Café | Serenity 22 Barend

Dates filling up: 6 nights available 21-27 June, 2 nights in July, short breaks in August. Check availability.

Inside a rambling second-hand bookshop in Wigtown with wooden library steps and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

Wigtown: A Rainy Day Trip to Scotland’s Book Town

16 April 202618 April 202622 Barend

Wigtown is Scotland’s official National Book Town. It’s a small, quiet, charming little town with traditional houses interspersed with book shops.

Clock tower at the end of a Scottish High Street

Places to Visit in Gatehouse of Fleet

5 April 20256 April 202522 Barend

Gatehouse of Fleet is a lovely little village with only a handful of shops, but some definite points of interest and well worth a visit.

The picturesque main street has retained its old fashioned charm, with an assortment of small, mostly independent shops and cafés.

Visiting the Gem Rock Museum, Creetown (sad news, it’s closing)

31 March 202516 April 202622 Barend

Update: We were so sorry to hear the news that the Gem Rock Museum is closing its doors for the last time in October 2026. This museum has been a local gem (literally!) for 45 years.

39 miles W ~54 min drive DG8 7HJ

The Gem Rock Museum in Creetown is a unique and fascinating collection of gems, crystals, minerals and fossils. It’s a relatively small family run museum, but has an amazing amount of rare gems and rocks, many more than we expected!

Kirkcudbright Galleries in the Town Hall

25 March 202527 March 202522 Barend

Kirdkcudbright (pronounced “kir-coo-bree”) – on the banks of the Dee Estuary – is a lovely little town to wander around, and a visit to the Kirkcudbright Galleries in the beautiful Town Hall building is highly recommended.

Kilnford Farm Shop & Farmhouse Kitchen Cafe

17 March 202519 March 202522 Barend

Kilnford is a family farm with a shop, cafe, deli, butchery, and crafts. It’s a really nice complex, which has restored old farm buildings in keeping with the area, and they’ve also got a good range of things for sale.

The granite Heart Stane monument along the 7stanes trails in Dalbeattie Town Wood for hiking or mountain biking.

Discover Dalbeattie – the Granite Town

4 March 202518 March 202522 Barend

Dalbeattie is known as the “Granite Town” of Dumfries & Galloway / South West Scotland primarily because of its rich granite quarrying history. The name is believed to be from Irish Gaelic; Dail Bheithe.

Threave House, Castle Douglas

24 July 202415 March 202522 Barend

We love Threave Estate and Gardens and enjoy visiting them. However, until now, we hadn’t managed to visit when the house was open.

Caerlaverock – the Triangular Castle

25 June 20244 May 202622 Barend

26 miles NE from Serenity (~45 min drive) DG1 4RU

We visited Caerlaverock Castle many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. We’ve visited many castles in the UK, but this one stuck in our memory, with it’s distinctive shape, moat and contrasting building style inside the castle walls.

The Birch Tree Hotel, Dalbeattie

5 April 202412 July 202422 Barend

7 miles NW ~13 min drive DG5 4AH

Our Experience

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.

Breakfast outside on a picnic bench overlooking a wild landscape

Top 10 places to eat near the lodge

16 November 202323 April 202622 Barend

It’s actually a top 7 list at the moment! The Crab Pot opened, then closed again! Also one or two of our other favourite places have closed in the last few months, so we’ll be using it as an excuse to eat out at a few more nearby 😋

April 2026 – Updates incoming, we ate at a few places on our recent trip (inc. Caddie’s Cove) 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.