Dog-friendly White Cliffs Country

Your dog will receive as warm a welcome as you in Dover, Deal and Sandwich! To help you find your way around, we've curated lists of dog-friendly places to stay, eat and drink and visit, and provided information on beach restrictions and dog-walking on our clifftops and in the countryside.

An orange coloured shop doorway with a sign saying 'Dogs Welcome' and a green-and-white dogs welcome sticker.
Look out for the green-and-white pawprint stickers in windows across the district.

Browse the lists of dog-friendly places below to find where you can be sure of a warm welcome when visiting with your four-legged friends. Many shops in the district welcome dogs and display the green-and-white 'Dogs welcome' stickers in their windows.

You can also bring your dog/s with you to many of the fantastic events that take place across the district including Sandwich Festival, Walmer Brocante and other open-air events. Search our 'What's On' pages to find out more.

A dog-friendly guide to White Cliffs Country is available from Ernie's Adventures.

Dogs welcome

Sharing the coast and countryside with wildlife

Birds including skylarks and meadow pipits nest on the ground along the clifftops between the beginning of March and the end of July - please keep dogs on leads and stick to the paths during this time. Watch out for winter birds along the coast during October to March as they can be easily disturbed by dogs and need to be protected. 

Please also clean up after your dog.

The National Trust has provided information on dog-walking on the White Cliffs and around the South Foreland Lighthouse here. 

Dogs on beaches and promenades

Dogs are allowed on some beaches at certain times (October to April) and required to be kept on a lead on some seafront promenades.

Deal beach

  • Dogs are excluded from the stretch covering Deal Castle to Sandown Castle from 1 May to 30 September between 9am and 6pm.
  • Dogs on leads are permitted on the pier and on the promenade between Deal Castle and Sandown Castle all year round.

Dover beach

  • Please keep dogs on leads all year round on the promenade and grassed areas (including Marine Parade and Granville Gardens) at Dover Seafront.
  • Dogs are excluded from the beach at Dover Seafront, Waterloo Crescent and Marine Parade from 1 May to 30 September, between 9am and 6pm.

Sandwich Bay

  • Dogs are not allowed on the Sandwich Bay Mudflats and Salt Marshes.
  • Please keep dogs on a lead on the Princes Bay Golf Course Dunes Path.

St Margaret's Bay

  • Dogs are not allowed on the beach from the south-west end of the slipway to Ness Point from 1 May to 30 September between 9am and 6pm.
  • Please keep dogs on leads all year round on the promenade and in the car park and amenity areas.

Samphire Hoe

  • Dogs on leads are welcome all year round. 

Shakespeare Cliff, Walmer and Kingsdown beaches

  • No restrictions.