Coastal lodge near Dalbeattie with loch views
We’re excited to announce a recent upgrade at the lodge – a brand new landing area at the top of the stairs! Frosted glass fills the frames, allowing light to pass through and keeping a sense of openness with ample light for the landing and hallway. The design not only ensures privacy for anyone inside the room, as they can’t be seen from the other side, but also maintains the open and airy feel.
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7 miles NW ~13 min drive DG5 4AH
We visited The Birchtree Hotel on a midweek evening in March. Initially we sat in the Bar area, unaware that there’s a separate restaurant area upstairs.
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We love the walking and hiking near Serenity 22 and in Dumfries & Galloway.
From gentle strolls to more strenuous hikes, there’s rewarding scenery every time! The Colvend Coast alone has enough variety to fill a week: tide-dependent beach routes, clifftop paths with Solway views, wooded gorge walks, and hill climbs with the Lake District visible on a clear day. Further afield, the Galloway Forest Park opens up longer, quieter routes through one of the least-visited landscapes in Scotland.
Many of the walks below are ones we’ve done ourselves. We’ve added distance, difficulty notes, and links to our reviews and full guides where we have them.
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Recently we came to the lodge with some friends for their first visit to D&G. At the end of our holiday, one of them commented ‘the eating places around here are a step up from the usual aren’t they’ (we were in The Boathouse, Glencaple at the time). We agree, and maintaining this list also gives us a good excuse to eat out in the name of research 😜😋
September 2026 – Updates incoming, we ate at another new place to us on our recent trip and will update this page soon!
This list reflects our tastes and preferences, but we hope you’ll also enjoy going to eat at all of these places!
They’re listed by how close they are to the lodge, with a brief description and, where available, a link to our review so you can learn more.
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We keep coming back to Dumfries & Galloway because we have favourite places to return to, and keep discovering new attractions we want to see.
Before that, we spent years going on holidays and rarely returning to the same place twice!
So, if you only come to Serenity 22 Barend once, here are our top picks…
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11 miles NE ~20 min drive DG2 8DH
Criffel is a hill in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It qualifies as a Marilyn.
The moderately strenuous climb is well worth the effort, rewarding you with stunning views of the surrounding countryside.
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One first priority when we acquired the lodge, in terms of bigger renovations, was a second shower.
The original en-suite bathroom, a relic from the 70s, only had a dated toilet and sink, with no heating! The sink, awkwardly positioned over the stairs, felt a little cramped and limited. It was hard to imagine where a shower could even fit.
But now…
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12 miles NE ~20 min drive DG2 8BY
These small but pleasant tea rooms are right next to the Abbey ruins but are run independently and open at times when the Abbey is closed. There’s indoor and outdoor seating and also a small gift shop too.
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6 miles NW ~12 min drive DG5 4DS
Dalbeattie Garden Centre is reasonably priced and has a good selection of plants. The shop is surprisingly big and has necessary gardening items as well as toys and gifts.
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96 miles N 2 hours drive G2 3EX
Mackintosh at the Willow Tea Rooms on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow are the last surviving tea rooms designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and originally opened in 1903. (Not to be confused with The Willow Tea Rooms on Buchanan Street, which are Art Nouveau and Mackintosh themed but not designed by Mackintosh himself.)
For those with a love of all things Mackintosh the tea rooms are a real treat.
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