We have been National Trust members for the last two years and have definitely made the most of the membership visiting sites across England! This means we can access dog friendly days out for free wherever we are, we are lucky enough to live about an hour away from Fountains Abbey, one of our go-to ways to spend a dog friendly day out!
Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most popular days out in North Yorkshire. We regularly visit in all seasons but the Abbey is most beautiful in the autumn. It can get very busy at time and because of this, I would recommend avoiding the site at weekends if you like a quieter walk and especially weekends in summer (We do as it gets very very busy).
You can spend as little or as much time as you like at the site exploring the ruins of the Abbey, there are so many different walks with different routes for different abilities which is one of the reasons we love it so much, everytime you explore you can choose a different path and head to explore more areas of the grounds. We have been so many times and still have more we want to see!
Parking on site is free. You can choose from Car park B which takes you straight to the main visitor centre entrance or you can park in the West gate car park depending on where you are coming from one may be easier to access. We have recently started parking in the West Gate Car Park as you don't have to ascend the huge hill dividing the Abbey from the visitor centre.
You do need to keep your dog on a lead around the Abbey as well as in the deer park as the heard are free to roam.
One of our favourite walks is the circular around the Abbey itself and into the Studley Water Gardens. There are a couple of dining option at Fountains, a restaurant onsite at the visitors centre and Studley tearoom further into the site both which are dog friendly, additionally there are plenty of benches if you want to bring your own picnic. Dogs are allowed everywhere on the site apart from a few indoor places which are clearly signed ‘no dogs’.
The site map is available to download below if you’d like to plan a dog friendly visit to Fountains abbey or save it for later.
Thank you for reading
Sarah & Chester x