recommend me a coastal town in Dumfries and Galloway

Paul J

Paul J

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We're going up to Dumfries and Galloway for a few days next week, just a trial run, I wondered if anyone knows of any interesting coastal towns or villages that are worth exploring for the food and general atmosphere ?

..... equally, if you've been around this area and have suggestions of what we should do, what areas or tourist attractions we should aim for, please let me know :)

Many Thanks

Paul
 
I suspect gerry is your man @lorger
But i used to get up there quite abit sea fishing.. from southerness to auchencairn area...
As a general rule i think the coast becomes more interesting the further west you go ... ie out on to the mull..
But ill say head for kirkcubright area and then the isle of whithorn... and onwards if you have the time..
Andy
 
second on Port Patrick, lovely wee town. then you're just s hop from the Mull of Galloway, from where you can see the Isle of Man. Get lost anywhere among the small coastal villages on the Solway Firth, nice part of the World. Brig house Bay Holiday Park is nice and quiet, about ten minutes out of Kirkubright, it has a Nice beach. They have a Gloster Meteor parked up at reception which is unusual!

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Annan, we stayed at a CS right on the coast with a great view across to the Lake District. Annan has a new distillery with a good café, visitor centre and tour. Good walks along the coast and on the mudflats (check the tide before you set out, it comes in quite fast).
 
thank you so much for your replies ! Newton Stewart was on the list, Port Patrick noted, we are actually going to Brighouse Bay, not been for years

see... the night before our holiday technically starts, we're 'roughing it' so we might head for Newton Stewart, play it by ear, might find a friendly pub car park or otherwise quiet area, then we're in the thick of it on our first day, feels like it cuts out a bit of travelling, and fingers crossed Newton Stewart has a bit of nightlife.... it was either that or stop at Carlisle on the way up
 
Garlieston also worth a visit, you have a choice of the Caravan club site, with some pitches looking out across the bay, or Garlieston Lodge which has to be the best CS we have ever stayed on just round the corner. Again some picturesque coastal walks, or cycle down to Newton Stewart harbour with a good pub on the quay.
 
awesome, thank you for the advice
 
I'm currently on nightshift so don't have great deal of time to reply in detail, if you let me know what your looking for, wild camping, CLs, if you need ehu.

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Hi Lorger, well, we're booked in for Brighouse Bay for a couple of nights, we currently have no real plans for the location of the evening prior to Brighouse (although Newton Stewart has been mentioned) then we have another full day and overnight stay on our last day, so we could park up somewhere safely to enjoy an interesting town. Typical me, I'm busy desperately trying to get the bits together to attach our scooter to the back of the van, and it's eating my research time, but I guess we'll just play it by ear, once we're actually away, we'll have plenty time to think about it !
we don't need EHU, a good CL might be a preference, or ideas for safe spots reasonably close to a town would be ideal. I checked the Garlieston site, and sadly they're full up, which is a shame, looks rather nice
 
Broken Link Removed has a nice little campsite, a couple of nice pubs and coastal walks. Broken Link Removed, Kirkcudbright, Gatehouse of Fleet, Newton Stewart - all fairly close together. It's a delightful and unspoiled area, off the beaten track.

I've stayed at Brighouse Bay site mentioned above. Nice at this time of year, as it has a heated indoor pool and bar/restaurant.
 
Last edited:
Paul J said:
I checked the Garlieston site, and sadly they're full up, which is a shame, looks rather nice
Click to expand...
Garlieston site doesn't open until mid March.
There's a wild camping area outside the other C&MC site at New England Bay (which is also closed until mid March) but the only thing there is a glorious sandy beach!
 
Port William has a campsite owned and run by the community. It has sowers etc , but also has free use of washing machine included in the pitch fee. Handy if you’re running out of clean clothes etc on your tour.

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Loads of places around D and G......Gretna has the Old Blacksmiths where runaway brides used to wed as well as a visitor centre. Few miles away is the Devils Porridge display which tells story of the old munitions factory at Eastriggs. Caerlaevock Castle and RSPB centre near Dumfries. Drumlanrig Castle and gardens near Thornhill which also has mountain bike paths etc.

Kippford and Rockliffe are two beautiful coastal villages with nice walk linking them. Kirkcudbright is the ‘artists’ town, Wigtown the ‘book’ town and Castle Douglas the ‘food’ town.

More mountain bike trails at Dalbeattie, Ae and Newton Stewart.

Garlieston, Portpatrick, Isle of Whithorn and Port William all beautiful coastal locations.

Raiders Road near New Galloway is a nice forest drive. Lock Ken near Castle Douglas for water sports. Red Kite bird feeding station near Laurieston.

Castle Kennedy near Stranraer has beautiful gardens as well as the botanic gardens at Port Logan.

Scotland’s most southerly point at the Mull of Galloway with lighthouse and cafe etc.
 
An Aunt of mine came from Kirkcudbright and we used to tent camp there in the 1980s.
The first year we went to Brighouse Bay but then found Silvercraigs, on the hill above the town, which we found much more convenient.
We went to Silvercraigs for our first trip in our first can (2006) but haven't had time to go back since (must do so before too long).
Silvercraigs was municipal but has now been taken over by a Development Trust as a community run project.
 
dont miss the devils porridge museum at annan interesting little place and a great story to it
 
We once stayed at Queensbury Bay campsite. Space for 10 touring vans right on the waters edge.

The sell their own bacon and rolls.....

You can see right across to the Lake District and great walking in the Solway Firth when the tide is out..
 
For food trips you'd need to go a long way to beat Castle Douglas. The town is so unusual by todays standards, parking is easy & free. The main street is devoid of the usual shops, I promise it'll remind you of bygone days.
Whatever you do, have a great time, please come back & tell us all about it, enjoy.

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@Paul J Sorry for the late reply.

Brighouse Bay is lovely so you should enjoy that, if you like walks then walk along the coast round the edge of the site if it's a nice day you'll get stunning views. When you leave there and head west pop in to Cream of Galloway for lunch or some Ice Cream really worth the visit. Gate House of fleet is worth a visit for lunch and a wee walk round, nothing much there but just a nice wee place, just west of there you have a lovely site that used to be a CL but now private theres nothing much here apart from stunning views and a stunning beach. If you want a quite night then this is the place its called Newton Farm near Gatehouse of Fleet or more famously known on here as Davids Beach as @DavidG58 has been visiting for a number of years.

A little further west you'll come across Kirroughtree forest visitor center, you can stay over night if you buy a ticket and they have showers and toilet. https://scotland.forestry.gov.uk/forest-parks/galloway-forest-park/kirroughtree-visitor-centre some lovely walks round the forest.

Going further west you'll come to Newton Stewart a lovely little market town, all though I haven't stayed at this site it comes highly recommended and with in easy walk to NS https://www.machermorefarm.co.uk/

From here you could pop in to Wigtown and visit the shops as its the National book town of Scotland, you'll find some interesting books here. You can actually pay to run one of the shops as a holiday :).

Isle of Whithorn has a nice little pub and you can wildcamp at the car park on the Harbour where they have toilets.

If you go a little further west to Portpatrick (our favourite place) you can wildcamp in either car park for a night or two, you will see signs saying no overnight parking. We've spoke to the community officers and they have no issues with genuine people staying for a night or two, if you don't fancy doing that then drive round to Port Logan you can overnight in the car park as you turn in for the Fish Pond.

Hope this helps I've tried not to overload you so if you need anymore just ask.
 
I toured this area a couple of times and then moved to Port William for 9 months until last year.
Newton Stewart is not great to overnight as has boy racers but you can stay In the main carpark. Newton Stewart is not on the coast apart from during the floods.
Port William has a great restaurant but the campsite is closed for winter but there are loads of lay-bys along the coast road you can stay in.
Isle of Whithorn is nice and I overnighted in the harbour after a Burns night in the village.
Have stayed in the main carpark of Gatehouse but not much there.
Have spent loads of nights at the Kirroughtree
Mountain bike centre but they are prohibiting overnighting now though it’s still worth a visit.
Also stayed in the harbour of Wigtown.
 
Didn’t see lodger’s post before I posted mine. Just note my update on Kirroughtree.
 
Just follow the coast, also Lockerbie, Moffat take all the year B roads nice and quite. Enjoy.
 

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