Ron Bexel
Dog Friendly Holidays Forest Of Dean – Guest blog post by Jill Travers, exploring the Forest of Dean with her husband Pete and their adorable labrador Winnie, who live in a pet tree house from Forest Holidays.
In November 2019, we took Winnie, our two-year-old chocolate lab, on her first vacation. We chose Forest Vacations because we had stayed at their Sherwood Pines location before, so we knew it was dog friendly, but since this was Winnie’s first time in an unfamiliar environment, we we choose a place closer to home: the forest. of the chairman.
Dog Friendly Holidays Forest Of Dean
Light research, we found several walks to the forest, about 15 minutes from the site (although you can walk outside the houses and you have to go right into the forest to have you in one of the ways). and here!)
Dog Friendly Places To Stay
Our previous forest vacation was for our honeymoon, so we chose a Golden Oak loft, but this time we wanted a nice place, but didn’t want an expensive house, so we chose Silver Birch. This apartment still has a hot tub but no wood stove, extra towels to use in the hot tub, but the apartment was set up for 4 people so we used the extra towels in the bedroom.
We were able to book the holiday as there was a discount in the January sales so Winnie was free (£15 per dog per night). When you search for capsules on the web, make sure they say “pet friendly” because the results will show you capsules that are not suitable for animals. We choose a break in the middle of the week (Monday to Friday).
At the end of the holiday we decided to take Winnie on a wildlife experience at the Cotswold Wildlife Park as we were getting closer to where we had started from home.
We arrived at our warm and cozy log cabin for check-in at 4:00pm (we were offered an early check-in fee, but we made it because we only had 2 hours left in the cabin).
What To Expect In Good Pet-friendly Holiday Cottages
On arrival we took Winnie to the house before unpacking the car; He was so excited about new surroundings and new smells that he led the way in our exploration.
The covered deck area is divided into 2 areas – the upper deck has an outdoor table and chairs and BBQ, and the lower deck is decked out as the hot tub is located here. There is a second access door in the hot tub area for staff access to the hot tub for daily inspection, but please ensure that it is securely closed before allowing the dogs to inspect the because we weren’t really closed until I checked (paranoid mother dog). working!)
The Forest Holiday team loved leaving Winnie with a big Bonio and some bags of bio balls! (She was happier with the cookies than the bags, but we appreciated it!) We brought Winnie’s bed, some toys, and food to help calm her down.
Tip: You can place poo bags in the brown bin outside the cabin, or you can take them to one of the many doggy bags around the place for proper disposal; We collect it for a day or two and take it away. We threw it in the trash when we started our work.
Dog Friendly Cottages In Coln St Aldwyns
Winnie didn’t want us in the hot tub the first night, but some yogurt and canned sardines mixed and frozen in her toy snake calmed her down the next night. from
We made sure to ask for a bath mat when we arrived to wash Winnie as both the floors in the bath and shower were very slippery, and when we bathed her at home we kept her on. on the bath mat to get comfortable.
Lots of new sounds at night (mostly owls and deer) which meant Mecho didn’t sleep well and I woke up very tired. The bed was a double, not our usual king bed, which meant that Winnie was very fussy most of the time when she was in our king bed with us.
Winnie also had trouble adjusting to the polished wooden floors, so she struggled to get up and over the sofa and bed because of the drop.
Dog Friendly Holidays In The Forest Of Dean And Wye Valley
However, we woke up to a beautiful cool day and decided to do our first day of hiking.
Forest Holidays are private but there is a restaurant on site (located in the Forest of Dean reception) that serves breakfast/lunch/dinner and you can have hot food delivered to your home.
We went to Beechenhurst Lodge to try the Sculpture Trail; The whole route is about 4.5 miles (if you like to follow the trails), and we did a little over 6 miles in 3 hours back. in places and going off the road due to deep mud and following Winnie as she leads with her nose.
Fall colors are amazing! The trail is mostly gravel so it’s easy to access, but due to the time of year some sections have very deep mud, so if you have mobility issues or plan to use in the pushchair, I had to wait a few days after it rained before. trying this way. Some of the trails cross the bike path, so be careful of cyclists.
Silver Birch Cabin
Winnie was so happy to roll around in the fresh water stream, we were so happy because by now she was happy to roll around in the muddiest puddles. We have made plans to come back and explore the forest in the spring/summer for a day trip.
When we got back to the house, Mecho went straight to the bathroom to take a shower; He will benefit from the heat under the floor to dry off, and we will be able to spend a little more time in the hot tub while he sleeps.
We woke up to cold, rainy weather so we decided to take it easy.
After walking yesterday and being outside a lot; Winnie sleeps better and stays in the house; making friends with the staff checking out the hot tub – it’s amazing to see what they do!
Forest Of Dean
We took full advantage of the entertainment package offered by Forest Holidays by spending a day on the couch watching some movies.
We went to The Woodman Inn pub, Parkend for lunch – very dog ​​friendly, free food in the bar (some of the locals gave Winnie for being such a good girl) and some new labrador friends! Of course, Winnie was also on vacation, so there were sausages for lunch!
On the way back to the house we decided to watch a movie and hot chocolate; We quickly discovered that Winnie *loved our whipped cream for the hot chocolate topping!
Our last day was spent on a few shorter hikes to see more Forest Commission sites. We were very lucky to choose the fall for our vacation because the forest is beautiful; Last week was after term so the places we went to were less crowded; I hope they will be very busy during the school holidays.
Self-catering Holiday Cottage
First on the agenda for the day: Mallards Pike Lake – The only possible hike for this is right next to the lake; However, if you want to explore further, there are hiking trails throughout the surrounding forest.
Winnie doesn’t jump in water, she prefers water she can walk in, but when she gets excited, she jumps in! At first we were worried that he would follow us around the lake to get out, or that his hat would come off and fall off (the rim is a foot above the water), but we loved it. , came out and washed us with the water of the dark lake!
We continued along the lake, and Winnie perked up when she got to the designated “dog bath” area (where the bank drops off to enter the lake). Winnie has no real memory, so she stays in front.
Another wonderful place, Winnie likes to make friends with everything she sees, but she doesn’t mind the classes here!
Dog-friendly Cottages Sleeping 20
Note: If you walk along the shore of the lake, you will walk to the main road where there is a connection to other parts of the forest; However, this is not gated, so I recommend dogs on leads to turn right from the lakes or cross into other woodlands.
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