Things to do in Dumfries and Galloway

Auchen Castle Hotel is a prestigious hotel situated near Moffat in the Scottish Borders. Accommodation includes 25 bedrooms with 15 feature bedrooms within the original castle. Auchen Castle Hotel has various rooms with 4 poster beds. The 10 Auchen Castle lodge rooms are family sized and have fabulous views. The castle hotel can be hired on an exclusive use basis for corporate functions or weddings. The hotel caters for corporate guests with two dedicated conferencing rooms. The original Auchen Castle dates back to 1220 and was probably built by Sir Humphrey de Kirkpatrick. The Castle had a courtyard with corner towers, and a gate flanked with drum towers. During the early 14th century the towers were rebuilt as hollow turrets with internal stairs. Later additions over the centuries included massive outer ramparts and underground passages and chambers. The original Castle is now in ruins next to what was the home farm for the next Auchen Castle built by General Johnstone in 1849. Auchen Castle Hotel has hosted some famous people over the years including The King of Norway, The Beatles, Barbara Cartland, Chris de Burgh.

Barholm Castle is situated five miles south-west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in Dumfries and Galloway. The castle is a tower house built in the late 15th century. The main block of the L-plan tower is three storeys and a garret, with a vaulted basement at the lower level. The great hall was on the first floor, and the second floor was divided into two rooms. The small stair wing is a storey higher, with a caphouse at the top reached by a corbelled stair turret. There is a narrow parapet walk along the north and south walls. The main stairs is a broad spiral staircase. The castle has been recently restored into a family home. he castle is available at various times during the year for private self-catering letting. The main block of the castle was built in the 15th century. The stair tower was added in the late 16th century along with a higher wall-head, and a new parapet walk. Barholm was a stronghold of the McCullochs, who had owned the property since 1510. The protestant McCullochs were involved in a feud with the Catholic Browns of Carsluith Castle two miles to the north-west. The McCullochs moved out of Barholm in the late 18th century, and the tower fell into disrepair. Recently, the tower was re-roofed and restored as a private house with the restoration completed in 2006. The Arts The tower is sometimes identified with the fictional Ellangowan, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering.

Caerlaverock Castle is an unusual triangular shape with a tower at each corner. surrounded by a moat and set in hundreds of acres of low lying willow woods. Caerlaverock was built to control the South-West entrance to Scotland. Construction began around 1277 by the Maxwell family. Inside the castle is the remains of courtyard residences dating from the 1600s. It is now in the care of Historic Scotland and is a popular tourist attraction and wedding venue. Caerlaverock Castle is very close to the border with England, and had to be defended several times against English forces. One such event was The Siege of Caerlaverock of 1300 by Edward I of England who had eighty seven of Barons of England in his army, and also knights of Bretagne and Lorraine. The English eventually captured the castle but the 60 men occupying the castle held them at bay for a lengthy period. (This was during the war against the Scottish king John Balliol, in the time of William Wallace).

Cardoness Castle near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway is a well-preserved fifteenth-century tower house built by the McCulloch family, one of the finest Scottish tower houses in the southwest and a property in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Rising to five storeys with well-preserved mural stairs, window embrasures and corbelled parapets, the walls stand to their full height with many original architectural features intact. The tower house is set above the Fleet estuary with views toward the Solway Firth and the distant hills of Cumbria. The village of Gatehouse of Fleet nearby is an attractive eighteenth-century planned cotton town, and the wider Stewartry landscape of rolling hills, sandy estuaries and ancient woodland is one of the most scenic areas of southwest Scotland.

Carsluith Castle is a ruined tower house located beside Wigtown Bay on the Galloway coast of south-west Scotland, about three and a half miles south east of Creetown. The castle has a main tower with crow-step gables and corbelled wall walks along the gable ends. Three of the corners have round turrets. A later stair tower was added on to the north east topped by a gabled caphouse. A sink at first floor level once drained via a carved gargoyle on the west side. The ground floor entrance is via the stair tower. There is a vaulted basement divided into two cellars, with gunloops in the walls. Above is the hall with windows and a fireplace. Another floor would have had bedrooms, with an attic at the wall walk level, although these floors have gone. Carsluith was held by the Cairns family until 1460, when it passed to James Lindsay of Fairgirth, Chamberlain of Galloway. He was probably built the main tower at Carsluith in the late 15th or early 16th century. The castle then passed, though a daughter to Richard Brown. The Browns of Carsluith added the stair tower on the north side in the 1560s. The Browns emigrated to India in 1748, and the castle has not been occupied since. In the early 19th century, new farm buildings were built on to the castle, forming a U-plan steading which remains. Today the castle ruin is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, in the care of Historic Scotland.

Castle Kennedy is about three miles west of Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway, in south-west Scotland. The castle overlooks the White and Black Lochs (originally the castle was on an island and the present-day lochs were one area of water). Castle Kennedy has 75 acres of landscaped gardens, with terraces and avenues. There is a large collection of rhododendrons and azaleas and many specimen trees. The current landowner (the Earl of Stair) lives in the nearby Lochinch Castle. The castle was built in 1607 by John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassillis. The castle passed to the Sir James Dalrymple of Stair in 1677. His son, John the 2nd Viscount Stair, signed the orders that resulted in the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692. The 3rd Viscount began the construction of the gardens which are a feature of the estate today. The castle burned down in 1716 and was never re-occupied.

Comlongon Castle is situated on the Scottish-English border about near Gretna, and is also 1 km west of Clarencefield and 10 southeast of Dumfries. The castle is located just ten minutes from the M6 and M74 motorway network, near the border between Scotland and England. The building is a restored Medieval Scottish Castle that has been extended and is now a luxury Baronial style hotel The main castle tower is reddy-pink sandstone. Its base measures 15m by 13m, and is 18m tall at the highest point of wall. The walls are over 4m thick in places. It is founded on a stone 'plinth' which was to keep it stable on what used to be marshy ground. It still has its original 'yett', which is much like a metal portcullis. The whole castle has 4 storeys: one at entry level, another that houses the Great Hall, and another two above that. It sits on a 120-acre estate. Facilities The whole of Comlongon Castle is, today, a privately owned hotel and wedding, party, and business venue, including two award-winning reception restaurants, and a private bar for the castle's residents. All food is provided by the establishment's chefs, with a different menu daily. The interior of the castle is accessible to all guests. The Medieval Great Hall of Comlongon Castle is a fantastic venue for an authentic Scottish Wedding, catering your wedding ceremony and reception. Comlongon Castle has hosted weddings for thousands of couples over the last twenty two years. Their team of experienced staff knows what it takes to make your wedding day an unforgettable experience, letting you enjoy the day with your guests while they take care of the organizing. Comlongon Castle are happy to cater for various wedding styles from religious to civil, with wedding ceremonies hosted every day of the week. Comlongon Castle is one of the top spots in Scotland to host your wedding ceremony and reception. If you are interested in a wedding at Comlongon, contact their wedding co-ordinators who will help with making the arrangements every step of the way. Co-ordinators are on duty every day of the week to offer free advice, help, and information and to answer any questions you may have on any aspect of your wedding plans. On your wedding day, a dedicated wedding co-ordinator is assigned to you for the day to help with the arrangements, and this is included in the cost of a wedding. Comlongon rarely advertises as most of their clients are personally recommended. The Castle can cater for wide range of wedding from a small private wedding for two or a large wedding for over 170 guests. The wedding service can be held in the Great Hall, or held outside on the lawns. Cuthbert of Cockpool built Comlongon Castle in the late 15th century on the land he inherited from his ancestors. He did this to replace the old Cockpool castle, which was by then only ruined earthworks. The family remained in possession of the castle until 1984. In the same year, it was sold to its current owners. The tower had added to it a 19th century mansion in the baronial style; both the castle and the mansion are now in use as a hotel. Legends The ghost of Marion Carruthers, who committed suicide in the castle in the 16th century, is said to have been seen haunting the building.

Drumlanrig Castle is one of the greatest Scottish stately homes, a magnificent pink sandstone Renaissance palace in Nithsdale, Dumfries and Galloway, completed in 1691 for the first Duke of Queensberry and continuously the seat of the Douglas and later Buccleuch family. The horseshoe plan with its richly decorated classical facades, turrets and distinctive flying buttresses above the entrance represents one of the most ambitious buildings of late seventeenth-century Scotland. Outstanding art collections include works by Rembrandt, Holbein and Leonardo da Vinci, the latter's Madonna with the Yarnwinder stolen in 2003 and recovered in 2007. The estate is one of Scotland's most important mountain biking centres with an internationally recognised trail network, and the combination of spectacular castle, exceptional art collections and outstanding outdoor recreation makes Drumlanrig one of the finest all-round heritage destinations in southern Scotland.

Edingham Castle near Dalbeattie in Dumfries and Galloway is a ruined late medieval tower house in the Urr valley of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The Stewartry takes its name from a unique administrative arrangement governed by a hereditary Steward rather than a sheriff, and the landscape retains many features of its distinctive medieval heritage including tower houses, early Christian crosses and various earthwork fortifications. The castle represents the modest tower house tradition of the Stewartry, where lesser families held individual estates within the broader framework of Galloway lordship. The broader region is popular for the Seven Stanes mountain biking network and the rich heritage landscape stretching from Threave Castle to the early Christian sites of the Machars peninsula.

The Galloway Forest Park in southwest Scotland is the largest forest park in Britain and one of the finest Dark Sky Parks in Europe, a vast area of forest, moorland, lochs and mountains in Dumfries and Galloway whose extreme remoteness from urban light pollution creates conditions for astronomical observation among the darkest in the British Isles. The Gold Tier status awarded by the International Dark-Sky Association recognises the exceptional quality of the night skies over Galloway and the combination of the forest park landscape by day and the star-filled skies by night creates a visitor experience of remarkable variety and quality. The Galloway Dark Sky Park covers approximately 1,800 square kilometres of the forest park and surrounding land, an area large enough to provide genuinely dark conditions across a wide region rather than at a single isolated site. The observatories and dark sky discovery sites at various points in the park provide interpretation and equipment for astronomers of all levels, and the combination of the interpretation and the excellent sky conditions attracts both serious astronomers and casual stargazers throughout the year. The Galloway Forest Park by day provides excellent walking, mountain biking and wildlife watching in a landscape of considerable natural quality, the combination of the mature conifer forest, the moorland and the lochs supporting red deer, red kite, otter and a range of upland bird species. The seven lochs of the Raiders Road forest drive provide accessible wildlife watching in a pleasant touring circuit through the heart of the forest.

Gilnockie Tower near Canonbie in Dumfries and Galloway, also known as Hollows Tower, is a well-preserved sixteenth-century peel tower associated with Johnnie Armstrong, one of the most celebrated figures of Border history and ballad tradition. Armstrong was a powerful border reiver whose control of Eskdale made him a figure of considerable local authority until his execution by King James V at Carlanrig in 1530. The solid rectangular tower provided defensible refuge for family and livestock during the frequent raids that characterised Border life. Now managed by the Clan Armstrong Trust as a heritage centre interpreting Armstrong and Border reiver history, the tower sits in the scenic Esk valley where the river flows south through wooded hills toward the Solway Firth.

The Grey Mare's Tail near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway is the fifth highest waterfall in Britain, a spectacular fall of approximately 60 metres where the Tail Burn plunges from the hanging valley of Loch Skeen above the main valley of the Moffat Water in a great cascade of white water visible from the road below and accessible by a well-maintained path that provides one of the finest waterfall walks in southern Scotland. The National Trust for Scotland manages the site and the combination of the waterfall, the hanging valley above and the upland landscape of the Southern Uplands creates a natural heritage destination of considerable quality. The hanging valley of Loch Skeen above the falls was created by the differential erosion of the main glacier in the Moffat Water valley, which deepened the main valley faster than the tributary glacier could erode its own valley, leaving the tributary valley suspended above the main valley floor with the waterfall marking the point where the Tail Burn drops from the hanging valley to the main valley below. The path to the loch above the falls provides the walk that takes the visitor from the drama of the waterfall to the relative tranquillity of the high moorland loch. The upland landscape above the falls, with its moorland, high plateau and the Southern Upland Way long-distance path nearby, provides excellent walking in the characteristic landscape of the Southern Uplands. The peregrine falcons that nest on the cliffs above the falls and the upland birds of the moorland above provide wildlife interest to complement the geological and hydrological drama of the waterfall itself.

Kirkconnell Tower near Dumfries in Dumfries and Galloway is a ruined tower house in the agricultural landscape of the Nith valley, representing the tower house tradition of the Scottish lowlands in an area where local families competed for agricultural land and local authority throughout the later medieval period. The Nith valley is one of the most attractive river corridors in southwest Scotland, flowing through the historic town of Dumfries toward the Solway Firth. Dumfries itself is the regional capital of southwest Scotland, associated with Robert Burns who spent his last years in the town, and the broader Galloway and Dumfriesshire landscape contains the great abbey ruins of Sweetheart and Dundrennan and Caerlaverock Castle.

Loch Trool in the Galloway Forest Park is the most scenically dramatic of the lochs in the Galloway Hills, a narrow elongated loch of considerable beauty set beneath the highest hills in the Southern Uplands in a landscape of great wildness that provides the finest walking destination in southwest Scotland. The combination of the loch scenery, the Bruce's Stone commemorating Robert the Bruce's victory over the English in the glen above in 1307 and the walking available on the surrounding Merrick massif creates one of the most rewarding natural heritage destinations in Dumfries and Galloway. The Bruce's Stone above the east end of the loch commemorates one of the most significant early encounters in Robert the Bruce's campaign to recover the Scottish throne, when the battle of Glen Trool in 1307 represented one of the first military successes in a campaign that would eventually lead to the decisive victory at Bannockburn in 1314. The stone provides a direct connection to the landscape of the Scottish Wars of Independence in one of the finest and most remote natural settings in the Galloway Hills. The walk from Loch Trool to the summit of the Merrick, at 843 metres the highest hill in the Southern Uplands, provides one of the finest upland walking days in southwest Scotland, the route ascending through the Galloway Hills in a landscape of considerable wild quality that is entirely different in character from the Highland walking it superficially resembles.

Lochhouse Tower near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway is a well-preserved sixteenth-century peel tower in the agricultural uplands of Annandale, one of the more complete examples of the smaller defensive tower type characteristic of the Scottish-English Borders and the southern upland zone of Dumfriesshire. The tower was associated with the Johnstone family, one of the powerful Border reiver clans who dominated Annandale throughout the later medieval and early modern periods. The valley of Annandale is one of the main routes through the Southern Uplands between the Clyde valley and the Solway Firth. The town of Moffat nearby is a small spa town of Victorian character in a dramatic upland setting, and the surrounding hills and the Grey Mare's Tail waterfall to the northeast provide exceptional walking country in the Scottish Southern Uplands.