Dog-friendly The North Devon Coast

A small ale house on Broad Street in old Ilfracombe, a couple of minutes from the harbour and the Tunnels. It describes itself as a family friendly, pet friendly environment for all well behaved individuals and families, and rooms are now available above the pub.

The surf village's landmark pub, thatched and heaving through August. Dogs are allowed inside but only at designated dog-friendly tables, which have to be booked by phone or email rather than walked into, so ring ahead in season. Useful to know when the beach itself is closed to dogs from May.

A large roadside carvery pub on Wrafton Road at the Braunton end of the Taw estuary, handy for Saunton Sands and the Tarka Trail. Dogs are welcome in the big family bar area and outside, and no booking is needed to bring one.

A seafood restaurant on the front at Instow, looking across the Torridge to Appledore. Dogs are welcome in the bar and on the Top Deck with plenty of treats, but not in the main dining room, so ask for one of those two when you book.

Four and a half miles round the windswept headland between Croyde and Putsborough, about two and a half hours with 180 metres of climbing, two gentle pulls and a stony narrow path along the north side. Start at the National Trust car park at the end of Moor Lane in Croyde, free to members and paid otherwise, and the busiest small car park in North Devon by nine on a surf morning. Dogs run free on the old fields along the top and there is a stream at Putsborough, but the drops on the seaward side are severe with no fence, seabirds nest on the cliffs from spring, and the crumbling walls hide sheep in the fields at the Croyde end.

A 3.6-mile circuit of about two hours from sea level at Combe Martin up green lanes and farm tracks to the panorama down the valley to the sea, with 230 metres of steady climbing and going that stays fairly even underfoot. Start at the pay-and-display Kiln car park by the beach, which has toilets and takes the number 3 bus from Barnstaple and Ilfracombe; the village strings out along a mile of main road so the beach end is the place to aim for. Combe Martin's beach is one of only two in the North Devon Council area closed to dogs in summer, from 1 May to 30 September with a GBP 100 fixed penalty, so this is a walk to do out of the beach and into the hills, where the lanes are grazed by sheep and cattle and the stream gives dogs a drink.

A short 1.75 miles across high moorland to the summit of Butter Hill, about an hour with 120 metres of climbing on grass and stony track, and the biggest view for the least effort on this coast: Wales one way and the coast past Lynmouth the other. Start from the free Barna Barrow car park on the common above Countisbury, signed off the A39 by the Blue Ball Inn, which takes coastal buses and has a shorter 0.8-mile version straight from the car park. Exmoor ponies graze this common all year so a lead is the right call whatever the season, the ground is open with no stiles at all, and there is no water up here, though the Blue Ball at the start has bowls and a stone floor for wet dogs.

A bracing 4.5 miles of about two and a half hours, weaving up old lanes to the top of Saunton Down for the three-mile view over Saunton Sands, then round the low cliffs at Down End and back across Croyde Beach, with 250 metres of climbing on narrow stony paths and steps. Start at the National Trust car park above Croyde, which is the only large car park in the village and is emptied of spaces early all summer; the number 21 bus from Barnstaple stops on the main street. The sting is in the tail: Croyde beach is closed to dogs from 1 May to 30 September under the North Devon Council order with a GBP 100 fixed penalty, so in season finish along the lane instead, while Saunton Sands at the far end of the walk stays open to dogs with miles of firm sand.

A short but stiff 1.4 miles round the Iron Age hill the town calls the Sleeping Elephant, three quarters of an hour with 130 metres of climbing on coast path and footpath that goes rocky, slippery and muddy in patches. Start at Hele Bay car park just east of Ilfracombe harbour, where the number 3 and 3a buses from Barnstaple stop 100 metres up Hillsborough Road, and take the stepped path up from the beach. Dogs do well here because Hele Bay itself is not covered by the North Devon beach order and there are dog-friendly pubs at the bottom, though the summit paths run close to unfenced cliff edges and the woodland stretch is steep enough that a big dog on a lead will pull you off balance.

A demanding 4.2 miles of about two and a half hours from the rock pools at Lee Bay, west along the coast path over gorse and heather heathland and back through the woods and old farmland behind, with 300 metres of climbing and some genuinely marshy sections. Start at the small car park at Lee Bay, reached by steep single-track lanes three miles west of Ilfracombe and served only by the sparse 305 bus; there are toilets 75 metres up the footpath from the car park. The heathland is a fine off-lead stretch and the beck at Lee gives dogs a drink, but the coast path runs unfenced above sheer slate cliffs, the farmland has stock, and the pubs in Lee and up in Mortehoe are the nearest water bowls.