Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Townhouse
Market Square
T
01896 822645,
W
thetownhousemelrose.co.uk.
This small hotel has
eleven individually stylish en-suite rooms including a
family room, all with contemporary furnishings.
Avoid the st
reet-f
acing suites to ensure a peaceful
night's sleep.
£128
EATING AND DRINKING
RESTAURANTS
Hoebridge Inn
Hoebridge Rd East, Gattonside; 500yd
past Melrose Abbey and across the old suspension
bridge
T
01896 823082,
W
thehoebridgeinn.com.
Once
a bobbin mill, this restaurant retains a timeless charm
thanks to its deep rubble walls and simple furnishings. Its
menu offers a good choice of predominantly Scots and
French cuisine with a house special of slow roasted rabbit
for £16.50 while light lunches start at £5 for soup and
bread.
Tues-Sat noon-2pm & 6-9pm, Sun 12.30-
2.30pm; closed Tues & Wed eve late Oct-March.
Marmion's Brasserie
Buccleuch St
T
01896 822245,
W
marmionsbrasserie.co.uk.
While this popular all-day
bistro might have overdone it a bit with pine cladding, it
still manages to conjure up a peppy atmosphere of an
evening. The menu offers plenty of choice; dependable
meat dishes as well as a surprisingly wide and adventurous
selection of vegetarian mains like the salad with wild
mushroom wontons for £11.25.
Mon-Sat 9am-9pm.
Scotland, this time capsule of a place with its pine ceilings,
quirky chandeliers and even quirkier rag dolls is stubbornly
charming. With its exceptional location, outside tables and
a cheap £7 all-day breakfast, business is, unsurprisingly,
booming.
Mon-Sat 9am-4.30pm, Sun10am-4.30pm.
Ì
Abbey Fine Wines & The Cellar Coffee Shop
Abbey St
T
01896 823224,
W
abbeyfinewines.co.uk.
This long-established wine merchant now also turns its
hand to coffee and cakes at its good little café through the
back of their generously stocked wine shop. Light lunches
are also served here from £6.50 for quiche or, if you can't
resist, sample wine bottles are always open and go nicely
with their £8.75 cheese and quince platter.
Mon-Sat
9.30am-4.30pm; shop closes 5.30pm.
2
PUBS
Ship Inn
East Port; at the top of the square
T
01896
822190.
The liveliest pub in town, especially on Saturday
afternoons when the Melrose rugby team have played at
home. While it could certainly do with some redecoration,
its saving grace is the beer garden out back.
Mon-Wed
11am-11pm, Thurs 11am-midnight, Fri & Sat
11am-1am, Sun noon-11pm.
CAFÉS
Abbey Coffee Shop
6 Buccleuch St
T
01896 822165
Untouched by the growth of swanky café culture in
ENTERTAINMENT
The Wynd
7 The Wynd, Buccleuch St
T
01896 820028,
W
sites.google.com/site/thewyndtheatre.
Melrose's
very own pint-sized theatre, tucked away down an
alleyway, north off the main square, shows films and puts
on classic, jazz and folk concerts as well as live drama.
Box
o
ce Tues & Thurs 11am-1pm.
SHOPPING
The Whole Lot
High St; next to the petrol station
T
01896 823039,
W
thewholelot.co.uk.
Worth seeking
out for its sizeable array of Scottish furniture, clothes and
bric-a-brac, this superb antique shop claims to be the
largest in the Borders. It's certainly big enough to enjoy a
browse without feeling your every move is being
watched.
Mon-Sat
9.30-5pm;
April-Dec:
Sun
11am-4pm.
Galashiels
In a tour of the region, it's hard to avoid going through “Gala”, as
GALASHIELS
is known
locally,
a hard-working textile town four miles west of Melrose whose grey-green workers'
terraces spread along the valley of the Gala Water near its junction with the Tweed. he
main street runs parallel with the river, its eastern end cheered by a melodramatic
equestrian statue of a Border Reiver above the town's war memorial. he long-demolished
New Gala House, a mansion that stood at the top of the town, was taken over during
World War II by Edinburgh girls' school,
St Trinnean's
; the artist Ronald Searle met two
of the pupils in 1941, inspiration for the unruly schoolgirls in his St Trinian's novels.
ARRIVAL, DEPARTURE AND INFORMATION
GALASHIELS
By bus
The region's principal bus station is situated close to
(and north of the river from) the town centre, just off the A7.
Destinations
Edinburgh (Mon-Sat 4 hourly, 2 on Sun;
2hr); Peebles (Mon-Sat 2 hourly, 1 on Sun; 40min); Hawick
