City stress travelling with a dog

Cities just aren’t so fun with a dog, let alone for a dog. Many of the pleasures that may have been enhanced by a human companion are not shared with my dog, from beautiful architecture to restaurant cuisine.

I’ve actually avoided stopping in some big cities Interrailing with my dog. Railway Dog and I avoided Warsaw and Vilnius, for example. Elk and Nida were far better doggy choices, with their small size and surrounding nature.

On the lake at Elk, Poland

From a dog’s perspective, cities are all about lead restriction, lack of freshness, overstimulation, endless sent marking requirements, loud traffic, many human legs, and pointless wandering on hard and sometimes filthy pavements. There’s also unpredictable stopping and starting of the human as they fiddle with their phone (maps, guides and photos), and stopping for ages by information boards.

A clean city is still a biodiversity dessert. Riga, Latvia

Whilst I as a solo dog companion lack museum access and bless outdoor info boards, Baspie Dog is obviously less impressed. From the accompanying human’s perspective, it’s all about enjoying the sights and facilities despite the poor dog, rather than with them. There’s a tension and guilt that just isn’t there hiking or kayaking.

Such a good dog being patient on cobbled streets

Travelling solo, particularly without a vehicle or familiar home to leave a dog in, it closes so many doors. No museums, galleries, cinemas, clubs, festivals, or churches. Interrailing solo with Baspie Dog I have been inside just one cathedral, thanks to a kind local in Parma, Italy, and one museum, thanks to a connection of my mum’s in Tczew, Poland. A few small churches and display rooms I’ve nipped into leaving Baspie outside. He barks if he doesn’t feel comfortable there.

Lush park, complete with police checking that dogs are on a lead. Krakow, Poland

Some cities have many parks and open areas. Poland and Scandinavia are particularly great for this. Some cities even have beaches. In many cities outside the UK, dogs need to be kept on a leash in parks, making them less fun for a dog. City beaches are prone to broken bottles, dodgy rotting BBQ left overs, and other hazards.

Port city beach, complete with broken bottles, rebar concrete, and bbq leftovers. Liepaja, Latvia

In Romania we got barked at wherever we went by both stray dogs and kept dogs, especially in cities in the south. I’ve heard this is also the case in Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and Bosnia. Polish dogs we came across weren’t particularly well socialized either. Even in the Baltic States, where dogs on a lead behave better, we found it the norm for dogs in the grounds of any house to bark furiously at us, especially in smaller towns.

Best and worst European cities for dogs

Our best European towns and cities for dogs: Sibenik, Krakow, Levanto, Elk, Cluj-Napoca, Koblenz, Stockholm

Our worst European towns and city experiences for a dog: Budapest, Bucharest, Baile Herculane, Milan, Liepaja (except for the collapsing fortifications and beaches that stretch to the north).

Guard dog stress. Perkovic, Croatia

Shopping

Waiting in the sun outside a shopping centre in Suwalki, Poland

Travelling solo with a dog means speedy dashes round supermarkets for food, stressed by the thought of my pooch tied up outside for anyone to take or to be barked at by any passing dog. Even worse if my dog is out there alone in the blazing sun or biting cold or stinging rain. In a city this stress is so much stronger due to the increased risks. I’ve had to abort my shopping due to payment queues making it not worth the time risk. If you need to read and translate the ingredients, like we vegans do, it’s even more stressful. I’ve ended up buying very simple obvious foods to avoid pitfalls and speed up shopping. I make food to share with Railway Dog, as no way can I backpack around with dog food. So the one thing I always check is salt content of anything I buy. At least it’s always the last percentage on the nutrition info list. Thank goodness for consistent EU standards!

Resting in a city park with the noise of chanting crowds watching the ice hockey world championships. Riga, Latvia

Eating out

Restaurants in cities, a time of hope and boredom for a Railway Dog. Kozy Eats, Riga, Latvia

Restaurants and cafes may or may not allow dogs in their inside or terrace areas. Some countries such as Italy and Estonia seem far more welcoming. I have two top tips on eating out with your dog:

Avoid eating out by self catering and relaxing with your dog
Eat out at vegan restaurants, as I haven’t found one yet anywhere that doesn’t welcome dogs. That’s even in countries like Poland where dogs are rarely allowed inside. The community sourced Happy Cow app is fab for discovering such places.