Best Dog-Friendly Hotels in Barcelona

Before you go

What happens when you get there

Beaches

During the bathing season, 24 May to 11 September, dogs are banned from every city beach apart from the fenced dog area at Platja de Llevant, next to the Rambla de Prim breakwater. It's about 1,250 square metres, open 10.30 to 19.30, capped at 100 dogs, and your dog needs a microchip to get in. Outside the season dogs can go on any Barcelona beach, roughly October to March, with Easter week excluded. The exact shoulder-season dates change each year, so check before an April or late September trip.

Metro, tram and bus

TMB takes dogs on the metro for free, one per person, on a non-extending lead of 50 cm or less and wearing a muzzle. Weekdays from 11 September to 24 June they're barred 7.00 to 9.00 and 17.00 to 19.30. Weekends, holidays and the summer are open all day. No escalators, use the lift or the stairs. The tram follows the same hours and muzzle rule. Buses only take dogs in a carrier. FGC trains and the Vallvidrera funicular take dogs free on a lead and muzzle, Rodalies trains too with a lead of two metres or less. The Montjuïc cable car refuses dogs apart from assistance dogs.

The sights

The Sagrada Família, La Pedrera and the Picasso Museum admit guide dogs only. Casa Batlló lets dogs in under the owner's supervision and with staff approval, the only Gaudí house that does. Park Güell takes dogs on a lead but keeps them out of the Nature Square, the Hypostyle Room, the Dragon Stairway and the Austria Gardens, so you see the woods, not the postcard. Poble Espanyol is fine on a lead.

Restaurants and cafes

Terraces are the norm and nobody blinks. Indoors, Spain's animal welfare law means a place that wants to refuse dogs has to put a sign up that you can see from the street, and without one entry is understood to be allowed, though the owner still has the final say. Most cafes and tapas bars let a calm dog in, and staff often bring water unprompted.

Dogs at breakfast and dinner

Worth asking by name because the city splits cleanly. Yes at SLS in three named restaurants, at ME Barcelona, at Iberostar Paseo de Gracia, in Casa Bonay's lobby cafe, on the EDITION's Veraz Terrace and in the Majestic Bar. Bar but not restaurant at Nobu and The Hoxton. Room only at El Palace, The One, the Mandarin Oriental, the Claris, Bagués, the Pulitzer and the Regina. Everyone else hasn't published a rule.

Weight limits

El Palace, the Majestic, the Pulitzer and the Regina cap at 8 kg. The Grand Hotel Central at 12 kg. Arai, Bagués, the Claris, the Neri, Sir Victor and the EDITION at 15 kg. The Grand Hyatt, Le Méridien, SLS, The Hoxton and the W at 18 kg. Labtwentytwo at 20 kg. Nobu and The One at 30 kg. The Kimpton Vividora and ME Barcelona publish no limit. The Hyatt Regency Tower takes two dogs up to 40 kg combined.

Fees

Free at the Kimpton Vividora, The Hoxton and Alma. The Mandarin Oriental is free or EUR 10 depending on the source, so ask. EUR 30 at SLS, Borneta, the Pulitzer and the Regina. EUR 36.30 at the Claris and Bagués unless you book their Stay and Dog package. EUR 45 at the Majestic and Le Méridien. EUR 50 at the Almanac, the Neri, Nobu and the Sofitel Skipper. EUR 65 at the Grand Hotel Central, EUR 75 at El Palace. Per stay, EUR 120 at the EDITION and EUR 150 at The One. The Grand Hyatt and the W add a EUR 100 cleaning charge to EUR 25 a night.

Vets

Balmesvet at Carrer de Balmes 205 runs 24 hours, 365 days, on 931 173 173. Hospital Veterinari del Mar at Carrer de la Marina 69 is also 24 hours, on 930 217 812, with a second clinic at Carrer de Sicília 125. Both have English-language sites.

Best walks

The Parc de la Ciutadella, with a fenced dog area, is the one to walk to from El Born, the Gothic Quarter and the EDITION. The Carretera de les Aigües is the best walk in the city, a flat, wide dirt track along the Collserola ridge with the whole city below you, reached by FGC to Peu del Funicular and the Vallvidrera funicular, both of which take dogs. The Parc de l'Estació del Nord has the largest fenced dog run in Barcelona. Montjuïc's gardens and paths are quiet early in the morning, and out of season the sand from Barceloneta up to Llevant is yours.

When to go

October to May. The city is walkable, the terraces are still open most of the winter, and out of the bathing season your dog can go on any beach. From late May to mid September the sand is closed apart from the Llevant dog area, July and August run hot and humid with pavements that burn paws by midday, and the metro fills up. If you must come in summer, walk early, stick to the shade of the Eixample's tree-lined streets, and choose a hotel with a bar or terrace the dog can sit in during the afternoon.