Dog-Friendly Pubs in Northumberland

Last updated: Tuesday 10 November 2026

Northumberland is, generally speaking, wonderfully dog-friendly. In fact, it would be quite high on our list of reasons why we're so happy here.

So perhaps this guide would be better titled Pubs Where Meg Feels Most Welcome.

Because there's dog-friendly — and then there's somewhere you can wander into after a long walk, slightly windswept and possibly covered in sand, with a damp collie beside you, and immediately feel as though nobody minds one bit.

These are some of those places.

Quick picks by town: Bamburgh for a fireside pint after the beach, Beadnell for relaxed evenings by the bay, Seahouses for a harbour view, and Low Newton or Craster if you're walking the coast path.

Dog-Friendly Pubs in Bamburgh

A village with a castle, a huge beach and a remarkable number of places happy to see a wet dog. These are the three we keep going back to.

The Middle Inn

I seem to have a particular fondness for pubs discovered — or rediscovered — in foul weather.

Which brings us to Bamburgh.

The Middle Inn has hosted us when we've arrived absolutely wet through, with Meg gradually drying herself beside the fire while we recovered in the bar.

There's something rather lovely about coming in from a Northumberland day when the weather has completely defeated you.

Wet coats off.

Dog settles down.

Pint arrives.

Suddenly the rain doesn't seem such a terrible thing after all.

On a fine day it's an entirely different place, with an excellent beer garden and Bamburgh waiting outside the door.

Good to know: Dogs are very welcome in the bar and the dining room. The smaller carpeted room at the front is dog-free. The Middle Inn in Listed

The Lord Crewe

Just along the road is The Lord Crewe.

It feels a little more polished than some of our usual post-walk haunts, but we've always found it equally welcoming when Meg has been with us.

Again, we've experienced it at its best after being caught by Northumberland weather — when somewhere warm, comfortable and dog-friendly becomes considerably more important than whatever you'd originally planned for the afternoon.

And if you've somehow managed to visit Bamburgh when it isn't raining sideways, there's a lovely outdoor area here too.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome in the bar area and the garden. The Lord Crewe in Listed

The Victoria Hotel

We've never stayed at The Victoria, but we've wandered in more than once after an early walk, dog in tow, and asked whether there was any chance of breakfast. There always was.

On our last visit we'd walked the coast from Beadnell. By the time we reached Front Street, a cooked breakfast had stopped being a luxury and become a medical necessity. Suitably refuelled, we walked back. Thirteen miles in total. Breakfast earned.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome in the bar and outside, but not in the evening restaurant. Breakfast runs 8–10am and you don't need to book. The bar works on a first-come basis. Dog-friendly rooms are available for a nightly supplement.

Dog-Friendly Pubs in Beadnell

Our home village, so we're biased. But Beadnell manages three very different kinds of evening, and the dog is welcome at all of them.

The Landing

One of our absolute favourites is The Landing at Beadnell Bay.

It's not really what you'd call a traditional pub. Think more relaxed beach bar: good food, coffee, wine and beer, a few minutes from the sand.

More importantly for this particular guide, the staff have always been wonderfully welcoming and all seem to genuinely love dogs.

We've been there on an evening enjoying a pint of Shipyard and a Sauvignon and realised there were almost as many dogs as people. All breeds, all sizes and, somewhat annoyingly for anyone hoping for a good story, all behaving beautifully.

Meg feels completely at home here.

So do we.

Good to know: Indoor and outdoor seating, a few minutes from the beach, and open from breakfast through to evening. The Landing in Listed

The Craster Arms

A proper village pub with a good choice of ales and a big, sunny beer garden that comes into its own in summer, with live music on Saturday evenings through the season. The Craster Arms is also considerably older than it looks: behind the 18th-century front is a medieval tower recorded as far back as 1587. People have been stopping here for a drink rather longer than the caravans up the road have been arriving.

Good to know: Dogs are allowed inside as well as out. Beyond the small bar it feels more like a restaurant, so it suits dinner better than a lingering pint. Portions are generous.

Beadnell Towers

The smartest of Beadnell's three. Beadnell Towers is smart without being stuffy, though Lucy would probably wear a dress for dinner. We've taken Meg into the bar plenty of times, and the hotel has a reputation for making four-legged guests as welcome as their owners. There's even a dog-wash for sandy paws.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome in the bar but not in the restaurant itself, and they're welcome in the hotel rooms too. There are wellies, brollies and beach rugs to borrow.

Dog-Friendly Pubs in Seahouses

The Black Swan

We found The Black Swan on a Sunday when we'd already failed to find lunch in three other places. A corner table in the Orangery, Meg curled up beside us, and all three of us exhaled at once. Then came the sticky-toffee-banoffee, which is presumably what happens when the kitchen can't decide between two puddings. Excellent decision.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome in the bar and courtyard at any time, and in the Orangery from 11.30am to 3pm, but not in the restaurant. The dog-friendly tables can't be booked, so arrive early.

The Bamburgh Castle Inn

Despite the name, The Bamburgh Castle Inn is in Seahouses, right on the harbour. It's full of nooks to tuck yourself into, and if you can get a window seat there's a lovely view across the harbour. It does good pub food, though Tom still thinks his scampi portion belonged on the children's menu.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome throughout, with a dog-free area in the dining room, and dog-friendly rooms are available. You order at the bar, so the queue can be slow at Sunday lunch; we go at quieter times. On-site parking fills quickly.

Along the Coast Path: Low Newton and Craster

If you're walking between Craster and Beadnell, these three make a very good excuse to stop.

The Joiners Arms, Newton-by-the-Sea

The Joiners Arms makes an excellent stop if you're walking this stretch of the Northumberland coast.

On a warm summer afternoon, sitting outside with a drink after a walk is pretty hard to beat.

Oddly though, my favourite memory of the place involves absolutely appalling weather.

Storm Barra. December 2021.

Quite stupidly, Meg and I decided it would be fun to walk Link House Beach with our friend Madoc in what felt like hurricane-force winds.

Walking towards Beadnell was like landing on Mars.

The sand had been stripped from huge sections of the beach and blown into enormous drifts at one end, leaving rock and clay exposed beneath our feet. Every few seconds another blast sent tiny grains of sand hurtling horizontally across the beach like miniature darts.

Every step forward required genuine commitment.

Hoods were up.

Madoc had goggles on.

Meg simply put her ears back and her tail up, presumably imagining she'd finally been called upon to do some proper collie work up on t'moor.

A walk that would normally take around 45 minutes took us the best part of two hours.

Eventually we turned around.

With the wind now behind us, we were practically blown back towards the pub.

Remarkably, The Joiners Arms was open.

Four o'clock on a December afternoon. Storm raging outside. Christmas lights already glowing inside.

And in the bar?

A barman.

Two idiots.

And a dog.

It was fantastically comforting.

Sometimes that's the best test of a dog-friendly pub.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome everywhere, including the rooms. The Joiners Arms in Listed

The Ship Inn, Low Newton

Tucked into the corner of a whitewashed courtyard yards from the beach, The Ship brews its own beer and is made for a sunny afternoon on the coast path. The courtyard is sheltered on three sides. On a warm day we'd take it over indoors every time.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome. Inside is cosy but small, so book if you want to eat indoors, especially at weekends. Park in the car park above the village and walk down.

The Jolly Fisherman, Craster

The Jolly Fisherman sits above Craster's tiny harbour, and we've lost count of the lunches we've had there with Meg, in the bar and outside. If you're walking the coast path up from Boulmer, it's exactly where you want to stop: a pint and a toastie, or a crab sandwich, before carrying on to Dunstanburgh.

Good to know: Dogs are welcome in the bar and on the patio, which has a lovely view over the harbour, but not in the restaurant.

Pubs With Rooms That Welcome Dogs

If you'd rather not drive home, several of these take dogs overnight too. The Victoria, The Bamburgh Castle Inn, Beadnell Towers and The Joiners Arms all welcome dogs in their rooms, and The Craster Arms is worth asking about. We live down the road, so we haven't stayed in any of them ourselves; check each pub's own dog policy when you book.

So, which is our favourite?

That's difficult.

The Landing probably wins for those easy Beadnell evenings when we've walked off the beach and aren't quite ready to go home.

The Joiners Arms has one of our favourite memories attached to it.

And the Bamburgh pubs have rescued us from the weather often enough that we probably owe them all a pint.

The Black Swan will forever be the pub that rescued a Sunday that refused to go to plan.

Perhaps that's really what we're looking for when we say dog-friendly.

Not simply a sign on the door saying dogs are allowed.

It's somewhere you can arrive with muddy boots, windswept hair and a slightly damp collie — and still feel genuinely welcome.

Those are the places Meg remembers.

And, strangely enough, so do we.