Wigtown is Scotland’s official National Book Town. It’s a small, quiet, charming little town with traditional houses interspersed with book shops.
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Walking
Places to Visit in Gatehouse of Fleet
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.
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Arbigland “Nearly Lost” Gardens
Arbigland is an historic house with unusual and secluded gardens leading on to a quiet beach with stunning views across to Cumbria.
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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.
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Walking & Hiking in Dumfries & Galloway
We love the walking and hiking near Serenity 22 Barend and in Dumfries & Galloway.
From gentle strolls to more strenuous hikes, there’s rewarding scenery every time!
Here are some of the places we’ve enjoyed going to:
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Top 3 “must see” places near Dalbeattie, D&G
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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Criffel Hike (out-and-back trail) Review
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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Mares Braids / Back Burn Waterfall Sandyhills
Distance from the lodge:
2 miles W ~5 min drive DG5 4PA
Mares Braids Waterfall, also known as Back Burn (sometimes Backburn) Waterfall, is just a short drive from Serenity 22 Barend, by the A710 heading NE from Sandyhills. It’s near the Southwick Coastal Reserve and RSPB Mersehead on the Solway Coast.
⚠️ This walk is only accessible when the tide is out so you must check the tide times before going. The tides near Sandyhills move very quickly, and people have been trapped by them. ⚠️
Walk from Kippford to Rough Island
As soon as we heard about the walk to Rough Island, we looked forward to exploring the island. (We’ve previously done a similar walk to Davaar Island off Campbeltown, Kintyre.)
This area of the Solway Coast has such shallow seas that there are vast mudflats when the tide is out.
Rough island is about 3 miles / 5km from from Serenity 22 Barend “as the crow flies”.
⚠️ Check when to avoid crossing as the causeway is underwater for 5 (five) hours during high tide.
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Threave Garden & Estate Castle Douglas Review
Many years ago, before we had our children, we visited Dumfries & Galloway with another couple and camped at Hoddom Castle near Ecclefechan. During that holiday we visited Threave Castle, but at the time we didn’t know about Threave Gardens.
We discovered it a few years back when looking for a holiday cottage near Castle Douglas and ended up staying at the Gate Lodge. That holiday eventually led to us getting the lodge at Barend!
Threave Garden & Estate is a great day out and one of the highlights for us was seeing red squirrels!
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