As a pet lover it can sometimes be challenging to plan a vacation. You are left with the decision to bring your pets or not. Just like a certified dog crazy person, I much prefer to travel WITH Luna than without her.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an absolute resource yet for pet friendly travel, although there have been some great attempts which will hopefully grow into what we all need.
Because I always seemed to resort to asking my fellow pet bloggers and pet lovers for suggestions, I decided to gather all their thoughts in one place. Since Luna and I are from Virginia that is where we will focus today. Since there is A LOT to cover, we’ll be doing a mini series over the course of the spring and summer. Today we start with pet friendly wineries.
Scenic View at Barrel Oak Winery.
Pet Friendly Wineries
Since adopting Luna, we have enjoyed the beautiful scenery of many pet friendly wineries including:
Barrel Oak Winery – Northern Virginia
BOW, as it is commonly referred, is a pet friendly winery oasis located in Delaplane, VA (about an hour west of DC). Pets are allowed on almost all parts of the property and the picnic area is even equipped with a poop bag station. Speaking of picnic area, don’t forget to pack a picnic lunch for you and your dogs! The scenery is to die for. Returning this summer is on the top of my to do list.
868 Estate Vineyards – Northern Virginia
Located in Purcellville, VA (about an hour NW of DC), 868 Estate Vineyards has wonderful wine and lovely scenery. Because the campus also has a full restaurant dogs are not allowed inside. The winery does offer outdoor tastings, but call ahead because they are not always available. Go on a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery and run around outside with your pup.
Lovely wine selection from Barrel Oak Winery.
Chateau Morrisette – Southwest Virginia
First exposed to Chateau Morrisette at a wine festival, I was excited to visit in person. Although we made our visit on a dreary day, we had a lot of fun. The tasting room offers a wide selection of wines and other wine related gifts to choose from. Dogs are allowed both inside and out and they are guaranteed to get a lot of attention. I can almost guarantee that there will be other dogs there if you visit.
Willowcroft Farm Vineyards – Northern Virginia
Willowcroft is by far one of the friendlist places for pets I have been. Everyone who worked there was excited to meet Luna, even when she tried to get behind the bar and do the serving herself. There might be a cat roaming around, so just keep your eyes peeled if your dog likes giving cats a piece of their mind. Willowcroft is located in Leesburg, VA (about 1 hour NW of DC) and often has great offers on local deal sites like LivingSocial, Groupon, and Specialicious.
Visit a Willowcroft Farm Vineyards, a pet friendly winery.
The Vineyards and Winery at Lost Creek – Northern Virginia
Lost Creek also has a great wine selection with frequent events indoors and out. Dogs are welcome all over the grounds and in the tasting room. However, there might be another cat lurking around. We have frequented Lost Creek several times as it is also only located in Leesburg, VA, which is significantly closer to us.
Hidden Brook Winery – Northern Virginia
Hidden Brook Winery is almost exactly right next door to Lost Creek. If you make the trip to one, be sure to visit the other. Hidden Brook often has live music and special delectable to be paired with the wine. I know that dogs are allowed outside, but I’m unsure about inside the tasting room.
Quattro Goomba’s Winery – Northern Virginia
Located in Aldie, VA (under 1 hour from DC), Quattro Goomba’s was the first pet friendly winery we crossed off our list. In fact, we brought Luna home for the first time after picking her up an a pet adoption event and festival held at the winery. Pets are allowed in tasting room and on grounds.
Luna’s first day. She was adopted from HART and we finally got to bring her home after an event at Quattro Goomba Winery!
There are many other pet friendly wineries that we haven’t made the trip to yet!
As an attempt to get organize, I have started a Google Map that pinpoints all the pet friendly places in Virginia. For the most part, we just have wineries on there now, but I will be adding restaurants, hotels, and other pet friendly fun as we experience them and hear recommendations from friends. With each post in our mini series, more places will be added to the map.
I’ll be adding comments to all the places that we have been. Comments with recommendations from our friends will also be included.
I hope you can use the map to find some new places near you, if you live in Virginia, or to make you trip planning experience a little easier.
One word of caution: There is a significant variance in what is consider pet friendly. Some wineries can be consider pet friendly and may advertise as such even if pets are only allowed outside. This may prevent you from getting a tasting inside or having to sit outside on a very hot day. My advice would be to call ahead and check, especially if you are taking a bit of a drive.
You can also view this map by clicking here.
Learn about pet friendly fun in Virginia
- Pet Friendly Fun in the Village at Shirlington
- MELT Gourmet Cheeseburgers – the delicious, animal loving burger joint
- Pet Friendly Hiking in Northern Virginia
Where are your favorite place for pet friendly travel is in or outside of Virginia?
In case you have missed any, you can find all my A to Z posts here.
- Happy Birthday Ralph! - July 11, 2019
- How to Entice Your Dog to Eat {Stocking Stuffer Giveaway – Day #10} - December 14, 2018
- Must Have Travel Items for Dogs {Stocking Stuffer Giveaway – Day #9} - December 13, 2018
