What the Ulm police ordinance requires for dogs, why Bavarian law applies on the other bank of the Danube, where to walk, how buses and trams carry dogs and where to stop for a bite.
Ulm with a dog means: in built-up areas and in every park your dog stays on the leash, and we found no officially designated dog park in Ulm. On the plus side, dogs ride buses and trams for free, the Friedrichsau park sits right on the Danube, and the old Fishermen's Quarter has places that are happy to see you with your dog.
lm has one quirk worth knowing: right across the Danube lies Neu-Ulm, and there Bavarian law applies. We keep the two apart. For an overview of places, see the directory of dog-friendly places in Ulm.
The legal basis is the City of Ulm police ordinance (Polizeiverordnung) of 20 November 2013. Under § 11 (3), dogs in the Innenbereich, meaning the built-up part of the city, must be kept on a leash on public streets and pavements. Pedestrian zones, traffic-calmed areas and outdoor steps count as pavements too. Elsewhere your dog may only roam free if a person is with him who can control him by voice.
In parks and green spaces, § 18 requires a leash for every dog. The only exception is dogs guiding blind or visually impaired people. Your dog may not join you on children's playgrounds or sunbathing lawns. The city's playground bylaw of 2016 repeats the ban on dogs in public playgrounds.
You have to pick up dog poo straight away on pavements, in green spaces and in other people's front gardens (§ 12). Violations are administrative offences and can be fined. The ordinance does not state a fixed amount.
Baden-Württemberg has no general leash law for all dogs. The state is stricter with fighting dogs and dangerous dogs: under the dangerous dogs ordinance, they must wear a leash and a muzzle in public from the age of six months, and keeping a fighting dog requires a permit.
Neu-Ulm is a separate town in Bavaria. As soon as you cross the Danube, the rules of the City of Neu-Ulm apply, and its leash rule is shaped differently from Ulm's.
Under the Neu-Ulm dog leash ordinance, fighting dogs and dogs with a shoulder height of more than 50 centimetres must be leashed within the built-up town area and within 300 metres of it. The same applies in the Donau-Auen landscape protection area and in the Iller bend north of Gerlenhofen.
In Neu-Ulm's parks and green spaces, one rule covers every dog, small ones included: stay on the paths and keep a short leash. Dogs may not enter children's playgrounds. At the Ludwigsfeld and Pfuhl bathing lakes, dogs are banned from 1 April to 30 September.
Places on the Bavarian side have their own directory: dog-friendly places in Neu-Ulm.
We found no off-leash area designated by the City of Ulm. The police ordinance does not provide for off-leash zones in parks either. A big lawn in a park is therefore not a dog park, even if it looks like one. Across the Danube it is the same: the City of Neu-Ulm does not name a dog park on its page for dog owners (German) either.
In Ulm, off-leash walks are only possible outside built-up areas and outside parks, and only if your dog reliably comes when called. How to find a suitable fenced area nearby is covered in the guide on finding a dog park near me.
The Friedrichsau is Ulm's large city park, laid out like an English garden with winding paths and two small lakes. It got its present form for the 1980 state garden show. As a green space, it requires a leash, and playgrounds and sunbathing lawns are off limits. For a break afterwards, the Teutonia beer garden is right in the park.
On the Ulm side, the riverside path along the old town runs through built-up areas or green spaces. Either way, the leash applies. Across the river on the Neu-Ulm side, the Donauufer and Herbelhölzle park stretches from the Barfüsser beer garden to the Donausteg footbridge in Offenhausen, with old, near-natural trees. The Neu-Ulm rule applies there: stay on the paths, short leash.
The Glacis city park is a few minutes' walk from Neu-Ulm station and was also created for the 1980 state garden show. It has large playgrounds where your dog may not go. On the paths and on a short leash, it makes a good loop on a city day.
Outside built-up areas, your dog may go off the leash in Ulm if you can control him by voice. Nature reserves and signposted spots can have stricter rules. Check the signs at the entrances.
For more ideas, see the directory of parks and forests in Ulm and the overview of day trips with your dog in Germany.
We found no designated bathing spot for dogs on the Danube in Ulm. Check the signs before your dog goes into the water. In Ulm's parks and green spaces, bathing is only allowed at places set aside for it.
The Danube is a river with a current. Do not let your dog into the current. If he gets swept away, do not go in after him yourself, call 112.
The bathing lakes in Neu-Ulm are no alternative in summer either: at the Ludwigsfeld and Pfuhl lakes, dogs are banned from April to September. More on water and safety is in the guide to swimming with your dog at lakes and the sea.
We found no fixed, statewide leash requirement for the breeding and nesting season in Baden-Württemberg. The lower hunting authority can, however, order one for specific areas, based on § 51 (5) of the state Hunting and Wildlife Management Act. One such order by the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district office defines the breeding and rearing season as 15 March to 31 July. We could not establish whether an order applies in Ulm.
So keep your dog on the leash in fields and woods between March and July as a precaution. Fawns and nesting birds cannot escape from a dog running loose.
Buses and trams in Ulm and Neu-Ulm are run by SWU Verkehr under the tariff of the Donau-Iller transport association (DING). The DING joint tariff sets these rules:
Important for Ulm and Neu-Ulm: beyond that, the rules of the state you are travelling in apply. If a bus crosses from Baden-Württemberg into Bavaria or back, the rules of the state it left stay in force until the first scheduled stop in the new state. With the Deutschlandticket, taking a dog along is not automatically included everywhere, DING notes. Outside the DING area your dog may need a ticket of his own.
Whether dogs are allowed inside is up to each venue. Confirmed as dog-friendly in the Souldog map data in Ulm are, among others:
This is a selection, not a complete list. You can find all confirmed places in the Souldog app and in the directory of cafés and restaurants in Ulm. Ask briefly before your visit whether this also applies indoors. Some venues only allow dogs outside, and house rules change. Inside the Forelle it is cosy and tight anyway, the ceiling is under two metres high. More tips for your visit are in the guide to dog-friendly cafés in Germany.
How other large cities handle dog parks, leash rules and public transport is shown in our comparison of dog rules in German cities.
Start with the directory of dog-friendly places in Ulm and pick a walk that suits your day. In the Souldog app the Discover map shows places nearby, for a break in the Fishermen's Quarter or a detour to the Danube.
Further into Bavaria, try our guides to dog-friendly Augsburg or dog-friendly Munich. In Baden-Württemberg, the guide to dog-friendly Stuttgart helps. Then grab the leash, don't forget the poo bags, and head for the Danube.
Souldog