With Bowie to the sea for Christmas. Why I chose Liguria

Bowie's vaccination record says "Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross". That one line crossed out half of Europe while I was planning my winter holiday.

Over Christmas I want to be somewhere warm and run during the day. I don't ski. Bowie is coming with me, by car. He is a 40 kg dog from the shelter in Troja and can't go back into a kennel, so a ferry where dogs travel in kennels is out of the question.

The whole plan with a map, the route and photos of the places is on the page Liguria with Bowie (in Czech).

Where you can't go with a dog like Bowie

I started with the islands and with Morocco. The rules on dangerous breeds shortened the list quickly:

• Germany bans bringing in, and even driving through with, Staffordshire terriers and their crosses. The exception for tourists only applies with a pedigree and a temperament test. So from Prague to southern Europe I drive through Austria.
• France, and with it Corsica, puts dogs without a pedigree that look like an American Staffordshire into category 1. Those may not even pass through the country.
• Spain has the Staffordshire on its list of potentially dangerous dogs. That includes Tenerife, Ibiza and Mallorca: a licence, liability insurance and a muzzle in public.
• Morocco lists the Staffordshire among banned breeds.

Why Italy

Italy scrapped its list of dangerous breeds in 2009. A dog has to carry a muzzle and in town be on a lead of at most 1.5 metres. It may go into a restaurant if the owner allows it.

Why Liguria and not the south or the lakes

For running during the day, 13 to 15 °C is enough for me. Sanremo averages 14.7 °C during the day in December and 13.3 °C in January. Lake Garda is only around 8 °C at that time, so the lakes were out straight away.

Calabria and Sicily are a degree warmer. But Calabria is almost two thousand kilometres away, two long days there and two back, and the ferry to Sicily from Livorno takes more than nineteen hours. Liguria I can reach in one day. It is 1,365 km via Linz, Salzburg, Villach, Udine and Genoa, about thirteen hours at the wheel.

What the Riviera offers a runner with a dog

• The promenade from Alassio to Laigueglia along the sea.
• The old Roman road Via Julia Augusta between Alassio and Albenga.
• Trails above Finale Ligure and a public beach where dogs are allowed.
• The small towns of Noli and Cervo and a trip to Portofino.

How I run at home in Prague I wrote about in the article The oldest road race in Europe and a Saturday morning on Argentinská (in Czech).

Watch out for private dog beaches. Baba Beach in Alassio only takes dogs up to 30 kg, and Bowie weighs 40.

What it costs

For the whole trip I am counting on 3,480 euros without food. More than half of that is accommodation. Diesel comes to about 520 euros, motorway vignettes and tolls in Czechia, Austria and Italy to about 215 euros.

Heading south by car with your dog? Check the rules for its breed in every country on the route before you pay for accommodation.

Sources: Zoll.de, dangerous dogs, French Ministry of Agriculture, RD 287/2002, Spain, bladi.net, Morocco, Studio Cataldi, Italy, money.it, muzzle and lead, Sanremo climate, Lake Garda climate, calcolopercorso.it, Udine to Sanremo, greenme.it, dog beaches in Liguria. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, Varigotti at the top by Twice25 and Rinina25 (CC BY 2.5), Alassio by Incola (CC BY-SA 3.0).