This is the second part of our week of travel in Dumfries and Galloway. You can read part one of our trip to Scotland here!
Day Four: Discovering Kirkudbright
This was our long-distance travel day – well, relative to the rest of the week anyway! Just over an hour’s drive took us to the charming inlet town of Kirkcudbright. The drive itself was lovely – lots of winding, deserted country roads took us past lochs, forests and rolling hills. We had a little break on the shores of one of these lochs, and what struck us was just how silent it is when you get out of the car. Dead quiet. No other people were anywhere near, and no vehicles were roaring in the distance. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in England. The exceptions are perhaps the Lake District, and deep in the Yorkshire Dales.
After arriving in Kirkcudbright, we were on a mission. A mission to buy picnic food. The famous ‘Scotch Pie’ was at the top of the list, and Matt managed to somehow negotiate enough pies to last a week from a baker with a brilliantly thick Scottish accent.
Unfortunately, we were both starving, so we ate the pies too quickly to take a photo. Ah well. We wandered around Kirkcudbright for a little while longer before taking the rest of our picnic down to a beach.
Read next: Experience seven fantastic hiking routes from Horton-in-Ribblesdale in Yorkshire
From Beach to Forest
The nearest beach was a car journey away, so we hopped back in and drove a few miles down the coast. The drive turned out to be well worth it. We found a charming little bay – complete with a shipwreck. Even better, it had an ice cream van. It would have been rude not to indulge!
Ice cream eaten and beach cravings satisfied, we began the drive back. A glance at TripAdvisor told us about a forest road, for which you pay a £2 toll, and just drive through and enjoy the scenery.
Predictably, it was well worth it. A well-maintained track took you deep enough into the forest to give the impression of being truly in the wild. Along the way, there were various stops to allow you to get out and enjoy the scenery.
You really got the sense of being in the middle of nowhere. What we predicted as a 45-minute drive down the track ended up lasting twice the time.
It was nearly dark by the time we got home. We had just enough energy left to rustle up some food and get our daily ‘Come Dine With Me’ fix.
Read next: A walk around Lake Bohinj in Slovenia’s Julian Alps
Day Five: Plodding around Dunploddin
This was a lazy day. A very lazy day. Unashamedly, we woke up very late and had zero intention of taking the car anywhere. However, it was also the first non-sunny day of the week, so we felt slightly less bad about our lack of activity.
We spent the morning pottering about the cottage, cooking a proper breakfast, and marvelling at the sheep as they surrounded us.
We decided not to stay inside all day, and set off for a wander down the Southern Upland Way again. This time, we went in the opposite direction to where we’d gone a few days before. Thankfully the path followed a tarmac road, so there was no chance of us getting lost on this occasion (see Part One!). It was a typically lovely, quiet walk. We even had the added novelty of assuming the role of shepherds and chasing a flock of sheep down the road for a good five minutes.
They later came back to the house looking for revenge, so we wisely battened down the hatches and called it a night. We could only hope that the sheep were gone in the morning….
Read next: A walk up Birks and Arnison Crag from Patterdale in the Lake District.
Day Six: Back to Drumlanrig Castle
Sadly, today was our last full day at Dunploddin. We’re not quite sure how this happened; time flew by. In the end, we decided to spend it at the place we enjoyed the most during the week – Drumlanrig Castle.
We packed the walking boots, prepared the pizza picnic, and set to explore more of the castle’s vast grounds. The estate was as brilliantly maintained as the castle gardens. Gentle streams, muddy paths, ancient trees – it had the lot.
We stopped for food at a viewing point from which you could enjoy a fantastic view of the castle down beneath. There we got talking to an older group of walkers. One gentleman was revisiting the site where he had scattered his wife’s ashes. We can see why they chose this spot.
Further on the walk, we spent a good half an hour stalking two or three birds of prey. It was brilliant to listen to them calling to each other, and catching the occasional glimpse as they swopped in and out of the trees. Sadly for Matt, his attempts to communicate with them were in vain. Despite maintaining that his strange squeaking sounded precisely the same as their call.
It’s fair to say that we didn’t want to leave, and we were pretty much the last car out of the car park come the end of the day. However, we knew that when we got back to the cottage, the reality of having to clean and pack up our stuff would hit…
Read next: The best sunset spot on the Norfolk coast
Day Seven: The last day in Dumfries and Galloway!
How did leaving day come about so quickly? I don’t think either of us was expecting Dumfries and Galloway to be just as good as it was. It’s safe to say that we were very sad to be leaving. We got the car packed, said our goodbyes to our fantastic hosts at Dunploddin, and set off on our way back down to Matt’s house, where we’d be staying for a couple of days.
Sadly, there was no repeat of Stobart-Fest to be enjoyed on the way back. However, we found that the weather was rather pleasant – as it had been for most of the week. We took the opportunity to call in at one of the large Roman forts along Hadrian’s Wall and enjoyed wandering around the well-maintained ruins.
At some point, we both simultaneously released our mischievous sides and pretended, loudly, to be historians. But, unfortunately, we’re not sure if anyone believed our claims that Hadrian personally carried each brick up to his wall.
And, with that, the Scotland trip was over. Dumfries and Galloway is a highly recommended destination for anyone after some peace and quiet without having to drive or fly too far. Give it a go! We both had a brilliant week and are determined to go back and explore more of the country. Matt has his eye on a flight to Barra, where the runway is a beach. Lucy will probably be happy to go anywhere she can hide from bagpipes.