Explore with Amie

Recently, Alex and I spent a weekend on the Dumfries and Galloway Peninusla and had an absolutely fabulous time. It is only a couple of hours from our home in the Lakes so, it is the perfect place for a long weekend. We headed up on the Friday afternoon and returned on Sunday. Whilst there are additional places we would like to visit, we managed to see a good range of the area so I wanted to share with you a weekend itinerary for a trip to the Dumfries and Galloway peninsula.

Day 1:

Castle Douglas

Our first day was spent getting to the area. We didn’t set off until Friday afternoon as Alex was working until then. It was also a rather spontaneous trip as we decided that we were going only the day before! On Thursday evening, we debated between staying at a campsite in Dumfries or Castle Douglas. In the end, we decided to plough on and get further into the peninsula on this first evening.

We stayed at Lochside Caravan Park which was everything we needed it to be. It was a bit of an unusual campsite as it is located basically in a public park. The campsite is alongside the loch in the town and, whilst the area is completely open to the public, with a children’s play area and even a Saturday morning park run around the loch, the facilities are for campers only. This was very cheap at £22.50 for a tent and a car. This was for two people too although, if you have a larger tent, you may have to pay a higher fee. There was electric hook-ups for caravans and campers and showers and toilets for free use. I would. recommend staying at this site if you find yourself at Castle Douglas.

However, we were a little disappointed by the town itself. We had initially planned to eat out for dinner on the Friday and then cook our own food the day after but, we quickly rethought this plan. Don’t get me wrong, there are pubs and an greek restaurant which looked quite nice, plus takeaway fish and chips but, we weren’t hugely enthused by any of them and Alex didn’t fancy Greek food. I don’t want to be put anyone off as, we didn’t eat there after all so can’t actually comment at all. It also didn’t help hat most of the town was closed for the evening, by the time we ventured out of the campsite. I’m not sure I’d recommend visit Castle Douglas though, unless you’re just having a pit stop before passing through.

Day 2:

Wigtown: Scotland’s Book Town

We had a relatively early start on day two, after grabbing breakfast from a cafe/bakery in Castle Douglas and packing up the tent, we drove on to Wigtown. As you may be aware if you follow my book blog, I’m a big reader. Buying books is practically as much a hobby as reading them at this point so, a visit to Wigtown was an absolute must. This town is home to many many second-hand book shops as well as cute and quirky cafes and other historical features. There are 10 bookshops the town and we hit them all. For a full haul of the books that I bought, check out Read with Amie. If you’re not interested in books though, there are other things to see.

The Wigtown Martyrs

A short walk outside of the town centre is a granite stake which marks the place where two women were tied and drowned in May 1685. The two women, Margaret McLachlen and Margaret Wilson, were killed for refusing to declare King James VII as head of the church. The Stuarts declared the “Divine Rights of Kings” whilst Scottish Presbyterians saw only Jesus Christ as the head of the church which lead to protests and rebellion. There are two graves to the women in the local church and the stone stake remains in memorial of where they died.

Sorbie Tower, Newton Stewart

After finishing at Wigtown around midday, we headed on to Sorbie Tower as we thought this would be a good spot for lunch. Instead, we were pleasantly surprised to find a free event happening. They were selling hot dogs and drinks and there were people in period costumes demonstrating the weapons that were used at that time. It was really lovely! I believe they host these events during the summer holidays on the weekends. We just happened to drop on them there.

Sorbie Tower itself was built in the 16th century for Alexander Hannay of Sorbie. In 1972, it became a listed as Grade A by Historic Scotland. Many attempts have been made to fundraise to pay for the restoration of the tower. Whilst it hasn’t been yet, there are plans to restore it and events such as the one happening on the day we looked around, help to raise funds.

St Ninian’s Cave, Whithorn

Our final sightseeing location of day 2 was St Ninian’s Cave. There is a lovely short walk that takes you to the coast and out onto a gorgeous pebble beach. To the right is St Ninian’s Cave which was though to be a refuge for a Christian Saint, which is how the cave got its name. It’s a lovely little spot to explore with an easy walk to it. Lots of people have carved their names into stones and left them in the cave which was pretty cool to see. Whilst the cave isn’t huge, it’s just a gorgeous bit of coastline and a great stop off on a weekend on the peninsula.

Garlieston

That brings us to end of Saturday as we headed to our campsite in Garlieston. Garlieston Lodge Campsite was lovely and the owner was very friendly and accommodating. Because of the poor weather, they hadn’t managed to cut the grass where the tents usually go so we were put on a gravel spot but, with soil underneath the gravel, we still managed to get the tent pegged in. It wasn’t uncomfortable with roll mats but getting in and out the tent on your knees was a little painful! It really wasn’t an issue though and you can’t fault the campsite for the weather. They also had a very clever system where a red light was attached to a telegraph pole in the site so you could see whether the toilet and shower engaged from your pitch. It was operated by the lights so you had to remember to turn them off but, the facilities were fab. A lovely hot shower and some local produce for sale too.

In terms of the village itself, we had a lovely walk along the bay when we arrived and, whilst we were disappointed to find it unsuitable for swimming, we had a nice time skimming stones. There were also some tennis courts near the campsite too and we had taken our rackets and some tennis balls so we took advantage of that before dinner. The Harbour Inn pub had only one booking available so I would suggest making sure you drop in booking a table when you arrive. The food was delicious and I really enjoyed the meal there.

Garlieston Harbour

Interestingly, Garlieston Harbour had a secret role in WW2. The village became part of the Mulberry Harbour project as the profile of the beach and seabed was thought to be similar to that of Normandy. And so, the area was used to build prototypes of artificial harbours. A few different designs were made and tested at Garlieston and ultimately, the Spud pier or Whale pier that was used in the war due to the ingenuity of a floating roadway design. The pier was used in D-Day when the allied troops landed in Normandy. There is an information board and a display at Garlieston Village Hall to commemorate the villages’ role in the war efforts.

Day 3:

Merrick, Galloway Forest

Our third and final day was naturally taken up with a hike up the tallest peak in the area, Merrick. It is actually the highest point in all of Southern Scotland at 843 metres. The walk begins alongside Loch Trool and is a relatively simple walk to the peak. On a good day, you can see across to Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. Naturally, the peak was in cloud for us but, we got some great views on the way up. The return trip up and down the mountain is 12km so is very double with a few hours. It was a fabulous walk and a great end to the trip. Note: you should park at Bruce’s Stone Car Park which is the final car park along the road that runs alongside the loch. Just keep going, you’ll get to the final car park when the road ends.

After the walk, we headed back to the car for the journey back home. This is not an exhaustive list and I would love to head back to the area soon to explore some more! Let me know your recommendations of places to visit in the comments.

Amie x