Dumfries and Galloway

New Abbey Road, Dumfries - Photo: Visit Scotland

It was here in 1306, among the local sandstone buildings, that Robert the Bruce sparked the Scottish wars of independence by slaying the Red Comyn, his rival for leadership of the Scots, before seeking out an army to fight the forces of the Crown.

The poet Robbie Burns, who latterly worked as an excise man, searching the coves for smugglers, and lived here in what is now Burns Street.

The house and his farm are still here, as is the mausoleum in which he was buried in St Michael’s churchyard. It was also here that JM Barrie was inspired to write Peter Pan.

Once a significant port, Dumfries is dominated by a tower and a midsteeple and has many attractive features. Among them is the Devorgilla Bridge, the oldest surviving multiple-arched bridge in Scotland; and Scotland’s oldest working theatre.

Here, too, you will find the largest diameter stone circle on the mainland of Scotland, The Twelve Apostles.

Tower of Midsteeple, Dumfries - Photo: Visit Scotland