North of Scotland is the top choice for dog friendly destinations

The Highland region is top dog when it comes to choosing a holiday destination to share with your faithful friend.

Half of Scotland's top 10 most dog-friendly destinations are in the Highland Council area, according to research from holiday rentals search engine HomeToGo, and with Britain’s dog population rising by a reported two million during the pandemic, a holiday location with a pet-friendly policy has become even more important for holiday makers.

Almost half of all 2021 searches for rental cottages so far on the HomeToGo site have used the "pets allowed" filter, with 46 per cent of searches using this option.

This compares with just 28 per cent of pre-pandemic searches in 2019.

To help dog owners with accommodation inspiration, HomeToGo has found the UK destinations with the highest percentages of pet-friendly holiday homes. Although Kenmore in Perth and Kinross tops the Scottish list, Highland destinations dominate the top 10, with Wick just making the top of the table at number nine.

Fort Augustus by Loch Ness is in fifth place, but its is Speyside which seems to be the hot-spot for dog-friendly vacations, with Kingussie, Grantown-on-Spey and Aviemore all among the top seven.

Elterwater in Cumbria and Rhayader in Powys topped the English and Welsh lists.

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