Taking your dog to Europe from the UK: AHC, ferry or tunnel

The gîte in Normandy says dogs welcome. The ferry says pets welcome. You have the lead, the bowl and a bag of food that takes up half the boot. Then the receptionist at the vet's asks a question you had not thought about: "And what day exactly are you crossing?"

Taking your dog to Europe from the UK is very doable, but the paperwork runs on dates. According to GOV.UK, checked on 10 October 2026, your dog needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before travel, and an animal health certificate (AHC) from an official vet, issued no more than 10 days before you enter the EU. On the way home, a vet must give your dog a tapeworm treatment between 24 hours and 5 days before you arrive back in Great Britain. To cross, take the car: on LeShuttle your dog stays with you for the whole crossing, and on the short ferry routes it waits in the car. Eurostar does not take pets to or from London, and a dog flying back into the UK travels as cargo.

What GOV.UK says right now, and what may change in 2027

You may have read that pet passports are coming back. They are, eventually. But they are not here yet, and getting this wrong at the port is the expensive way to find out.

This is what applies today. GOV.UK's page on taking your pet abroad says: "Get an animal health certificate from your vet if you're going to an EU country." And it is blunt about the old passports: "If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you cannot use a pet passport to enter the EU - even if it was issued in the EU. If you use a pet passport instead of an animal health certificate, your pet may be refused entry."

What is changing is the UK-EU sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement. Defra's guidance, updated on 30 July 2026, says pet owners "will be able to get a multiuse pet passport valid for EU travel, rather than obtaining a new animal health certificate for each trip". It also says: "In the meantime, owners will still need an animal health certificate for their dog, cat or ferret if they are travelling from Great Britain to an EU country." The target date is mid-2027, "subject to negotiations".

So if you are travelling this autumn, this winter or next spring, plan on an AHC for every trip. And check GOV.UK again the week you book the vet, because this is exactly the sort of rule that changes between reading an article and leaving the house.

The animal health certificate: the 10-day window

Most problems with the AHC are about the calendar, not the vet.

The order is fixed. First the microchip, before or at the same time as the rabies vaccination; if the chip goes in later, the vaccination has to be done again. Then the rabies vaccination, which your vet can only give once your dog is at least 12 weeks old. Then a wait of at least 21 full days after the first vaccination, sometimes longer depending on the vaccine. If your dog is already vaccinated and the boosters have never lapsed, there is no wait.

Only then comes the certificate, and it has to be signed by an official veterinarian (OV). Not every practice has one, so ask when you book. GOV.UK suggests mentioning the AHC when your pet goes in for the rabies jab, to give the vet time to prepare it. You will also sign a declaration that you are not going to sell or rehome your dog while you are away. One certificate can cover up to five pets.

Then comes the date that catches people out. Your dog must enter the EU within 10 days of the certificate being issued, and the day it is issued counts as day 1. Get it on a Monday for a crossing in two weeks and it is no use. Once you are in, the same certificate covers onward travel between EU countries and your return to Great Britain for 6 months. You need a new one for every trip.

Taking a dog to France by car: Eurotunnel or the ferry

For most people the car is the answer. It is the route with the fewest rules about where your dog goes, and the one where your dog spends least time away from you.

LeShuttle (Eurotunnel), Folkestone to Calais. Your dog stays in the car with you. LeShuttle asks you to check in at Pet Reception, which is open 24 hours, and to arrive at least 90 minutes before your departure. The crossing itself is 35 minutes, "with your pet by your side", in their words. For a dog that does not like being left, this is the gentlest option.

The short ferry routes, Dover to Calais or Dunkirk. On DFDS and P&O Ferries, pets stay in your vehicle during the crossing. P&O also has a pet lounge on Dover to Calais, for dogs only, which you book in advance. DFDS says foot passengers are not permitted on its Dover to France routes, so this is a car-only crossing either way.

The long ferry routes, to Normandy, Brittany or Spain. Brittany Ferries says your pet can travel "in your car, in a kennel or in a pet-friendly cabin", depending on the ship and route, and warns that space is very limited in summer. If you are sailing overnight to Spain, the pet-friendly cabins are the first thing to book, before your own seat.

Whichever you choose, book your dog onto the crossing when you book the car. Pet places are limited, and P&O says they cannot be booked at the port.

Can you take a dog on the Eurostar? And flying

No. Eurostar's own page says: "Pets are not allowed on trains to and from London." Guide and assistance dogs can travel if you contact Eurostar at least 24 hours before. Eurostar does take pets on some routes between Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, which helps once you are over there, but not to get there.

Flying is possible but rarely the easy option for a holiday. GOV.UK says pets coming into Great Britain "have to travel as cargo on a plane", unless you are on a chartered private plane or travelling with a guide or assistance dog. So even if you find a way to fly out with your dog, the flight home means the hold. For most dogs and most trips, the car wins.

Coming home: the tapeworm treatment

This is the part people forget, because it happens abroad. A vet must treat your dog against tapeworm no less than 24 hours and no more than 5 days (120 hours) before you arrive back in Great Britain, and record it on the AHC. If you do not, your dog can be refused entry or put into quarantine.

In practice, that means booking a vet in France or wherever you are for the last few days of the trip, the same way you would book a table. Look one up near your final stop before you leave home. For short trips there is a shortcut: if you are back within 5 days, your UK vet can give the treatment before you go, as long as you return at least 24 hours after it and within the 5 days. GOV.UK also recommends treating your dog again within 28 days of getting home.

Two exceptions are worth knowing. Coming back directly from Ireland, Finland, Malta, Norway or Northern Ireland, no tapeworm treatment is needed. And Northern Ireland has its own rules: from Great Britain, you need a free Northern Ireland pet travel document, and no rabies vaccination or tapeworm treatment.

Who you go with matters more with a dog in the car

Here is what the checklists leave out. The paperwork is the hard part on paper. On the road, the hard part is everything that happens when you are the only adult.

Eight hours of driving to the Dordogne with no one to take over. A service station where you cannot leave the dog in a hot car and cannot take it into the shop. A restaurant terrace that says yes to the dog and a museum that says no. A morning walk at seven because the dog has decided so. None of it is a reason not to go. All of it is easier with a second person who knows what they signed up for.

That last bit is the important one. "Do you mind if the dog comes?" invites a polite yes. "Do you want to do a trip with a dog in it?" gets you the real answer. Before you book, talk about who drives which stretch, who stays with the dog when the plan does not allow it, and who pays the dog supplement at the gîte. How to choose travel companions has the questions worth asking, and how to travel with friends and stay friends covers the money part.

If your usual people cannot come or are not dog people, TravelMatch is a way to find someone going the same way. You post your trip, say ten days driving through Brittany in May, or ask to join someone else's. Every profile shows whether that person travels with a pet and whether they are comfortable with other people's animals, so you can see it before anything else. Before accepting anyone, you also see their compatibility percentage and reviews written only by people who have travelled with them. If you are accepted, you join the group chat, where you can share the itinerary, run polls and split the costs. TravelMatch does not book anything, and it is free.

If you would rather go on your own with your dog, solo holidays with a dog is about exactly that, and solo travel over 50 has more on going without waiting for anyone.

The dog was never the reason the trip could not happen. It was the dates on a certificate, and someone to share the drive.

→ Post your trip on TravelMatch · Free.

Reviewed in October 2026. Pet travel rules checked on 10 October 2026 on GOV.UK ("Taking your pet dog, cat or ferret abroad", "Bringing your pet dog, cat or ferret to Great Britain" and Defra's SPS agreement guidance for the veterinary sector, updated 30 July 2026) and on the European Commission's Your Europe site. Crossing conditions checked the same day on leshuttle.com, poferries.com, dfds.com, brittany-ferries.co.uk and eurostar.com. The rules are expected to change when the UK-EU SPS agreement takes effect, so check GOV.UK before you travel.