Dumfries and Galloway - Scotland - Travel - Accommodation - Tourism

It's no wonder the local tourist board calls Dumfries and Galloway "Scotland's best-kept secret". People scurrying north along the M74 rarely turn off at Gretna and head for a wonderful area that can match anything in Scotland for beautiful scenery, grandeur and history.

There is over 200 miles of coastline, for instance, with small coves, neat fishing ports and wonderful sandy beaches. There are beautiful villages, old abbeys, castles and country roads that meander through soft, verdant scenery or climb up into bleak moorland landscapes that were made for walking. In the fields you are more than likely to see herds of the region's own indigenous cattle - the Belted Galloways, so called because they have a wide white band running round their black bodies.

Then there are the towns. Dumfries is the largest town in the area, and is a lovely place, full of old red sandstone buildings and great shopping. Kirkcudbright, because of its quality of light, has always had an artist's colony. Stranraer, with its ferries, is a getaway to Northern Ireland, and Lockerbie is forever associated with the Lockerbie disaster of 1988.

The area contains three former counties, Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire, and each one has its own particular charm. You can explore Dumfriesshire's Burns connections, for instance. Kirkcudbrightshire was the birthplace of John Paul Jones, founder of the American navy, and Wigtownshire was where Christianity was introduced to Scotland.

All around are the high hills and bleak moorland which cut off Dumfries and Galloway from the rest of Scotland. For this reason, the area was almost independent of the Scottish kings in medieval times, and was ruled by a succession of families, from the Lords of Galloway to the mighty Douglases. All have left their mark in stone, such as Devorgilla's Bridge in Dumfries and the mighty Threave Castle, built on an island in the River Dee.

Then there are the abbeys, for, like the Borders, this was an area much favoured by medieval monks. At New Abbey is one which gave the word "sweetheart" to the English language; at Glenluce - a word which means "valley of light" - are the wonderful ruins of Glenluce Abbey; and south of Kirkcudbright is Dundrennan, which played host to Mary Stuart. The castles are equally as impressive. Drumlanrig - Threave - Cardoness - Caerlaverock; the names trip off the tongue, and go to the very roots of Scotland's history.

This part of Scotland has a mild climate, and at one time the coastline had the nickname of the "Scottish Riviera". First time visitors are usually surprised to see palm trees flourishing in cottage gardens near the coast, or in the grand, formal gardens such as Logan Botanic Garden in Wigtownshire. But then, Dumfries and Galloway has always been full of surprises.

courtesy of http://www.travelpublishing.co.uk