Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE SANDYHILLS
By bus
There are buses from Dumfries (6 daily, Mon-Sat, 4 on Sun; 55min) and Rockcliffe (5 daily, Mon-Sat, 4 on
Sun; 10min).
ACCOMMODATION
Craigbittern
Main Rd (
T
01387 780247,
W
craigbitterncottage.co.uk
A nicely decorated
traditional stone self-catering cottage available for rent by
the week, sleeping six in two bedrooms and a living room;
set ba
ck from the road and looking out to the Solway Firth.
£450
/week
Rockcliffe and around
A village on the Urr estuary twenty miles southwest of Dumfries,
ROCKCLIFFE
peacefully shelters between wooded hills and its beautiful rocky, sand and shell bay. For
vehicles, Rockcliffe is a dead end, but it's the start of a pleasant half-hour walk along
the Jubilee Path to neighbouring
KIPPFORD
,
a tiny, lively yachting centre strung out
along the east bank of the estuary. En route, the path passes the Celtic hillfort of the
Mote of Mark
, a useful craggy viewpoint. At low tide you can walk over the Rough
Firth causeway from the shore below across the mud flats to
Rough Island
, a humpy
bird sanctuary owned by the National Trust for Scotland - it's out of bounds in May
and June when terns and oystercatchers are nesting.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
3
ROCKCLIFFE AND AROUND
By bus
Buses stop at the road's end next to the bay and
serve Dumfries (Mon-Sat, 3 daily, 4 on Sun; 1hr 5min) and
Kippford (Mon-Sat, 5 daily, 4 on Sun; 10min).
ACCOMMODATION
Ì
Roughfirth House
Roughfirth, Kippford
T
01556
620330,
W
kippford.com.
Halfway between Kippford and
Rockcliffe accessed by a private cul-de-sac from Kippford,
this B&B has an en-suite double and a two-bedroomed
family s
uite
with sun loun
ge ov
erlooking the waterfront.
Doubles
£90
; family suites
£130
EATING AND DRINKING
Barons Craig Hotel
250yd north of the shore,
Rockcliffe
T
01556 630225,
W
baronscraighotel
.co.uk.
A short walk uphill from the shorefront, this
beautiful old hotel's restaurant has superb coastal views
and its well-balanced and reasonably priced menu
might include fish and chips for £10.50 and pork with
fennel and leek compote as part of the two-course
evening menu at £19. Worth coming here just for a drink
on the terrace.
Noon-2pm, 7-8.30pm.
Kirkcudbright and around
KIRKCUDBRIGHT
- pronounced “kir-coo-bree” - hugging the muddy banks of the
River Dee ten miles southwest of Castle Douglas, is the only major town along the
Solway coast to have retained a working harbour. In addition, it has a ruined castle
and the most attractive of town centres, a charming medley of simple two-storey
cottages with medieval pends, Georgian villas and Victorian townhouses, all built in
a mixture of sandstone, granite and brick, and attractively painted. Not surprisingly,
Kirkcudbright became something of a magnet for Scottish artists from the late
nineteenth century onwards.
MacLellan's Castle
Castle St • April-Sept daily 9.30am-5.30pm, Oct-March Sat & Sun 9.30am-4.30pm • £4.50; HS •
T
01557 331856
he most striking sight in Kirkcudbright is
MacLellan's Castle
, a pink-flecked
sixteenth-century tower house that sits at one end of the High Street, by the
