Hever Castle
As a dog owner and keeper of small children it is sometimes difficult to find “Perfect for Paws” places to go that are welcoming and fun for both the children and the dog. However….they do exist, yay!
Not far from Tunbridge Wells, the world famous Hever Castle & Gardens, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, welcomes dogs. They even have their own annual dog show which we went to last weekend.
It’s perfect for children too with a water maze (take a change of clothes!), hedge maze, adventure playground, lots of paths and gardens to explore, cafes, a shop, boating on the lake and more. They are currently renovating a section of their adventure playground which is due to open in the Autumn.
I’m always surprised when my doggy friends don’t realise that you can take your dog to Hever Castle, so I hope this goes some way to letting you all know!
Hever Castle puts on a great range of seasonal events. This summer holidays they have a knights and princesses school running everyday, and the brilliant jousting tournament each weekend until the end of August. When we went to the jousting we took a blanket and picnic, we all sat down with Poppy our dog and watched the show.
Dogs can’t go inside the adventure playground, water maze or castle but they are welcome on a lead everywhere else in the grounds which are large enough to spend all day in. There are a couple of cafés and a restaurant with outside seating, or you can take a picnic. It is very easy to take the pushchair or wheelchair too as nearly all the paths are paved.
There is a longer nature trail walk around the lake which is great for dogs, it takes about an hour. There are maps and a leaflet available from their website or information kiosk, but just head out past the water maze to start, then you end up at the cafe, perfect!
