Holiday in Scotland

gilly41

Hi
Thanks again everyone. We have decided to see Dumfries and Galloway and also travel up the west coast--Wemyss Bay and round there.
Has anyone any suggestions of really good towns and places of interest to visit?
Thanks

T20

As a native Scot living down South, the advice I always give to 1st time tourists to Scotland is get "Scotland the Best" by Peter Irvine. Absolutely the best guide book in the world, well worth the tenner or so it costs. The reason? Every single place it recommends to eat, drink, see, stay, walk on, whatever...is brilliant.

Get it at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0007216734/qid=1154382705/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/026-7216590-7846859

arnie&caseysma!

Gilly, I would agree with the comments on D&G and our lovely area. please fo not forget to travel to the Mull of Galloway which is the most Southerly point on the Scottish mainland. There is an RSPB visitors centre there and also a new licensed cafe (about 2 years old) which is built into the hillside. If you stand above it you won't know that it is there!

Also in the Wigtownshire area of Dumfries and Galloway there is Portpatrick - a very popular fishing village, Port Logan, where 2000 Acres of Sky with Michelle Collins was filmed, Logan Botanic Gardens which are full of exotic plants and flowers, Glenwhan Gardens etc. Also, if heading to this area you can take a trip across to Belfast on the Stena HSS either for a tour or for a days shopping. Go as a foot passenger on a non-lander if you don't want to get off on the other side (this would take about 5 hours in total)....

There is too much to post here but send me a private message and I will get in touch. I know a fair bit about the region and up the west coast as a whole......

jenny2115

Travel from Dumfries up to Ayr area, there’s loads there to do including the electric brae, where everything runs uphill from the water out your bottle to the cars...and yes it does happen... also you have all the burns stuff there too.

My favorite is up the west isles, there are beaches up there that would make you would think you were abroad... absolutely stunning!!

Doonhamer

First stop at Gretna for a quick look around and go to the tourist information. Get all the leaflets you can. There's a nice factory Outlet site in Gretna too. Then drive along the road to Eastriggs where you will find the "Devils Porridge". Head for Dumfries, the camera obscura is well worth a visit along with all the Burns stuff, take the dog a walk around the Crichton gardens and church. Mabie forest is nice too. Moffat is a nice day out, see the Beef Tub and Grey Mares Tail. Lots of nice castles around Dumfries, go to Caerlaverock, Threave Gardens, Sweetheart Abbey, Drumlanrig.

Then along the coast, Kipford is lovely, Cream-o-Galloway has a nice nature walk with dogs allowed (and nice ice cream).

I would recommend Brighouse Bay caravan park as a good central base to stay for a few days.

After that there is the whole of Galloway with it's forest parks and coastline. New Galloway and Wigtown are worth a visit. Once you get up to Ayr have a trip over to Arran. If the weather is good and you really want to go somewhere different leave the car and go to Colonsay for a night.

I'm glad you're going to visit D&G, so many people think Scotland begins at the central belt and miss out this wonderful area.

arnie&caseysma!

Theres probably more for folk to do in our area than there is in the rest of the country!

Take a trip along the Raiders Road in the Galloway forest and stop at Clatteringshaws and the Otters Pool (inspiration for the Ring of Bright Water), unfortauntely the bronze otter that stood there years ago was stolen but its a great place on a sunny day. Laze about on the grass, have a picnic at one of the tables and then head into the shallow pool and try to stay on your feet whilst trying to find a deeper bit for a swim!