Travelling with pets is becoming a more realistic option in Portugal, although accommodation choices are still far from consistent across the country. More than half of Portuguese households have at least one pet, and Portugal has the EU’s second-highest number of dogs per inhabitant.
Against that backdrop, Alcobaça, Santarém and Viseu stand out as the destinations with the highest proportion of hotels ready to welcome guests travelling with animals.
Which hotel destinations are most welcoming to pets?
Alcobaça leads the 2026 ranking, with 51.28% of hotels accepting pets. It is the first Portuguese town analysed to pass the 50% mark. Santarém follows closely with 50.66%, while Viseu takes third place at 34.09%, according to the PriceLabs ranking.
The list continues with Loulé, which leads the Algarve with 27.99% pet-friendly hotels, and Figueira da Foz, almost level at 27.96%.
According to the platform, these figures are useful for people trying to balance a holiday with travelling alongside their pet, at a time when “more and more people are choosing to travel with their dogs or cats”.
Even so, the ranking shows that finding accommodation that accepts pets can still limit the choice of destination, particularly outside the best-positioned towns and cities.
The proximity of the dog-friendly beach Praia de Cacela Velha, which can be reached across the ria lagoon at low tide, adds to the area’s sense of natural seclusion. Still, it is the quiet streets, the church at the village’s highest point and the wide views across the lagoon that truly define this spot, where the sea shapes the horizon and time seems to slow down.
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