Best Dog Friendly Pub Walks in Kent

One of the most beautiful circular walks in the county. Drop through Chilham Castle parkland to the River Great Stour, follow the valley east to Chartham, then return via the ridge of the ancient Pilgrims' Way with views opening south across the Downs. The final descent back to Chilham's Norman motte and perfectly preserved Tudor square is genuinely memorable.

The Duck Inn at Pett Bottom was Roald Dahl's local — he walked here from the family home in Bexley during his childhood. The walk follows the Nailbourne, a rare seasonal chalk stream that only flows in wet years, west to Bridge village before climbing the escarpment via the Old Pilgrims' Way and returning across the valley plateau.

The climb out of Wye to the Crown — a chalk monument cut into the hillside — is steep but short and the views from the top are among the very best in Kent: south over Romney Marsh, north across the Stour Valley, east towards Canterbury. The walk continues across Wye National Nature Reserve, a rare chalk grassland with orchids in summer, before looping back via Crundale's tiny Norman church.

Pluckley holds the Guinness World Record as England's most haunted village — twelve documented ghosts allegedly reside here. The walk threads between the apple orchards and old hop gardens that define this part of the Weald, with a section through Surrenden bluebell woods (spectacular in late April) and past the ruins of Surrenden Dering House. Atmospheric at any time of year; genuinely eerie in autumn mist.

This walk pairs beautifully with a visit to Ightham Mote — the National Trust's perfectly preserved medieval manor house, where dogs are welcome throughout the grounds and along the lake path. From the village, the route climbs to One Tree Hill viewpoint (sweeping views north to the Thames Estuary on clear days), drops through chestnut coppice woodland and returns via apple orchards and a ford.

Elham is one of the most underrated villages in Kent — largely bypassed by tourist routes, with a handsome flint church, a proper old market square, and countryside that feels genuinely unspoiled. The walk drops south along the valley floor with the Nailbourne stream running alongside in winter, climbs the chalk escarpment to Stelling Minnis (one of Kent's few remaining village greens with grazing rights), and returns across open plateau with distant sea views.

The Royal Military Canal is one of England's most unusual landscapes: a 28-mile defensive waterway built in 1804 to resist Napoleon's invasion, running behind the shingle ridgeline of Romney Marsh. The towpath from Warehorne to Appledore is entirely flat, low-footfall, and wide — ideal for dogs with recall issues, as there's nowhere to disappear. The marsh stretches in every direction, with Dungeness power station on the horizon and huge open skies.

The Dirty Habit — formerly a hostelry for pilgrims on their way to Canterbury — sits at the foot of the North Downs scarp directly on the NDW long distance path, which makes it uniquely easy to build a satisfying circular around. The walk climbs the chalk escarpment east from Hollingbourne, follows the ridge to Harrietsham with views south over the Weald, and descends via the meadows of the valley floor. The pub is precisely where you need it: halfway through, or at the end.