HOLYROOD, SCOTLAND

It has to be the most dramatic urban space in the UK – Holyrood Park is a bit of the Highlands stranded in Edinburgh. It’s where you’ll find Holyrood Palace, but it’s the park’s astonishing topography that’s the lure: volcanic cliff faces, vertiginous paths and mini-lochs, all within striking distance of the city’s pubs and cafés.

Dogs love rambling through the gorse and racing up to Arthur’s Seat. And if you like it now, head back for the Holyrood Fun Dog Show, usually held in August, with its prizes for “biscuit catching”.

HYDE PARK, LONDON

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Once a hunting ground for Henry VIII, Hyde Park is London’s most famous Royal Park. Within striking distance of the museums of Kensington and the shopping in Notting Hill, Knightsbridge and the West End, it has so much to offer you could spend a weekend there.

There’s the Serpentine, where the hardy swim (watch out for duck chasing), Rotten Row, where horses ride, and the Serpentine Gallery, which always has a few dogs awaiting their owners outside. Add the rolling grassland and the formal Kensington Gardens – plus the fascinating if poignant Dogs’ Cemetery – and you’ve got a whole world of canine captivation.

ORMEAU PARK, BELFAST

With its coastline and green hills, Northern Ireland is canine heaven, and within Belfast, Ormeau Park is an oasis of woodland, wildlife and walkies.

It’s a leisure honeypot for Belfast’s citizens, with all manner of sports on tap but, most importantly, a fantastic array of trees, paths and playmates for carousing canines. And it’s close to Ormeau Road, one of the city’s most up-and-coming arteries.

SEFTON PARK, LIVERPOOL

Go to Liverpool’s famous Penny Lane and you can’t miss it: Sefton Park, an historic green space in the south of the city. Once the Royal Deer Park of Toxteth, it then became the property of the Earl of Sefton; now surrounded by housing, it still maintains a glorious sense of space.

The distinctive layout includes curved paths, large green spaces, two streams, an artificial lake and various follies, including the grand Palm House. The bandstand is said to be the inspiration for the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. There’s a café in the park, but a fun idea is to walk to nearby Lark Lane, one of Liverpool‘s richest café/bar zones.