Arbigland is an historic house with unusual and secluded gardens leading on to a quiet beach with stunning views across to Cumbria.
Read more
Dog Friendly
Kilnford Farm Shop & Farmhouse Kitchen Cafe
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.
Read more
10 things we love about Serenity 22 Barend 😍
We’ve just got back from a few days at the lodge, and I thought I’d share some of the reasons why we love our lodge, and being at Barend…
Read more
Dining at The Olive Retreat Restaurant, Castle Douglas
13 miles WNW ~22 min drive DG7 1DX
The Olive Retreat is a relaxed, family friendly mediterranean restaurant & café in the centre of Castle Douglas. We visited on a midweek evening. As it was fairly quiet we were given a choice of tables for two by the friendly waitress.
Read more
Threave House, Castle Douglas
We love Threave Estate and Gardens and enjoy visiting them. However, until now, we hadn’t managed to visit when the house was open.
Read moreWe love Threave Estate and Gardens and enjoy visiting them. However, until now, we hadn’t managed to visit when the house was open.
Read more
Caerlaverock – the Triangular Castle
26 miles NE ~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.
Read more
Crawick Multiverse, Artistic Landscape
Crawick Multiverse, near Sanquhar (pronounced “sang·kuh”) is a very interesting place to visit. I had a misconception of it when I first heard of it, thinking it was to do with science and geology. However, it’s actually a piece of “land art”. It was designed to reflect the cosmos in this area that’s celebrated for its dark skies.
Read moreVisit to John Paul Jones Cottage Museum
8 miles E 17 min drive DG2 8BQ
Recommend using What 3 Words to find the entrance: comet.lump.sprouting
If you’re thinking “John Paul Jones – who’s he?” Then you’re not alone. 3 of the 5 people in our group hadn’t heard of him before visiting this little museum in the village of Kirkbean.
It’s the Historic Birthplace Museum of John Paul Jones, the “Father of the American Navy.”
Read more
Hill House Box by CR Mackintosh
123 miles NNW ~2h 30m min drive G84 9AJ
Hill House is over 2 hours drive from Sandyhills, but if you’re a fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and/or art nouveau it’s definitely worth it! The house is a true piece of art, and so it’s a fascinating experience to visit.
Read moreDay Trip to Stunning Culzean Castle
Culzean (pronounced “cull-ane”, not “cull-zeen”) is a fair drive from the Lodge, however it’s well worth the effort to visit this amazing castle and country park. We set off around 9:30am and arrived at Culzean Castle at about 11:15am.
The huge grounds have a number of different car parks spread out over the estate.
Read more