Kingswood Motel

Tocumwal sits where the Murray River bends through red-gum country on the NSW/Victoria border, and the Kingswood Motel is the classic country motel the town's travellers lean on. Fishers, water-skiers, grey nomads and golfers heading for the famous Tocumwal course all base themselves here, and the motel is an easy walk from Kelly Street's pubs, bakery and the river boat ramp.

The rooms are the drawcard. The motel's own website states all 21 rooms are spacious ground floor units set in a bush and garden setting, each with a toaster, microwave and fridge - the in-room kit dog travellers lean on for special-diet meals and leftovers. An outdoor bbq area gives road-trippers a reason to cook rather than drive back out for dinner, and the pool is kept clean for hot Murray-valley afternoons.

Visitors report the motel is happy to take dogs of any size at no additional fee, and even cats, which is rare anywhere. That's the reported practice from listings rather than a published policy document, so ring ahead when you book and get the room arrangement confirmed before you arrive with a large dog in the back seat.

The ground-floor, door-straight-outside layout is the practical win: no stairs, no corridors, parking at the door. Regulars travelling with dogs bring their own beds and blankets to keep it that way, and ask for a room toward the quieter back of the garden setting.

There is no fenced exercise run on the property, so the lead stays on around the car park and garden. The flat streets out the back side run toward the Murray flats and are the quiet early-morning option, well away from the main foreshore crowd.

Bring the dog's bed and a lead for town. Tocumwal is flat and walkable, and the river beaches are a short drive for a morning run. When you're mapping the rest of the trip, Shepparton Country Home Motor Inn works as a stop further along the Goulburn Valley, or Kismet Riverside in Howlong keeps you on the Murray between here and Albury.

Practicalities: it's at 26 Kelly Street, right in town, so fuel, pub meals and coffee are all within a couple of minutes. Book direct through the motel site for the clearest picture of current rates, and ask about which rooms are set aside for guests travelling with dogs.

Close by with the dogs

If the itinerary bends south instead of along the river, The Terminus Hotel in Shepparton is a proven dog-friendly dinner stop. More dog-welcoming stays across the region are gathered under NSW stays.