Whitstable

Whitstable is one of the more genuinely dog-easy seaside towns on this coast, but only if you know where the line is drawn. West Beach, on the Seasalter side of the harbour, is dog friendly all year, no seasonal catch, just the usual expectation that you keep control and clear up. The harbour itself follows the same rule: dogs are welcome around the market stalls, the South Quay Shed and the Harbour Garden café, on a lead if it's busy. Tankerton is the one place to get right. Canterbury City Council's dog control PSPO closes the beach level between Pier Avenue West and The Street to dogs completely from 1 May to 30 September, while the promenade above stays open on a lead no longer than two metres for the same months. Turn up in August expecting to let your dog loose on Tankerton shingle and you're risking a fine, not just a telling off.

For a proper walk, skip the vague local name and head for the Crab & Winkle Way, a roughly 7.5 mile former railway path running from Canterbury West station to Whitstable Harbour. Most of it is flat, traffic free and shaded, ideal for a dog that wants distance without pavement pounding, though the Crab and Winkle Line Trust itself warns that the short section along South Street has no pavement and needs a lead on. If you'd rather stay closer to town, Whitstable Harbour to West Beach and back makes an easy hour with plenty of sniffing stops.

For the pub stop, the Old Neptune is the one to know, a proper beach pub on Marine Terrace with sand and shingle right up to the tables, dogs welcome on lead inside and out. Pearson's Arms on the Horsebridge sea wall is the better bet if you want food with your dog, dogs are welcome in the bar and downstairs snug, though the pub asks dogs to be out by 9pm and keeps them out of the upstairs restaurant, so mention your dog when you book.

The honest limitation here is the Whitstable Oyster Company. It's the destination restaurant most visitors come to Whitstable for, Michelin listed, right on the Horsebridge, and its own reservations page is blunt about dogs not being allowed in the restaurant or on the outside decking. Don't plan a food stop around it if your dog is with you, eat there another day.

One practical tip that saves a wasted half hour in July: park at Gorrell Tank rather than hunting Marine Terrace, it's Canterbury City Council's top pricing band but it's a five to ten minute walk from both the harbour and West Beach, and it doesn't fill as fast as the seafront spaces do once the day trippers arrive.