Pets on tour: What it’s really like travelling through Europe with your dog

Is it barking mad to travel with your pooch? A trip to Venice by boat and train from Ireland takes more than a little planning – but is well worth it

Italy has a warm welcome for dogs

Roslyn Dee

It’s a beautiful sunny morning on Tuesday, the first day of March, and I’m sitting in a comfy seat on the Stena Adventurer with the Irish Sea stretching ahead towards Holyhead, and as calm as a millpond for as far as the eye can see. It’s years, decades actually, since I’ve been on a ferry, always being one for the get-there-quick option, but now here I am at the start of my slow odyssey to Italy.