Queens Head Inn

The Queens Head is a village pub with rooms in Tirril, a couple of miles south-west of Penrith and a short drive from the Ullswater shore. It is a proper Lakeland local rather than a hotel, and dogs are a normal part of the scene - the bar welcomes them, so you can walk in off the fells with a wet dog and settle by the fire without anyone raising an eyebrow.

Guests travelling with pets rate the welcome highly, and the inn is comfortable with more than one dog at a time; people have arrived with a small pack and still found room made for them. The bedrooms are clean and smartly done, the bar is cosy and quiet in the evenings, and the fire makes it easy to settle in on a wet night. The kitchen is the recurring grumble: the menu is short, and while the food is generally well liked, guests staying more than a night notice the limited choice. The pub changed hands relatively recently and visitors since have been positive about the new management.

Tirril is small and quiet, which suits a dog that settles better away from crowds. Penrith is five minutes by car for supplies, and Ullswater, Pooley Bridge and the eastern fells are all within a fifteen-minute drive.

Some practical caveats. There is no grass immediately around the inn, so a late-night toilet trip means walking out into the village lanes - worth knowing if your dog needs to go out at 2am. The bedrooms are up stairs with no lift. Because dogs stay in the rooms as well as the bar, sound carries: guests have occasionally been woken overnight by another dog barking. Standards have also not been consistent for everyone, and a minority of visitors have been unimpressed with cleanliness in the dining area and with the drinks range.

Best suited to walkers and couples with one to three settled dogs who want an unfussy country pub near Penrith and Ullswater, are happy with stairs, and don't mind a short walk for the last outing of the day.