PhD Student bringing over 2 cats trying to find flat!

Sorry for the lateness of my reply - I've been accepted at Lampeter.  I know 2 dogs and a cat sounds insane, but I just can't leave them behind.  They are as good as family.

I've been looking around at websites and it seems money talks, and written references as well.  I wouldn't be coming over until September - perhaps I'll make a trip in August to secure a place ahead of time?

I'm hoping for something outside of the town of Lampeter, the dogs are medium/large, I've got to have a yard for them.

I've also thought of how to get the pets from the airport to our destination.  I'm not sure how to do this yet, but I'm sure I will probably need to hire private transport or something. 

I'm not sure if making an extra trip to secure housing would make sense in your situation. It will take a while to find a place that will allow all of your animals (it took equestrianerd a month, as you can see from her earlier post). How long would you be looking to visit? What if you don't find a place on your trip? Then you've wasted money.

I know you don't want to be homeless when you arrive to do your course, but there are pet-friendly hotels out there.

You could rent a minivan to get yourself, your pets, and your baggage to your destination.

I'd second the idea to find a pet-friendly hotel when you move rather than planning a second trip.

My month-long search was in central London, which is likely to be way less pet-friendly than more rural areas (which Lampeter seems to be). Also, since my pets weren't here yet, I wasn't exactly pounding down doors every day in a mad rush to move.