Festive Days Out With Your Dogs In Cornwall

We may be biased but we think Cornwall is the perfect place to live out your festive fantasies, with pretty coastal towns and villages festooned with illustrious illuminations, crisp frost laden mornings on the beach set against the drama of the winter seas and some glorious gardens embellished with all the luminescence that Christmas deserves.

And being able to share all of this with your furriest members of your families only adds to the festive magic. 

Festive Days Out Christmas 2021

This year, unfortunately, Christmas will, yet again, be celebrated against the backdrop of Coronavirus. So, with this in mind, we have compiled our recommendations of festive days out with your dog in Cornwall, with an emphasis on the outside. And with the fickle weather in this part of the world, we can’t guarantee a non-soggy outing but it is vitally important we keep each other safe this winter. This also will be a choice that will be greatly appreciated by your dogs and with the extra treats around at Christmas, it will probably be greatly appreciated by ours and our four-legged friends’ waistlines too!!

The Best Christmas Lights in Cornwall

One of our favourite things to do during the festive period is to get on our coats, dog or otherwise, and get out to one of the spectacular light displays that are put on around our magnificent county. 

Christmas lights were adopted into the Christmas tradition in the late 19th century when people started to decorate their trees with candles and small lanterns. Once electricity was more widely available, the more familiar sight of the fairy light became commonplace. 

Today, many homes, towns, cities and businesses embellish their foliage and buildings with a glut of glistening glass and delightful decorations to instil a healthy dose of Christmas spirit into everyone who sees them. And in Cornwall, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to these illustrious illuminations. 

Angarrack Christmas Lights 

The lights at Angarrack, in West Cornwall just a stone’s throw from the The Pets Larder headquarters, are famous across the county. This fabulously festive light show is an homage to the carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, and features some stunning designs, some of which are over 20 meters wide and 10 meters tall! All of the displays in Angarrack are designed and built by local people in this cute Cornish village and are ready for your perusal every day between 5 pm and 10.30 pm.

Mousehole Harbour Christmas Lights

The Mousehole Harbour Lights display was started in 1963 by local artist Joan Gilcrest, and since then has become one of the most well-known displays of Christmas lights in the county, if not the country. This volunteer-created show is a feast for the eyes, with decorations absolutely everywhere you look in this pretty seaside village and is a perfect place to spend a family evening out. The festivities at Mousehole aren’t just limited to the land either, with plenty of amazing sights to be seen in the harbour itself. 

If you do have the pleasure of visiting this Christmas miracle do make sure you take the time to donate to the cause at www.mouseholelights.org.uk, as everything you see is thanks to the hard work of volunteers and fundraisers. You can even get involved with the setup as the charity is always happy to welcome new volunteers every Christmas.

Glorious Winter Gardens 

Although it may not always be high on the agenda in the winters months, we all can benefit from a good long walk on a crisp December day. Our dogs need to be exercised regularly, whatever the time of year, and taking them somewhere new can be the best gift you can give them. With a plethora of new sights, sounds and smells to explore and the chance to stretch their legs on some unexplored turf, a winter walk in a new and exciting place is, often, just what the vet ordered. Why not take your dog down to The Lost Gardens Of Heligan and explore the 200-acre garden to make up for the overindulgence in mince pies, or perhaps try an adventure in the sub-tropical surroundings of Trebah Garden and see some less traditional flora and fauna for the time of year. Booking for Trebah Garden is essential. 

Winter walks are traditional in many households in Cornwall at this time of year and it’s no wonder when there are so many glorious gardens to explore.

Wherever you go it’s important to make sure you are well prepared, have booked ahead when necessary and are keeping you and all your family safe and sound this Christmas. 

So, despite the pandemic, there are so many amazing places to visit this Christmas with your dog, that will get your festive juices flowing. Whether it’s taking in the illustrious illuminations strung up in our stunning coastal towns and villages, or a simple walk on a frost laden morning in stunning surroundings, we know you and your dogs will be feeling the Christmas spirit after your adventure.