Dumfries and Galloway
This page: updated 27 May 2011
Take a Tour
Dumfries and Galloway Scotland
Scotland is the jewel in the United Kingdom`s crown. With its breathtaking mountainous landscape, beautiful historical buildings, stunning wildlife and a totally unique culture, Scotland is becoming an increasingly more popular tourist destination.
Many people come to partake in the many different outdoor sports on offer in Scotland, others come to enjoy the pub culture and amazing nightlife, some to work in Scotland`s ever busier business sectors while others come simply to relax and enjoy the view.
Although not the most commercial and tourist-drawing area of Scotland, the south west of Scotland is one of the country`s undiscovered gems. The south west region is home to the council area of Dumfries and Galloway which is an area encompassing 2,500 square miles.
This region is famous for its rugged landscape, wealth of wildlife and historical sites. Dumfries itself is a fantastic city with real Scottish character and due to its old buildings built from local red sandstone. Near to Dumfries is Ellisland Farm which was home to national great Robert Burns who composed many poems and songs about nature in this stunning house; looking at the beautiful surrounding landscape it is not hard to see where he got his inspiration from.
Outside Dumfries there is a wealth of attractions including New Abbey which has lots of beautiful old churches. The Solway landscape typically has lush green moors above steep cliffs falling away to rocky beaches. The coastline in this area is renowned for its spectacular wildlife and total tranquility.
It is also known for its unique rock formations and gemstones, many of which are on display in the Gem stone museum in Creetown. The Mull of Galloway is one of the most stunning areas with a winding road across a rocky neck of land and wave beaten cliffs giving spectacular views of the water.
As one of the more remote areas of Scotland, the south west is both fortunately peaceful and picturesque and unfortunately difficult to access from other parts of the UK. There are no main airports in this area, so one must fly to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Newcastle airports and then drive up through the country to reach the Dumfries and Galloway area.
However, this is no bad thing as the scenery in the north of the UK is fantastic to explore and the roads in Scotland are generally well maintained and easy to navigate. There are also lots of beautiful mountains and wildlife to see along the way.
One other option would be to use return Inverness to Gatwick flights, as driving from Inverness to Dumfries and Galloway would allow travellers from the south to see the breath and depth of the beautiful and diverse Scotland landscape.