If you're travelling in Europe with your dog, it's amazing how many hotels are dog-friendly.

When the DwD team were researching the motorway walks just off the autoroutes in France, we did a mix of campervan and budget hotels. This worked OK, but after a while - and don't forget we drove round France completely twice - we noticed that there are loads of hotels where dogs are welcome. It's so standard that no-one thinks to mention it!

Italy is possibly the most dog-friendly place to find accommodation for you and the pooch, as well as Europe generally. So if you're looking for somewhere that's dog-friendly, and a lot more comfortable than the budget-chains (Ibis, F1, etc) it's worth taking a look to see what else is available.

Depending on the time of year, you could find that the so-called Budget hotels are not the cheapest option. You pay separately for everything, and it's sometimes hard to spot the extras beforehand. They are very convenient for a no-frills overnight stop on long motorway drives though.

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