Living in a city centre with a dog and without a car means that you're somewhat restricted as to where you can take your dog on a walk. You can find yourself going to the same places and needing inspiration of where to go next, which is why I've put together this dog friendly walks from Manchester city centre guide to help inspire you to explore new places with your dog that you can get to by foot, tram & train.
I will continue to add to this list as I discover more dog friendly walks to share with you!
Anything in bold is clickable and links to relevant and additional info😊
Dog Friendly Walks In Manchester City Centre
An incredibly dog friendly serene waterside central spot close to Ancoats with grass areas, picnic benches, wildlife and local eateries & bars to enjoy which are:
Light-filled, local bakery specialising in sourdough bread & viennoiserie baked goods, plus coffee.
Neighbourhood natural wine bar and bottle shop with seasonal dishes meant to share.
Laid-back hangout with outdoor seating offering a variety of draught & bottled beers.
Café serving great coffee, bagels, wine & beer.
A dog friendly public park located close to Piccadilly covering 6.5 acres with 142 trees, 120,000 shrubs and plants. The park features a kids’ play zone with 6 slides, all woven around the River Medlock – one of Manchester’s founding rivers. Get more info at mayfieldpark.com
You can enjoy a steaming hot brew or ice cold coffee in the small independent outdoor café The Long And Short Coffee Co located inside the park which is open 10-5 everyday.
Dog Friendly Walks By Foot From Manchester City Centre
A riverside park located close to the Etihad stadium which features a playground, football pitch, pump track & tree-shaded paths. To get there by foot with a nice waterside walk, take the path that runs alongside Ashton canal from the city centre, we usually jump on the path in New Islington close by to the tram stop however there are many other parts of the path you can join at from the city centre.
Dog Friendly Walks By Tram From Manchester City Centre
Heaton Park
18 minute tram ride from Market Street (green or yellow line - Bury) - Heaton Park
A dog friendly public park open from 8am until dusk everyday. Covering an area of over 600 acres, the park includes the grounds of a Grade I listed, neoclassical 18th century country house, Heaton Hall. Take a picnic and find your perfect spot to settle down with a blanket or two or if that's not your vibe you can grab a refreshment at one of the four cafes in the park:
Both serve Barista-crafted coffee, made to order milkshakes and smoothies and freshly prepared breakfast and lunch. You can also grab Heaton Park honey in the Stables café! Both cafés are open every day, with hours varying depending on the season and park closing times.
The Hidden Gem café at Heaton Park Garden Centre serves tea & coffee with homemade organic cakes and pastries from 9.30am to 4.30pm every day.
The café at Heaton Park Golf Centre serve breakfast barms, sandwiches, soup and burgers to golfers and non golfers from 8am - 4pm every day.
16 minute tram ride from St Peters Square (Navy line - Manchester Airport)- Barlow Moor Road
17 minute walk from Barlow Moor Road tram stop - Chorlton water park
(33 minutes travel time)
A dog friendly nature reserve comprising of a lake surrounded by grasslands and woodlands that runs alongside the River Mersey. The park features a pong-dipping platform, play area, car park, toilet facilities & an ice cream van.
There is a dog friendly pub a 25 minute walk away from the water park down the River Mersey called Jacksons Boat which has indoor and outdoor seating and serves hot and cold food. You can use Google maps to easily find the route and you can see an image of the route on Google maps in the images below. Visit Jacksons Boats website to discover their menu and more.
19 minute tram ride from St Peters Square (blue line - Manchester Airport) - Sale
14 minute walk from Sale tram stop - Sale water park
(33 minutes travel time)
Sale water park is a dog friendly area of countryside and parkland containing a lake, woodland, meadows, the River Mersey, a café, restaurant and water sports centre.
The Boathouse is a restaurant, bar and grill situated lakeside and serves both lunch and dinner with opening times varying from day to day.
Not far from the water park is Jacksons Boat, a traditional dog friendly pub with a large beer garden and a childrens play area on the banks of the River Mersey serving food all day.
13 minute tram ride from St Peters Square (green line - Altrincham) - Stretford
16 minute walk from Stretford tram station - the River Mersey via Hawthorn road.
(29 minutes travel time)
You can chose which direction you go in, where to go and how long to walk from here with some popular options being Didsbury, Northenden, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Stretford, Sale however we like to head towards Chorlton water park which takes 50 minutes, we then walk around the water park and head out and up to Chorlton for a pit stop somewhere before getting the tram back from Chorlton.
21 minute tram ride from St Peters Square (pink line - East Didsbury) - Didsbury village
14 minute walk from Didsbury village tram stop - Fletcher Moss
(35 minutes travel time)
A dog friendly award winning park and gardens which aims to be the most sustainable park in Manchester and a lure for wildlife. Spot interesting and rare trees, visit the croft, pop to The Apline Tea Room and stroll amongst the greenery.
11 minute tram ride from St Peters Square (purple line - Altrincham) - Old Trafford
14 minute walk from Old Trafford - Longford Park
A dog friendly park with wildlife gardens, pets corner, playgrounds, tennis court, basketball court, disk golf course, bowling green, tree trail, toilets and café servings coffee, cakes, bread, brunch and much more. As it borders both Chorlton and Stretford you could explore either of them after your park trip and get the tram back to town from there.
Dog Friendly Walks By Train From Manchester City Centre
32 minute train ride from Manchester Piccadilly
This walk takes you from Marsden train station to Slaithwaite train station along the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and takes around 55 minutes if you don't stop off at Zapato brewing brewery on the way. When you get to Slaithwaite you'll have an abundance of food and drink options but we recommend that you visit Anello by the creators of Rudy's pizza.
38 minute train ride from Slaithwaite - Manchester Piccadilly
35 minute train ride from Manchester Victoria
A dog friendly walking path runs alongside the sizable, scenic reservoir in a tranquil, wooded environment which is around 2.5 miles long. Start and or finish the walk around the reservoir by visiting The Strawburry Duck, arguably the most dog friendly pub we've been to as they supply a selection of dog delights on their menu from pigs ears to chipolata sausages. They even have a vegan and gluten free menu if you're either.
Hathersage
55 minute train journey from Manchester Piccadilly
There are many different walks of many different distances that you can take from Hathersage, however, we took the Stanage Edge circular walk from Hathersage train station which is around 9 miles and has superb views of the Derwent and Hope Valleys, Mam Tor and Kinder Scout.
When you return back in Hathersage there's a great selection of places you can grab food and drink from before heading back to town but we got coffee and cake from Nineteen Ten Café.
1 hour 35 mins (minimum) from Manchester Piccadilly
An incredibly dog friendly location in the Lake District surrounded by peaks and villages. There are numerous ways to spend the day in Windermere from hiking to boating. When you get to Windermere train station there is an information centre located close by you can get all kinds of guides from.
We spent the day going to two viewpoints Orrest head and Queen Adelaide's Hill then we visited the lakeside Bowness on Windermere where Wallace had a shallow dip to cool off and we all ended the day in the lovely beer garden of The Easy Breeze.
