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Home , Glenluce Abbey, Rhins of Galloway

SOUTHERN CHARMS ’s balmiest region is a huge hit with these discerning youngsters – and their delighted parents, too!

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: Robin McKelvie

y plan to start our tour in await in Scotland’s balmiest region, as we Inverness had seemed inspired burrow down the A9 through the grand when I first came up with the Highland mountain massifs. Midea. It now seems brave, perhaps even a That great Scottish writer, Robert Louis little foolhardy. Rather than follow a well- Stevenson, once declared: “I travel for furrowed route around the Highlands, my travel’s sake, the great affair is to move." He family and I are heading in search of the could have been talking of motorhomes, southern charms of Dumfries and where we find the journey is part of the fun. on a seven-night odyssey that will also We ease south through the Highlands, offer a taste of the Highlands, Borders and gazing out at the mighty Cairngorms and Perthshire en route. I want to have my stop for a ramble around Ruthven Barracks. Robin McKelvie... campervan cake and eat it and enjoy a mini Here the girls’ foam swords are out as we ‘greatest hits of Scotland’ en route to the bring the history books alive with tales ...is a travel writer, south and back. of Jacobites and Redcoats. Lunch is in broadcaster and blogger who Picking up the ’van, my wife and Dalwhinnie, where I sneak in to snap up has visited over 100 countries two daughters, Tara and Emma, look a distillery-only bottle of single malt at unconvinced by the sound of Dumfries and the local distillery. I'm glad now that I’ve Galloway instead of the Highlands. Tara has included a little of the Highlands in our tour! pressing concerns, “Will it have beaches, Our first overnight is at Biggar in the ruins and nice food like the Highlands?” she Borders. Before that there is the epic sight asks. I confidently assure her that it will! of the trio of Forth Bridges to savour as we I fill her imagination with thoughts of cross the Forth Road Bridge. To our left lies the best ice cream in Scotland, bountiful the Victorian majesty of the UNESCO World wildlife and the blinking lighthouses that Heritage-listed Forth Bridge and, to the

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Trip summary OUR MOTORHOME THE JOURNEY 2016 Globecar Globescout Vario. We hired it from We started and finished this trip in Inverness and Highland Campervans spent seven nights on sites in August ☎ 01667 493976 highlandcampervans. THE COSTS com as we're planning Fuel average 40mpg ……………...……………...……………...……………..£65 to buy a motorhome Motorhome hire ……………...……………...……………...……………...…… £895 and wanted to try Site fees ……………...……………...……………...……………...……………...…… £153 various layouts Attractions Family of four: , out first Abbey, , Cream o’ Galloway ……………...……………...……………...……………...……………...…… £120

2016 Globecar Globescout Vario 675 miles Total £1,233

right, the Queensferry Crossing, the highest ABOVE LEFT UNESCO World abbeys – with their dramatic settings – are bridge in the British Isles. We have covered Heritage listed Forth Bridge both worth visiting but, for me, Sweetheart a good bit of ground already and Dumfries ABOVE RIGHT Feeding the Abbey is the most captivating. and Galloway is within striking distance. lambs at Cream o’Galloway Its ruins are deeply romantic, home to For now, Biggar proves ideal with wee an epic love story. Lady Devorgilla, mother shops to explore on its quiet, historic High of the future King John I of Scotland, was so Street. The girls are more entertained by enamoured with her husband that, when the buzzards swooping above the campsite he died, she had his heart embalmed and and a squirrel hunt than by the playground, carried it with her wherever she went. which is always a good sign. When she eventually died 20 years later, On our second day we roll through the she was buried still clasping his heart. I southern uplands and deep into Dumfries only tell my girls part of the story, but they and Galloway, Scotland’s real southern seem to feel the romance anyway and whirl charmer awash with history. Robert the around this majestic ruin in their own Bruce celebrated his seminal victory over dreams of fairies and princesses. English forces here and the lush countryside Our first campsite in the region, Solway swirls in castles and battlefields. View, proves the ideal base – and not just The most beguiling legacy for me is the for exploring the abbeys. We enjoy two trio of abbeys that recline here. They will nights at this seriously relaxed little gem, set no doubt be busier than ever this year; it on a working farm. The girls feed orphaned has been designated the Year of History, lambs before bundling off to the park. Heritage and Archaeology by VisitScotland We take a stroll down to the water to and the Scottish Government. The well- paddle in ‘Scotland’s Riviera’, as Dumfries preserved Dundrennan and Glenluce and Galloway is also known. Abbeys and ➤

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Scotland TRAVEL

ambling around the site easily fill our days o’ Galloway offers what I argue is Scotland’s as the modern world slips further and finest ice cream. This is a real foodie success further away at a site where I don’t mind not story, of a couple who used the milk from having a mobile signal. their own dairy farm to diversify into ice En route to our second Dumfries and cream. When that side of the business Galloway campsite we discover some of started to take off they added a playground the superb produce this bountiful region is for visiting families. so renowned for. I am already a big fan of Today, what it is a superb family Belted Galloway Beef – which is up there attraction offers a sprawling adventure with Aberdeen Angus – but there are also playground, myriad slides, go-karts and a myriad smaller scale ‘foodie’ producers. We flying fox. ‘Go Boing’ joined the fold a few discover the Galloway Lodge Preserves from years back. This web of multi-coloured Gatehouse of Fleet (a real foodie town). The ropes forms rooms and corridors where plum and coriander jam proves a winner youngsters can fling themselves around. It with our breakfast toast. keeps Tara and Emma amused for hours. The big surprise for me, though, is what After wearing the kids out, we move on becomes my favourite Scottish salmon; to the Burger Barn, which serves up burgers Marrbury smoked salmon is ridiculously made from beef sourced from the creamery delicious. Scotland’s most celebrated chef, farm. There’s also a range of tours that shed Andrew Fairlie (who has his eponymous light on how the farm and the creamery ABOVE Enjoying seafood restaurant at Gleneagles), has hailed it as operate. My favourite tour proves to be in the best smoked salmon in the world. We the ice cream tasting option, where you BELOW CLOCKWISE Walking enjoy it in the café at Carsluith Castle. My get to taste 10 of the 30 Cream o’ Galloway on the at girls seem to agree with Fairlie and savour varieties for yourself. ; marker post on the Southern Upland Way; handfuls of salmon by the historic ramparts. The Sands of Luce site is where an epic, Caerlaverock Castle in There is no competition for my girls’ seven-mile beach tempts. New pitches for favourite attraction over the week: Cream motorhomes were put in a few years ➤

“ We sit back and enjoy a barbeque bathed in pink light as the swollen sun melts over the sea’’

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ago and, at a site with static caravans, TOP TIP across the water. The peaks of the Lake motorhomes don’t get a raw deal. We enjoy District sneak into view to the south, too. a prime pitch overlooking the water and can The Galloway Dark Sky Park Tara and Emma get more than they see the kids on the beach just below. holds regular stargazing bargain for with a special late night trip We can make out England across the events, which cost £15 per to see ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. The adult or a family of four for water, with the shadow of Northern £38. Or just head deep into Galloway Forest Park was the first reserve haunting the background. The kids are big the forest and look up! in the UK to be recognised as a Dark Sky fans of this site and instantly make friends. scotland.forestry.gov.uk/ Park. We head deep into the forest on The water is shallow and warm and the forest-parks/galloway-forest- remote roads to where we find complete girls lose hours as we sit in deckchairs park/dark-skies/ darkness. The girls don’t just meet Twinkle watching the clouds drift over. Sunsets are Twinkle; they meet her siblings, cousins and of the spectacular variety in this part of the massively extended family, as an infinite world and we sit back and enjoy a barbeque array of stars and planets explode all bathed in pink light as the swollen sun around bringing out loud ‘wows’ from our melts over the sea. astonished daughters. The Sands of Luce lie on the cusp of what Dumfries and Galloway serves up plenty we find is the most scenic part of Dumfries of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors and Galloway, the Rhins of Galloway. This beyond birdwatching and stargazing. The rugged, remote peninsula juts out deep into 212-mile Southern Upland Way – one of the wilds of the Irish Sea. Scotland’s great long-distance trails – kicks We head right down to the southerly off at Portpatrick and takes in a rich sweep point of this otherworldly escape, which of the region as it burrows east into the is protected as the RSPB Borders. I’ve walked a 100-mile stretch in Nature Reserve and is alive with seabirds. a week before, but we settle for a relatively The girls use binoculars, but we don’t really short ramble on what is arguably the most need them with guillemots, kittiwakes and dramatic stretch of the whole walk. puffins filling the air all around. We park at Killantringan Lighthouse ABOVE The wild landscape of We look out for whales, but have to Galloway Forest Park; and Tara gets to see the lighthouse that I ‘make do’ with a pod of dolphins. From here, INSET The wonderfully named promised her back on the A9. We follow the Ireland looks to be within touching distance Sweetheart Abbey sea cliffs along the rugged coast down to ➤

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WE STAYED AT Biggar Caravan Park, Broughton Road, Biggar, Sands of Luce, , , Dumfries South ML12 6HA and Galloway DG9 9JN ☎ 01899 220319 ☎ 01776 830456 biggarcaravanpark.co.uk sandsofluceholidaypark.co.uk  1 February – 3 January  1 March – 31 October £ Two adults, pitch and electric: £19 £ Two adults, pitch and electric: From £20 Solway View, Borgue, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries Noah’s Ark Caravan Park, Newhouse Farm, and Galloway DG6 4TR Perth PH1 1QF ☎ 01557 870206 ☎ 01738 580661 ABOVE LEFT The picturesque solwayviewholidays.co.uk noahsarkcaravanpark.co.uk harbour at Portpatrick  February – November  All year ABOVE RIGHT £ Two adults, pitch and electric: From £17.50 £ Two adults, pitch and electric: From £22 The dramatic ruins of Dundrennan Abbey

what my girls reckon is the prettiest place in This is where King James IV was said to Dumfries and Galloway. I don’t disagree. have tried to wean his knights off the new Portpatrick makes for the ideal venue game of golf as it was getting in the way of for lunch. This picture-perfect hideaway archery practice! evokes the villages of both and Then it is back to the Noah’s Ark Caravan Cornwall. Handily, it is home to a number Park; an ideal last night stop where the kids of pubs dishing up seafood from the local enjoy the Children’s Playbarn and we all get fishing fleet. in a game of bowling. The Crown offers an excellent-value Our last morning sees an epic final seafood platter laden with local lobster, flourish of Highland scenery as we ease which the girls try as seagulls squawk above back to Inverness. As we funnel through the in the salty Irish Sea air. My girls love the glens looking out for deer, I ask my girls the platters in the Highlands, but reckon they million dollar question. Did they prefer a SEARCH are just as good here. motorhome trip in Dumfries and Galloway Our three nights at Sands of Luce are or last year’s one to the Highlands? Tara Looking for your perfect site? over all too soon. We wave goodbye with thinks carefully and then exclaims, “I loved Campsite Finder has over one last sunset (my girls love that they can them both”. Young Emma chips in, “Can we 6,000 sites to choose from make out the Milky Way when it turns dark) come back here?” Mission achieved. REVIEW before turning tail the next morning. Mummy is smiling, too, after a week Again, we don’t try to bash all the way to in which we’ve savoured the bountiful Stayed at a great site? Inverness in one go, but split the journey. southern charms of Dumfries and Galloway, Don’t forget to write a review on Campsite Finder This time we take in a slice of Perthshire but also enjoyed a taste of our beloved and overnight in the trim city of Perth on Highlands and other flashes of a country the banks of Scotland’s longest river, the that always reveals something new on every outandaboutlive.co.uk/campsite-finder mighty Tay. We enjoy a riverside stroll and motorhome adventure. We have had our then the play equipment in the Inch parks. Scottish motorhome cake and eaten it!

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64 outandaboutlive.co.uk Summer 2017