Must-see places and route in the Scottish Lowlands

[The3mens]

Hi Guys.

Hoping to tour some of the Scottish Lowlands, possibly as early as Easter this year, We've previously taken in the NC500 and would welcome any advice on places to visit and a route for up to 14 nights.

Thanks

Mark
Sorry if I should of posted this somewhere else....

 

[seasideBill]

Hi Guys.

Hoping to tour some of the Scottish Lowlands, possibly as early as Easter this year, We've previously taken in the NC500 and would welcome any advice on places to visit and a route for up to 14 nights.

Thanks

Mark
Sorry if I should of posted this somewhere else....

Not entirely sure what constitutes the ‘lowlands’ but The Kelpies & Falkirk Wheel are well worth a visit. If your area extends north/east to Moray, the empty coastline there is stunning and Findhorn, Hopeman, Burghead, Lossiemouth, Cullen & Banff are great places to visit. Great spots for dolphin watching.

Dunnattor Castle near Stonehaven is in a stunning coastal location,

 

[The3mens]

Looking below Glasgow/Edinburgh, Thanks

 

[hja]

So Dumfries and Galloway? There is a d & g route which is useful for highlighting possible attractions. Take you a couple of weeks to do it justice.

 

[scotzsue]

So Dumfries and Galloway? There is a d & g route which is useful for highlighting possible attractions. Take you a couple of weeks to do it justice.

Second that, but has been a while since i was there lorger can you help?

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[The3mens]

So Dumfries and Galloway? There is a d & g route which is useful for highlighting possible attractions. Take you a couple of weeks to do it justice.

Sounds good, and we are planning a two week trip!

 

[The3mens]

Second that, but has been a while since i was there lorger can you help?

thanks

 

[lorger]

Sounds good, and we are planning a two week trip!

I'm at work just now but here is a link to the route to get you started, if you let me know what you like to see and do i can recommend some places to visit and stay. Also what time of year you're planning on coming.

Travelling Around Scotland by Car

The best Scotland road trips are calling. Consider a Highland road trip or drive the west coast.

www.visitscotland.com

 

[The3mens]

I'm at work just now but here is a link to the route to get you started, if you let me know what you like to see and do i can recommend some places to visit and stay. Also what time of year you're planning on coming.

Travelling Around Scotland by Car

The best Scotland road trips are calling. Consider a Highland road trip or drive the west coast.

www.visitscotland.com

Thanks, We are looking at end of March (Easter) for 2 weeks.

 

[The3mens]

Thanks, We are looking at end of March (Easter) for 2 weeks.

Thanks for the link, that's very useful! We are English Heritage members and want to take in some Historic Scotland sites while there.

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[dash300]

Thanks for the link, that's very useful! We are English Heritage members and want to take in some Historic Scotland sites while there.

In which case Stirling Castle is an impressive stop. There is parking up at the castle but there is usually a 'gauleiter' on guard to wave way vehicles they don't want. Much better to use the Free P and R (no height barrier) which stops almost at the top near the Castle entrance. Fantastic view as well weather permitting

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Edinburgh, great park & ride at Ingliston just off the A8 by Edinburgh Airport and access the centre of Edinburgh by tram or bus. So much to see and do.
Maybe nip over the Forth Bridge into Fife and visit https://secretbunker.co.uk/ well worth a visit which is
just south of St Andrews, then visit the fishing villages of Crail and Anstruther. And/or follow the coast east out of Edinburgh to North Berwick, Dunbar, Eyemouth and Berwick upon Tweed.
https://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-flight/ which is between North Berwick and Haddington.

We're doing a trip from Wales at the end of May going up to Ft William across to Blair Atholl, down into Fife, then the Kelpies, Edinburgh, then down the coast to Berwick-upon-Tweed via North Berwick etc down into Northumberland to visit Beamish then home.

 

[Leith Laddie]

Some people posting here seem to be struggling with the geography of the Scottish Lowlands. Dumfries and Galloway will not disappoint with beautiful costal towns, history is all around in abundance as well as breath-taking dark skies. However don't over look the magnificent Scottish Borders. Easter sees the world's oldest seven a side rugby tournament in Melrose also famous for it's ancient abbey and Abbotsford the historic home of Sir Walter Scott. Nearby visit the Great Tapestry of Scotland, Head to the Berwickshire coast for gorgeous fishing villages be sue to visit the museum celebrating the career and legacy of Motor Racing's Jim Clark. Historic abbeys, gardens and houses abound. Go west and meander along the mighty Tweed to Peebles with its eclectic range of shops and cafes.

 

[IRHP]

You could easily spend a week or 2 on the A75 between Portpatrick and the M6
Portpatrick is beautiful, 3 good sized sites, Garlieston, Isle if Whitehorn, Kirkcudbright, Glencaple, Newton Farm, Port William, Kippford, Rockcliffe, Sands of Luce, take your pick.

 

[seasideBill]

Some people posting here seem to be struggling with the geography of the Scottish Lowlands.

You might think that but some of the online maps defining ‘Scottish lowlands’ are quite extensive. Apologies for the sasanach ignorance ……just trying to be helpful.

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[HugoBNB]

D&G - Kirkcubright (stay at the municipal pool site). Garlieston (either CAMC site, or park outside at public car park (wc is opposite)) and Isle of Witthorn (parking at end of harbour and great fish n chips in the Anchor pub) were good stops we made on our trip late last year.
Enjoy wherever you end up.

 

[bladerunner]

I'd also recommend Dumfries and Galloway. Some lovely walks from Garlieston. Wigton interesting.
Around Moffat good, also Melrose - walks by river.
Have a look at Kielder forrest also. There's a tempting overnight stop at the south end of the reservoir. Walk or cycle around the water is a day well spent.

 

[Barti Ddu]

D&G - Kirkcubright (stay at the municipal pool site). Garlieston (either CAMC site, or park outside at public car park (wc is opposite)) and Isle of Witthorn (parking at end of harbour and great fish n chips in the Anchor pub) were good stops we made on our trip late last year.
Enjoy wherever you end up.

We're currently having a tour around Dumfries and Galloway. Overnighting in Kirkcudbright tonight at the Municipal Swimming Pool aire.

Spent the day walking from Kippford to Castle Hill Point along the Rough Firth.

Very wintery and bleakly beautiful. -3⁰C last night, and only got up to +5⁰C during today.

 

[1967bowesj]

Edinburgh, great park & ride at Ingliston just off the A8 by Edinburgh Airport and access the centre of Edinburgh by tram or bus. So much to see and do.
Maybe nip over the Forth Bridge into Fife and visit https://secretbunker.co.uk/ well worth a visit which is
just south of St Andrews, then visit the fishing villages of Crail and Anstruther. And/or follow the coast east out of Edinburgh to North Berwick, Dunbar, Eyemouth and Berwick upon Tweed.
https://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-flight/ which is between North Berwick and Haddington.

We're doing a trip from Wales at the end of May going up to Ft William across to Blair Atholl, down into Fife, then the Kelpies, Edinburgh, then down the coast to Berwick-upon-Tweed via North Berwick etc down into Northumberland to visit Beamish then home.

down into Northumberland to visit Beamish then home.
Im sure you know Beamish isn’t in Northumberland!

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

down into Northumberland to visit Beamish then home.
Im sure you know Beamish isn’t in Northumberland!

I'm well acquainted with the area. For three years I did Glasgow- Edinburgh- Birtley- Carlisle- Glasgow, 5 nights every week in a lorry. I didn't mention that I was going to Seahouses enroute.

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[Barti Ddu]

Stayed last night in the Galloway Forest Park using the Forestry Scotland "Stay the Night" scheme. £7 for the night. Beautiful clear night skies, although annoyingly, the lighting around the visitor centre and carpark remained on all night somewhat spoiling their Dark Sky Park reputation. Nevertheless, had my first attempt at astrophotography.

 

[arthur49]

We love these:-

Common Haugh Car Park

Details for Common Haugh Car Park a Overnight parking - with services Hawick, Scottish Borders, Scotland, United Kingdom, TD9 7ED

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Surrone House Aire

Details for Surrone House Aire a Overnight parking - with services Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG16

www.searchforsites.co.uk

The Chapel Gretna Green Ltd

Details for The Chapel Gretna Green Ltd a Overnight parking - no services Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG16 5DT

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Barrasgate Farm

Details for Barrasgate Farm a Overnight parking - no services Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG12 5PD

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Craig Croft

Details for Craig Croft a Overnight parking - with services Laurieston, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG7 2PT

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Frugaldom

Details for Frugaldom a Overnight parking - with services Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG8 0ET

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Silver Birch Aire

Details for Silver Birch Aire a Overnight parking - with services Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG89PW

www.searchforsites.co.uk

Scar Park Aire

Details for Scar Park Aire a Overnight parking - with services Kirkcolm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, United Kingdom, DG9 0PU

www.searchforsites.co.uk

 

[Geistguy]

Search for - South West Coastal 300, a good trip taking you on some scenic places around SW Scotland. Never be afraid to wander off the suggested route, plenty hidden gems around there.

 

[Broadway]

There are a couple of new routes promoted in Scotland which look interesting.
“The SWC300 is the third in a series of Scottish driving routes, including the North Coast 500 and the North East 250”

 

[Accordian]

If in the area go to Leadhills and try a pub stop at the Hopetoun Arms. Very friendly. Lovely village with mining museum.

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[cyberyacht]

Stayed last night in the Galloway Forest Park using the Forestry Scotland "Stay the Night" scheme. £7 for the night. Beautiful clear night skies, although annoyingly, the lighting around the visitor centre and carpark remained on all night somewhat spoiling their Dark Sky Park reputation. Nevertheless, had my first attempt at astrophotography.

View attachment 864357

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View attachment 864359

Impressive night sky pic. Any chance of the tech details?

 

[Nomad Nellie]

Hi Guys.

Hoping to tour some of the Scottish Lowlands, possibly as early as Easter this year, We've previously taken in the NC500 and would welcome any advice on places to visit and a route for up to 14 nights.

Thanks

Mark
Sorry if I should have posted this somewhere else....

South Ayrshire has some very popular overnight parking areas for motorhomes. Confirmed for this season 1 April to 31 October 24, are Ballantrae, Girvan, Ayr (two locations), and Troon North Shore. Note the ones at Barassie near Morrisons and Ballast Bank have been removed.
Really wonderful coastal locations, close to shops, cafes, pubs etc. Potential for some wonderful sunsets behind the Isle of Arran. An electronic lifting barrier at Ayr, Blackburn Drive, and permanent black waste disposal points have been provided for in the Councils budget.

 

[Barti Ddu]

Impressive night sky pic. Any chance of the tech details?

Night sky picture taken using a Pixel 7a Android phone using "Astronomy" mode. 4 minute exposure with phone mounted on a tripod. (Actually, I understand that it isn't a single 4 minute exposure but 20 separate 12 second exposures that are then stacked and aligned to prevent the stars from "streaking"). There is a lot of clever computational photography going on inside these Google Pixel phones!

Finally a little manual tweak to the contrast and colour balance and some noise removal. All done on the phone, no external editing.

The campervan and foreground trees are a bit overexposed, but that was a result of the all-night lighting around the carpark and visitor centre illuminating them up! You would think they would turn them off it being a designated Dark Sky park.

 

[jess12]

Hi Guys.

Hoping to tour some of the Scottish Lowlands, possibly as early as Easter this year, We've previously taken in the NC500 and would welcome any advice on places to visit and a route for up to 14 nights.

Thanks

Mark
Sorry if I should of posted this somewhere else....

Did the west coast a few years ago a few plzces we stayed were sandyhill bay mossyard

Hi Guys.

Hoping to tour some of the Scottish Lowlands, possibly as early as Easter this year, We've previously taken in the NC500 and would welcome any advice on places to visit and a route for up to 14 nights.

Thanks

Mark
Sorry if I should of posted this somewhere else....

Did the west coast afew years ago some of the places we stayed were sandyhills bay mossyard

Hi Guys.

Hoping to tour some of the Scottish Lowlands, possibly as early as Easter this year, We've previously taken in the NC500 and would welcome any advice on places to visit and a route for up to 14 nights.

Thanks

Mark
Sorry if I should of posted this somewhere else....

Did the west coast a few years ago some of the places we stayed were sandyhills bay ,mossyard,glentrool,were you can wild camp if you wish newengland bay culzean castle loads to see on route john paul jones museum sweethart abbey light house port logan well worth the effort culzean castle jusr so much to visit took us about a month still only scratched the surfice hope this helps a little were ever you go enjoy

 

[cyberyacht]

Night sky picture taken using a Pixel 7a Android phone using "Astronomy" mode. 4 minute exposure with phone mounted on a tripod. (Actually, I understand that it isn't a single 4 minute exposure but 20 separate 12 second exposures that are then stacked and aligned to prevent the stars from "streaking"). There is a lot of clever computational photography going on inside these Google Pixel phones!

Finally a little manual tweak to the contrast and colour balance and some noise removal. All done on the phone, no external editing.

The campervan and foreground trees are a bit overexposed, but that was a result of the all-night lighting around the carpark and visitor centre illuminating them up! You would think they would turn them off it being a designated Dark Sky park.

Even more impressive if taken on a phone. I was expecting a top of the range Canon or Nikon. Nothing so sophisticated on my iPhone 8