Dog-friendly Penwith & St Ives

Hotel and pub sitting above the sand at Marazion with St Michael's Mount filling the window. Dogs are permitted in all areas of the Godolphin Arms — no restaurant exclusion, which is rare — and dog-friendly bedrooms can be booked. The flat coast path to Penzance starts at the door; the beach below closes to dogs 10am to 6pm in July and August.

Mustard-coloured roadside inn on the wild stretch between Zennor and Morvah, with a kitchen that takes food seriously and no interest in being smart about it. Dogs are welcomed as much as their owners and are happy to sleep in the bedrooms, though the owners would rather they stayed off the beds. The coast path below is exposed clifftop the whole way, and there is livestock in the fields between.

Village pub on Marazion's main street, a short walk up from the causeway and considerably quieter than the seafront. Well-behaved children and dogs are welcome, and there is usually a fire going out of season. Crab sandwiches and a decent pint after the walk in from Penzance.

Harbourfront pub on Wharf Road, the busiest and most obvious pint in St Ives and none the worse for it. Dogs are permitted in most areas of the inn and a number of the bedrooms are pet-friendly, booked in advance. Leads throughout the public areas — the harbour front outside is chaotic in season.

Sixteenth-century granite pub in the hamlet of Treen, the walking-in point for Pedn Vounder and Porthcurno. Dogs are welcome under St Austell Brewery's managed-house policy, with a water bowl and biscuits behind the bar. The path down to the coast is steep and unfenced above a long drop, so keep a lead on.

Seventeenth-century seafarers' inn at the back of Sennen Cove, with a terrace facing Whitesand Bay. Your dog is allowed with you in all areas of the Old Success except the main restaurant, and a number of bedrooms are set aside for dogs. Gwynver, over the rocks to the north, takes dogs all year while Sennen itself does not in season.

Café built into the sea wall at Porthmeor, below the Tate, doing tapas and coffee with the surf a few feet away. Dogs are welcome on the sea-view terrace, which is bookable; the indoor tables and the heated alcove pods are both no-dogs. Porthmeor sand is closed to dogs 10am to 6pm from 15 May to 30 September, so the terrace is the trick.

Whitewashed beach café on Porthminster sand, better known for its restaurant but with a separate Beach Bar alongside. The Beach Bar welcomes dogs and in peak season keeps them watered in a shady spot while the rest of the family come and go from the beach. The main restaurant is not advertised as dog-friendly.

A short two and a half miles north along Whitesand Bay to the surf beach at Gwynver and back over the fields, an easy hour and a quarter with 100 metres of climbing. It uses the same Sennen Cove car parks, and at low tide most of the outward leg can be walked on hard sand instead of the coast path above. Gwynver has no seasonal dog restriction of its own, which makes it the obvious August beach here while Sennen is closed, but the steps down are steep, the surf is powerful and the clifftop path between the two is unfenced.

Four and a third miles one way along the dunes and low cliffs of the Hayle estuary into St Ives, about two hours with 130 metres of climbing and the branch-line train back for the price of a coffee. Start at St Uny church in Lelant, where there is limited roadside space, or use the Lelant Saltings Park and Ride and pick up the train one stop. No stiles and little chance of livestock, and Porth Kidney allows dogs all year with a mile of firm sand at low water; dogs must be on leads between St Uny church and Porth Kidney Sands, and the two St Ives beaches at the far end are restricted in season.

Five miles east along Mount’s Bay and back by the field paths of Perran Downs, two and a half hours and easy underfoot with St Michael’s Mount in view for most of it. Start at the Marazion beach car parks on the Folly Field side of the town, which are large and take the causeway traffic, and Perranuthnoe has its own small car park at the halfway point. Stiles are reported fine for most dogs, but both beaches on the route are inside the summer restriction, so out of season this is a fine sandy walk and in August it is a clifftop one.

Just under five miles of the wooded, granite-strewn coast west of Mousehole, two and a half hours with 280 metres of climbing and the old quarry cove at Lamorna as the turning point. Park at the top of Mousehole, since the village lanes are impossible for cars, or come on the number 1 bus from Penzance. Stone stiles here are fine for an athletic dog and hard work for anything else, Mousehole beach bans dogs all year and Lamorna is seasonally restricted, and the coast path between Penzer Point and Carn-du is narrow, rocky and unfenced.

Four miles between two working fishing villages, out along the sea road and back over the hill through Paul, two hours with 110 metres of climbing. Start in Newlyn, where there is parking near the harbour and the number 1 bus runs from Penzance every few minutes, so this is easy to do without a car. Less athletic dogs will need help over a couple of the taller stone stiles, some of the return fields hold grazing cattle and go deep in mud through the winter, and Mousehole beach is closed to dogs the whole year round.

Three miles east from Porthcurno over the Treen Cliff to a working fishing cove, two hours with 170 metres of climbing and the turquoise water of Pedn Vounder below you most of the way. Start at the Porthcurno beach car park, which also serves the Minack Theatre and empties and fills with performances; the Treen car park is an alternative halfway along. Most stiles are fine although two stone ones have a bar at the top that some dogs need help over, there are horses and other livestock grazing the clifftop, and the drop off the Treen Cliff path is severe and unfenced.

Estate above its own private beach on the eastern edge of St Ives, with self-catering beach lodges and glamping pods alongside the main hotel. Every pod has an enclosed, gated garden and pets are welcome in them. The estate publishes no dog policy for the main hotel bedrooms, so treat this as the self-catering option rather than the hotel one.

Hotel built onto the rocks between Porthminster beach and St Ives harbour, so nearly every window is over water. Dogs are permitted in most areas other than the main restaurant, and a select number of bedrooms are dog-friendly and must be booked as such. Both beaches below carry seasonal bans, so plan early or late walks.

Relaxed hotel and dining room in a garden of palms and echiums above Mousehole, run by the same people as the Gurnard's Head. Dogs sleep in the bedrooms — though not on the beds — and can join you in the bar or the Sun Lounge. A short walk from the village and the coast path to Lamorna.

Fourteenth-century inn on St Ives harbour beach with rooms scattered through the building and along the lane. One room, the Bosun's studio just along from the pub, is dog-friendly, with a lounge area and en suite shower. The inn does not publish a dog policy for the bar itself, so ask before you plan an evening in it.