Brimble Cottage, Axminster

Brimble Cottage is a split-level two-bedroom cottage in the countryside outside Axminster, about three miles from Lyme Regis, and it makes an easy base for a couple or small family travelling with a dog. It is a quiet hideaway rather than a village-centre place: you get the whole cottage, garden access, and enough room that the split-level layout feels larger than two bedrooms suggests.

One dog is welcome and there is no pet charge, which is unusual enough among self-catering cottages to be worth saying plainly. What guests travelling with dogs single out is the welcome pack waiting on arrival and the trouble the owners go to over the dog specifically, rather than the more common arrangement where a dog is simply permitted and nothing more is said about it. Assistance dogs are welcome too.

The location is the other draw. Lyme Regis is a short drive away for the Cobb, the harbour and the fossil beaches, and the South West Coast Path runs through the area for longer walks. Dog restrictions apply on the main Lyme Regis beaches between May and September, so the coast path and the surrounding Devon and Dorset lanes are the better bet in high summer. Axminster itself has a weekly market and enough shops to stock up for a self-catering week.

One thing to plan around: there is poultry and sheep on neighbouring land, so a dog with a strong prey drive will need to stay under close control around the cottage and on the lanes nearby. With one dog permitted and a single bathroom in a cottage sleeping four, it suits a small party rather than a large group with a pack. For a quiet rural Devon base within reach of the Jurassic Coast, where the owners clearly enjoy having dogs to stay, Brimble Cottage earns a 4.5/5 paw rating.