Our Guide to Dog Friendly Cardiff City Centre

Compact and full of multicultural wonders, our favourite city Cardiff dances to its own beat.

The city centre is home to many dog friendly places in Cardiff, including shops, restaurants, and bars. Here’s our guide on how to enjoy dog friendly Cardiff with your pooch.

---

City Centre Walks

In the heart of Cardiff city is Bute Park, also known as the “green heart” of Cardiff. It’s just a short walk away from Cardiff city centre and next to the famous Cardiff Castle. This park has a broad mix of historic landscapes, urban woodland, sports pitches, and more. With 56 hectares of land to explore your pooch has plenty of open spaces to stretch their legs or get rid of any pent up energy.  

A short bus ride away from the city centre will take you to Roath Park. This park boasts a 30-acre lake, rose gardens, tree-lined paths, lawns and wild nooks. 

Once the walkies are done, you’re ready to tuck into some of our favourite dog friendly places in Cardiff.

Breakfast

It’s no secret that breakfast is the most important meal of the day! If it’s a nice sunny day, following on from Bute Park you could enjoy a nice outdoor breakfast at the Secret Garden. This walled cafe provides a well-covered area, offering breakfast with a view. Alternatively, I Want to Ride my Bike Cafe on Park Place situated next to the National Cardiff Museum also has a breakfast menu with a great view. 

Our go-to place for a nice breakfast with the dog in tow has to be Stag Coffee on Crwys Road, about a 30-minute walk from Queen Street Station. This place offers breakfast all day long and hey, there may even be a free sausage in it for the dog!

If it’s coffee your after, Little Man Coffee Company has you covered sitting just across from the St Davids Centre. This place has an amazing range of warming brews. Their menu also includes homemade baked beans on doorstop toast, avo, and feta bagel.

Shopping 

After breakfast, perhaps you want to enjoy a spot of shopping after all Cardiff has a plethora of places to shop with the pooch. Our favourites include John Lewis, Seasalt, Fat Face, Cath Kidston, Vans, Urban Outfitters and Lush Cosmetics. All of the staff were super excited to see a dog in the shop and say they wish more dogs came in to visit. 

Lunch

Next up – Lunch! One thing is for certain, you’re never short of a pie. The Stable situated just outside of the St Davids Centre,  is well known for its pizza, pies, and cider! Staff are super accommodating asking first and foremost if the dog wants water. Other dog friendly pie places include Pieminister and Cambrian Tap!

Fancy a Happy Hour cocktail to go with your lunch? Then we recommend Mocka Lounge, who’s happy hour starts from 11 am and ends around 3 pm. They have a well-rounded and mouth-watering menu with something for everyone.

Happy to sit outside? On the one hand you have Bills and on the other hand, is The Smoke Haus. Both are happy to accommodate pooches outside – and boy the Smoke Haus’ Southern American BBQ tops the list! 

Vegan? The Greazy Vegan has got your back with Vegan junk food including  The Big Moc, Vopper, Vebabs, and Dirty Fries.

Drinks

Cardiff is home to so many places where you can grab a nice drink with the pooch. We’ve already named a few above but have a few special mentions. Kongs on St Marys St is a large industrial basement dotted with retro games and ping pong tables – like an adult’s arcade. The drinks are perfect and the food is tasty with big dirty burgers and fries.

Other places include Tiny Rebel, BrewDog, Beelzebubs, The Pen and Wig, Head of Steam and Dickens Kitchen and Bar. 

Looking for a guide somewhere else? How about Manchester or Liverpool? Alternatively, just across the pond, Bristol has plenty of dog friendly places and our friends at GuDog have shared some great walks for dog owners to enjoy.

So that wraps up our little guide. Are there any dog friendly places in Cardiff you’ve visited which we can add to our website? Leave a reply below or tell us on Instagram Twitter or Facebook.