How can I travel to France and take my dog with me?

Question

How can I travel to France and take my dog with me?

Answer 1

France is very dog friendly. You'll see people taking their dogs into cafes all the time. Hotels that accept pets are very common.

Answer 2

He has to have his rabies vaccine, this will take 6 months before you can travel.

On the ferry they stay in the car,you can have limited access to the car deck to check on him. The crossings to Calais they don't let you down on the car deck as the crossing is only 75mins

[ Speed ferries are much quicker]

France is more dog friendly than here, have taken mine all over the place, they have been into several bars,restaurants.

You pay DEFRA  a charge for checking your dog in & out of France.This is done via booking with your ferry company so dont worry about it.

On your return you take them to a local vet for ticks & worming treatment, they are not allowed back in if this is not done.

Make sure you have good pet insurance as if it goes wrong you could end up with him in quarintine until everything is sorted out.

My dogs are both seasoned ferry travellers on all crossings including the long one from Portsmouth to St Malo.

There are some nasty ticks on the coast that if picked up cause a nasty liver problem so talk to your vet as to what to look out for.

Happy travelling.

Answer 3

By Ferry.

Try Speedferries out of dover to Boulogne.

Their website has specific information about just that.

Answer 4

Check with the French embassy in your country for details. But I'm pretty sure you can take a few pets with you. I've put a couple of links down the bottom, they have slightly different information but probably one was updated more recently. They probably need to have a certificate from a vet stating they are in good health and have their rabies shots. From what I've heard France, Paris at least, is dog-friendly and you should be fine with finding hotels etc. Talk to your airline as well about what their regulations are.

http://www.ambafrance-us.org/intheus/cus...

http://www.intransit-international.com/m...

Answer 5

Taking him to France isn't a problem but presumably you want to bring him back!

It takes around 8 months to prepare, if he hasn't had rabies innoculations. This site tells you all you need to know:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quaranti...

Answer 6

1. the travel:

depending on the size of your dog it can be allowed in cabin with you for the flight.

2. on arrival:

make sure before leaving that your dog has all required vaccines and that you have the proper documents that will be required by French customs (have a look at http://www.douane.gouv.fr/page.asp?id=10... )

once in France you can go almost everywhere with your dog. Just be careful with some hostel which are not allowing pets in rooms (ask the hostel or residence you are going to be if they allow pets).

Answer 7

by car ferry france is were dogs are allowed anywhere

Answer 8

Assuming your dog has a pet passport, you can use Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth/Poole/Plymouth. We use them regularly with our 2 dogs.