Dog-friendly Sherborne

Big stone pub on Half Moon Street facing Sherborne Abbey, with a courtyard and a proper front bar. Dogs are welcomed in the bar area, where there are treats and water bowls, but not the rest of the house. Central, and the abbey close is a two-minute walk.

Three level miles in an hour and a half round a fifty-acre Capability Brown lake, past the cascade, Earl Henry’s Bridge and the folly, with the ruined Old Castle on the far shore and the golden hamstone new castle above. Gravel drive and mown grass, 50 metres of climb, and easy underfoot in any weather. Start at the Sherborne Castle visitor car park, free with garden admission, roughly two hundred spaces, and the castle is a twenty-minute walk from Sherborne station on the Exeter line. Dogs are welcome in the gardens on a short lead at all times, and on leads at the English Heritage Old Castle too, but they are not admitted to the castle, shop or tearoom, and swimming in the lake is not allowed.

Georgian townhouse hotel and spa on Long Street with a walled garden, the smartest bed in Sherborne. Nine of the bedrooms are dog-friendly and come with a dog bed, bowls, treats, a toy and a welcome letter for the dog; the charge is £25 per dog per stay. Ring reception rather than booking online so the right room is held.

Boutique hotel, spa and restaurant on the edge of Sherborne, a walk from the abbey and the two castles. Dogs are welcome throughout the hotel and the lounges, and designated dog-friendly bedrooms must be requested when booking. Some spaces may be restricted at peak dining times.

Sir Walter Raleigh's Elizabethan house with a Capability Brown lake and thirty acres of pleasure grounds, and the ruins of the older castle across the water. Dogs are welcome but must be kept on a short lead at all times, with waste bagged and put in the garden bins. The lakeside circuit is the walk to do.