Dumfries House

Top choice in Southern Scotland

LoginSave

A Palladian mansion designed in the 1750s by the Adam brothers, Dumfries House is an architectural jewel: such is its preservation that Prince Charles personally intervened to ensure its protection. It contains an extraordinarily well-preserved collection of Chippendale furniture and numerous objets d’art. Visits are by guided tour; book ahead. There’s a discount for Historic Environment Scotland members. The daily Grand Tour (adult/child £13/4) also takes you to the bedrooms upstairs and the grounds. There’s a cafe here.

The house is located 13 miles east of Ayr, near Cumnock. Bus it from Ayr or Dumfries to Cumnock and walk or cab it the 2 miles to the house; you can also get a train from Glasgow to Auchinleck.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • UK, Scotland, Glasgow, ceiling in St Mungo cathedral

    Glasgow Cathedral

    28.33 MILES

    Glasgow Cathedral has a rare timelessness. The dark, imposing interior conjures up medieval might and can send a shiver down the spine. It's a shining…

  • Glasgow Riverside Museum, Zaha Hadid Architects, 2011, Exterior wide view of riverside facade

    Riverside Museum

    28.34 MILES

    This visually impressive modern museum at Glasgow Harbour owes its striking curved forms to late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. A transport museum…

  • Mackintosh House Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland.

    Mackintosh House

    28.89 MILES

    Attached to the Hunterian Art Gallery, this is a reconstruction of the first home that Charles Rennie Mackintosh bought with his wife, noted designer…

  • Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

    Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

    28.58 MILES

    A magnificent sandstone building, this grand Victorian cathedral of culture is a fascinating and unusual museum, with a bewildering variety of exhibits…

  • Paisley Abbey

    Paisley Abbey

    27.27 MILES

    Paisley Abbey is well worth the short trip from Glasgow. This majestic Gothic building was founded in 1163 by Walter Fitzalan, first high steward of…

  • Culzean Castle & Country Park

    Culzean Castle & Country Park

    20.19 MILES

    The Scottish National Trust's flagship property, magnificent Culzean (kull-ane) is one of the most impressive of Scotland's stately homes. On approach the…

  • UK, Scotland, Glasgow, Glasgow Science Centre and Glasgow Tower on River Clyde

    Glasgow Science Centre

    27.87 MILES

    This brilliant science museum will keep the kids entertained for hours (that's middle-aged kids, too!). It brings science and technology alive through…

  • Glasgow School of Art

    Glasgow School of Art

    28.45 MILES

    In 2018, Charles Rennie Mackintosh's greatest building was gearing up for reopening after a devastating 2014 fire when, unbelievably, another blaze…

View more attractions

Nearby Southern Scotland attractions

1. Auld Kirk

12.61 MILES

Robert Burns was baptised in the Auld Kirk. The atmospheric cemetery here overlooks the river and is good for a stroll, offering an escape from the bustle…

2. Auld Brig

12.65 MILES

Several of Burns' poems are set here in Ayr; in Twa Brigs, Ayr's old and new bridges argue with one another. The Auld Brig was built in 1491 and spans the…

3. St John’s Tower

12.94 MILES

This is the only remnant of the church that hosted a parliament in 1315, the year after the celebrated victory at the battle of Bannockburn. John Knox’…

4. Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

12.99 MILES

This impressive museum has collected a solid range of Burns memorabilia, including manuscripts and possessions of the poet, like the pistols he packed for…

5. Burns Monument & Memorial Gardens

13.07 MILES

Within these gardens near the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum is a striking neo-Grecian monument to the poet, completed in 1823. It affords a view of the…

6. Alloway Auld Kirk

13.09 MILES

Near the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum are the ruins of the kirk, the setting for part of Burns' verse tale 'Tam o' Shanter'. Burns' father, William, is…

7. Dean Castle

13.6 MILES

In Kilmarnock, a 15-minute walk from bus and train stations, this castle, restored in the 20th century, has a virtually windowless keep (dating from 1350)…

8. Dundonald Castle

14.1 MILES

Dundonald Castle commands impressive views and, in its main hall, has one of the finest barrel-vaulted ceilings preserved in Scotland. It was the first…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "scotland/south-ayrshire/attractions/dumfries-house/a/poi-sig/1188426/1319517",
  "destination": "Southern-Scotland",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "Scotland",
  "region": "Southern-Scotland",
  "position": "superzone"
}