Durham City Cottages

Durham City Cottages is a courtyard of nine small self-contained apartments at Brandon, a village about four miles west of Durham city centre, and it is built around the kind of practicality that makes travelling with a dog easy. You park directly outside your own door, step straight into your own space, and never cross a lobby or a shared corridor. Some of the suites come with a private courtyard garden, which is worth asking for if your dog likes somewhere to sit out. Guests breaking a long drive north find it simple to reach from the A1, and a bus into the city runs from nearby.

Dogs are welcome and the property states its terms plainly: an extra charge of 20 pounds per pet, per stay. That per-pet wording matters. A party arriving with three dogs found the charge applied to each dog rather than to the booking as a whole, and also needed several messages before the dogs were confirmed at all, so anyone bringing more than one is better off agreeing both the total and the permission in writing before travelling.

The walking is the strongest part of the offer. Dog owners consistently point to the network of public footpaths running straight out of the village, with the North Pennines an easy drive for longer days out. The Bay Horse pub sits next door and serves well-regarded food, though it closes on Mondays and Tuesdays and is effectively the village's only amenity.

Size is the main caveat. These are compact units, fine for two people and a dog for a night or two but cramped for longer, and layouts vary: one of the cottages has no window in its living area, which several evenings in a row can make oppressive. Parking bays are tight and can be blocked in. The name also oversells the setting, which is a village rather than the city itself.

The 4.0/5 paw rating across four confirmed dog-owner stays reflects that mix: genuinely convenient and well placed for walks, with a pet charge worth pinning down in advance.