Introducing a First Adventure into Scotland's South West, September 2023.

My wife Caz and I were planning a special trip to mark 20 years of marriage. We discussed several locations across Scotland. But she did not fancy stopping over anywhere to a main destination. In terms of distance and driving time from our home in Warrington in the North-West of England, Dumfries and Galloway is a similar distance to what we often travel to see family elsewhere in England.

When we started to look closely at Dumfries and Galloway, we found a nice shepherds hut a couple of miles outside of Dumfries. We saw felt this option would provide a good base to go exploring other places including Edinburgh (where Caz had not been before), Ayr and Stranraer.

As someone a little bit geographically aware, I appreciated how the South West Scottish Coast zig zagged and had a few peninsulas. Just maybe we would explore some new beautiful places around the coast. I was also vaguely aware of the Galloway Forest Park.

So fast forward to 1st September 2023. We found our Shepherds Hut via instructions from the proprietor. She and her husband who lived in the main house on the property, were very welcoming, gave a good service and provided a great insight into the local area.

Within a couple of days of arriving, we were not only getting used to quirky place names like Gatehouse of Fleet and Haugh of Urr, we were also coming to terms with the pronunciations of some places. For example, Dumfries is not pronounced as Dumb-Fries! Well, actually we did realise this! What we didn't realise was Kirkcudbright is pronounced Kirk-coo-bree.

Within a couple of days of arrving, we had totally fell in love with the scenery of the the rolling hills and of the Galloway coast. The A75 Road between Dumfries and Stranraer provided an excellent way to explore. 

With no disrespect to Edinburgh, Ayr and Stranraer, we found so much to see a lot closer to Dumfries. We did three times get within 20 miles of Stranraer though. Maybe we will get to Stranraer next time?

So in this blog is a selection of some of the views that have helped Caz and I fall in love with Dumfries and Galloway.

As for the future, we only live 3 hours drive away. It is just a little bit further than the Lake District. We have a lot more exploring to do in Dumfries and Galloway. Whenever we visit again, I will post again.

Take care

Andy