Must-see attractions in Southern Scotland

  • Stranraer Museum

    Dumfries & Galloway

    This museum houses exhibits on local history and you can learn about Stranraer's polar explorers. The highlight is the carved stone pipe from Madagascar…

  • New Abbey Corn Mill

    Dumfries & Galloway

    This 18th-century watermill in the centre of the village is very well preserved. A video sets it in context, and cordial guides will show you the workings…

  • Víkingar!

    Southern Scotland

    The town's main attraction is a multimedia exhibition describing Viking influence in Scotland until its demise at the Battle of Largs in 1263. It's got a…

  • Sulwath Brewery

    Dumfries & Galloway

    You can see traditional brewing processes at this main-street alemaker's. Tours, which include a pint, only run twice a week, at 1pm on Monday and Friday …

  • MacDiarmid Memorial

    Dumfries & Galloway

    Amid stirring scenery a couple of miles from town on the Newcastleton road, this oxidised iron memorial to poet Hugh MacDiarmid looks like a portal to a…

  • Mill on the Fleet

    Dumfries & Galloway

    In the centre of town, in a converted 18th-century cotton mill, this centre has an exhibition on the history of the local industry and environment. The…

  • Castle of St John

    Dumfries & Galloway

    Worth a quick visit, the Castle of St John is a tower built in 1510 by the Adairs of Kihilt, a powerful local family. The old stone cells carry a…

  • Alloway Auld Kirk

    Southern Scotland

    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…

  • Falls of Clyde Wildlife Centre

    Southern Scotland

    The often-unstaffed wildlife centre is by the river in New Lanark and has a small child-friendly display focused on badgers, bats, peregrine falcons and…

  • St Ninian's Chapel

    Dumfries & Galloway

    The roofless 13th-century St Ninian's Chapel, probably built for pilgrims who landed nearby on their way to the shrine at Whithorn, sits evocatively on…

  • Burns Monument & Memorial Gardens

    Southern Scotland

    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…

  • St Ninian's Cave

    Dumfries & Galloway

    Around Burrow Head, to the southwest but accessed off the A747 before you enter the Isle of Whithorn, is St Ninian's Cave, where the saint apparently went…

  • St Michael's Kirk

    Dumfries & Galloway

    When visiting Robert Burns' mausoleum in the cemetery, it's worth ducking into the squarish 18th-century church, where he used to worship, to admire the…

  • Auld Brig

    Southern Scotland

    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…

  • Mull of Galloway Visitor Centre

    Dumfries & Galloway

    This visitor centre has plenty of information on local species and camera feeds from nesting birds on the cliff-face. There are guided walks on Tuesdays…

  • Stewartry Museum

    Dumfries & Galloway

    There's a certain charm to this higgledy-piggledy old-fashioned local history museum. There's everything from coronation teacups to lumps of local granite…

  • Auld Kirk

    Southern Scotland

    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…

  • Lighthouse Exhibition

    Dumfries & Galloway

    You can learn more about the Stevenson clan of lighthouse builders in the small exhibition at the lighthouse's base.

  • Torhouse Stone Circle

    Dumfries & Galloway

    Four miles west of Wigtown, off the B733, this well-preserved ruin dates from the 2nd millennium BC.

  • Bladnoch Distillery

    Dumfries & Galloway

    Browsing books can be thirsty work, so it's fortunate that Bladnoch Distillery is just a couple of miles away from Wigtown, in the village of Bladnoch…

  • Robert Burns Statue

    Dumfries & Galloway

    This statue at the end of High St features the poet with a dog at his feet.

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