenburg Christmas Markets, Passau Dachshund Museum
Czech Republic – December 1 to December 8
By this point in the trip, the weather was well and truly icy. It snowed for our entire stay in Cesky Krumlov, but thankfully the sun came out a couple of times during our time in Prague. We still had our lease vehicle at this point, but barely used it in Prague as the public transport was far more efficient.
Cesky Krumlov: Christmas Market, Seminární Zahrada
Prague: Old Town, Charles Bridge, John Lennon Wall, Prague Castle, Letna Park, Christmas Markets
Hungary – December 8 to December 16
We continued our road trip through Europe by spending a week in Hungary. Most of that time was spent in the country’s charming Capital city, Budapest, but there were a few sights around the smaller (and much more industrial) city of Miskolc that we wanted to check out too.
Budapest: Fisherman’s Bastion, Royal Parliament, Jewish Quarter, City Park
Miskolc: Lillafüred, Miskolctapolca Cave Bath
Croatia (part 1) – December 16 to December 25
We were able to travel freely through most of Europe using the Schengen visa: a short-stay visa that allows individuals to travel without any passport/border checks within the selected Schengen member countries for up to 90 days in any 180 day period.
At this stage in our trip, we were approaching our 90 day limit, so decided to exit the Schengen area to ensure we didn’t overstay our visas. At that time, Croatia was not a Schengen state and so we intended to spend an extensive amount of time here while waiting for our Schengen limit to reset.
Our first jaunt in Croatia included a visit to the magical Plitvice Lakes National Park and Dubrovnik (of course!).
Rakovica: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Dreznik
Dubrovnik: Old Town, West Harbour, City Walls, Lapad, Dubrovnik Port
Montenegro – December 25 to December 30
We took a short hiatus from our time in Croatia by visiting neighbouring Montenegro, which is also a Non-Schengen country. We stayed in the Bay Of Kotor and explored from there.
Kotor: Old Town, Lustica Bay, Sveti Stefan, Budva
Croatia (part 2) – December 30 to February 1
Upon returning back to Croatia, we had planned to stay in Split but realised that we would be right in the middle of the city during their New Year’s Eve festivities. As we know our dog doesn’t like fireworks, we quickly found an Airbnb in a far more rural part of Northern Croatia and stayed there for a few days before spending a month resting and unwinding in Dramalj (yes, even travelling gets exhausting!).
During our holiday-from-our-holiday we discovered that Croatia was becoming a member of the Schengen area effective immediately, and that any days spent there would now count towards our 90 day Schengen limit. This threw a spanner in the works! We had intended on exploring Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland next for a few weeks, but because our time in Croatia was now eating away at our Schengen days, we had to quickly amend our itinerary.
Podgradina: Zadar, Posedarje
Dramalj: Rijeka, Crikvenica
Italy (part 1) – February 1 to February 7
We definitely didn’t spend as much time in Italy as we had hoped for (thanks to the unexpected Schengen update detailed above) but we managed to squeeze in a few of the country’s highlights on our way to Switzerland.
Venice: Cannaregio, Dorsoduro, St. Mark’s Square, Rialto Bridge, Gondola Ride,
Verona: Cittadella, Centro Storico, Piazza Bra, Piazza Del Erbe, Juliette’s Balcony, Ponte Scaligero
Como: Lake Como, Bellagio, Varenna, Lugano (Switzerland), Lavertezzo (Switzerland)
Switzerland – February 7 to February 9
We decided to return our lease vehicle to a depot on the French side of Basel as (1) there was a significantly hefty fee for returning it outside of France which we were happy to avoid, and (2) it meant we could squeeze in some time in Switzerland before leaving Europe. We had a short (24 hours) but sweet time in the Swiss Alps.
Interlaken: Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Spiez, Wengen, Habkern, Männlichen
Italy (part 2) – February 9 to February 11
We hired a separate vehicle after dropping off our leased one to get us back to Milan in Italy for our flight out of Europe. We were so exhausted from our rushed trip up through Switzerland and back that we never actually made it into Milan city before our flight, but we used our time to visit the vet to get Huey’s health certificate and tapeworm treatment, both of which were required for entry into Ireland, the next country on our itinerary.
Were we sad to cut our time in mainland Europe short due to the visa changes? You bet. Were we also excited for our next destination? 100%.
United Kingdom
Ireland & Northern Ireland – February 11 to March 25
While there are select airlines who allow pets to travel in-cabin for flights out of the UK, no pets are allowed to travel in-cabin on flights into the UK. Our workaround was flying into Dublin, as the Republic of Ireland does allow pets in-cabin (as it’s not a part of the UK).
Ireland has been on my bucket list since forever, so I wanted to try and hit as many hot spots as possible without having to rush. We picked up a car rental when we landed in Dublin and basically did a big lap of the emerald isle, with stops in Belfast, Donegal, Galway and Cork.
Belfast: Giant’s Causeway, Dark Hedges, Carrick-a-Rede, Cathedral Quarter
Donegal: Slieve League Cliffs, Londonderry, Wild Alpaca Way, Silver Strand/Malin Beg
Ennis: Galway, Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle, Limerick
Cork: Killarney, Ring Of Kerry, Gap Of Dunloe & Wishing Bridge, Rock of Cashel, Gougane Barra National Forest Park, Bantry, Glengarriff Woods Nature Reserve
Dublin: Trinity College, St. Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar, Grafton Street
Scotland – March 25 to April 6
After swapping out rental vehicles in Northern Ireland (as we weren’t able to take the one we picked up in Dublin over to Great Britain), we caught a ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan in Scotland. The journey was about 2.5 hours, and pet owners had the option of either leaving their dog in their vehicle, or taking it in a carrier to an allocated area on the passenger deck. We didn’t actually realise there was a dog-friendly area on board until it was too late, so Huey just slept in the car.
When we docked, we discovered the main road up to Edinburgh was closed so we were forced to take the scenic route. Within the first few hours of being in Scotland, we had travelled down some of the tightest country roads we’ve ever experienced. Thankfully the scenery was gorgeous!
Our two weeks in Scotland included stops in Edinburgh, Inverness, the Isle Of Sky and Glencoe.
Edinburgh: Old Town, Dean Village, Lauriston Castle, the Royal Mile, Arthur’s Seat
Inverness: Strathpeffer, Loch Ness, Clava Cairns
Uig (Isle Of Skye): Eilean Donan Castle, The Quiraing, The Fairy Glen, Old Man of Storr, Fairy Pools, Neist Point
Glencoe: Glen Etive, Fort William, Ballachulish
England (part 1) – April 6 to April 8
On our way from Scotland to Wales, we made a quick two-night stop in England’s Lake District. We were gifted with two wonderfully sunny days for the first time in a long time, so we enjoyed a lot of our time just basking in the sun outside.
Crooklands: Windermere, Lake Windermere, Morecambe, Lancaster
Wales – April 8 to April 15
The next stop on our road trip through the UK was North Wales. We stayed in a guest house just outside of Betws-y-Coed for a week, and took day trips from there. We were pleasantly surprised with how epic the landscape was in Wales, and enjoyed the combination of beaches, mountains and countryside.
Betws-y-Coed: Betws-y-Coed village, Gwydir Forest Park, Snowdonia National Park, Anglesey, Conwy & Conwy Castle, Bangor, Beaumaris, Llanfairpwllgwyngyll
England (part 2) – April 15 to May 11
The final official country on our big world trip was England. We explored the Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Dorset, New Forest, and of course, London. We were lucky enough to stay with some family, so spent a bit of our time catching up with them before wrapping up our travels.
Cotswolds: Bath, Forest Of Dean, Castle Combe, Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford, Corsham, Biddestone, Bradford-on-Avon, Bibury, Diddly Squat Farm, Oxford
London: Westminster, Notting Hill, Kensington, Tower Hill, Leigh-On-Sea, Langdon Hills, Thorndon Country Park
South England: Winchester, Bournemouth, Poole, Southampton, New Forest, Jurassic Coast, Arundel
Debrief & What’s Next
Why we cut our trip short
Our initial plan was to travel for 12 months, however in the end our trip was actually almost 2 months shy of a complete year. This was for two main reasons:
- Croatia became a member of the Schengen area during our stay there, resulting in us having to leave the Schengen area (aka most of Europe) earlier than anticipated.
- The decision to move abroad at the end of the trip, instead of returning home.
During the latter part of our time in Europe, we had many discussions about what we would do once our holiday was over – and most importantly where we would go. We had always planned on returning to Australia, however while we were in Croatia another spanner was thrown in the works!
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) in Australia announced a set of changes to the requirements for the import of cats and dogs. As you may know by now, Australia has some of the world’s strictest biosecurity laws, and taking your dog there is a long, expensive and complicated process.
To combat this and to simplify the return process, we made sure to complete as much of the importation requirements as possible before leaving Australia. One of these requirements was having Huey vaccinated against rabies, and then completing a rabies neutralising titre test (RNATT) laboratory report to prove his immunity against rabies. This report was to be valid for 24 months, meaning we could use it to return to Australia anytime in the two years that followed.
Unfortunately, one of the changes announced by the Australian agricultural department was that all RNATT results would now only be valid for 12 months – not 24 – and anyone whose results were now expired or would expire before their dog’s import date would have to restart the process. As this blood test has to be completed in the country of export at least 180 days before your dog’s arrival in Australia, our plan to spend only a couple of months in the UK and return home from there would now have to be abandoned.
‘So’, we thought, ‘where do we want to hang around for 6 months while we restart this process?’.
Moving to Canada
By this stage, we had already toyed with the idea of living abroad, so took this whole debacle as a sign to do just that. On a whim, we put our names in the ballot for the International Experience Canada (IEC) program, which allows young adults (aged between 18 and 30 or 18 and 35 depending on where you’re from) to live and work in Canada for up to 2 years.
We absolutely loved our time in Canada during our first visit, and I had been pestering my husband about returning there ever since we left. When we both received invitations to apply for the IEC Working Holiday Visa, we jumped at the opportunity.
After saying our goodbyes to family in London, we boarded our very last international flight of the trip, bound for Canada. We spent a couple of days in Montreal, before continuing on to Vancouver, where we have now set up our home base! We are so excited to continue our adventures here in British Columbia, while also enjoying the luxury of having our own bed and not living out of suitcases.
Not a bad trip, eh?
Are you thinking of taking your dog on a trip?
If you’ve got dreams of travelling with your pup, we hope that our story has been inspiring, educational and encouraging. We are doing our best to document as much of our travels as possible, so be sure to check back here often!
To get you started, why not check out our 2023 Ultimate Guide: How To Travel With A Dog. It is a complete and incredibly exhaustive guide to travelling with a dog and includes everything you need to know about flying with a dog, quarantining your dog in new countries, what documentation is required, finding dog-friendly destinations and accommodation, how to prepare your dog for travel, a packing check-list and so much more!
Thanks for reading our story, and happy travels!
