Caerlaverock Castle
A triangular, twin-towered fortress of red sandstone standing inside its own moat — one of the most unusual medieval castles anywhere in Scotland.
Southern Scotland Tour
Nine days in Dumfries & Galloway, the only place in the United Kingdom named by National Geographic among its Best of the World destinations for 2027.
- Duration9 Days / 8 Nights
- Your baseSmiths at Gretna Green
- DepartsSeptember 2027
National Geographic · Best of the World 2027
The only UK destination on the list
Of all the places National Geographic chose for 2027, Dumfries & Galloway is the single entry from the United Kingdom — a corner of Scotland most visitors drive straight past on their way north. We go there and stay there, six unbroken nights in one hotel.
About this tour
Nine days in Dumfries & Galloway.
Scotland's south is the part nearly everyone misses. The road and rail lines from England run straight through Dumfries & Galloway toward Edinburgh and the Highlands, and almost nobody stops. What they pass is a region of moated red-sandstone castles, ruined abbeys built for love, a coastline of tidal estuaries and artists' towns, two working Lowland distilleries, and the countryside where Robert Burns spent his final years.
The tour opens and closes at the same Edinburgh Airport hotel, with six consecutive nights at Smiths at Gretna Green in between — you unpack once. Six days of escorted touring are built around a completely free Wednesday in the middle of the week, placed there deliberately so the pace never becomes a march.
What's included
Tour highlights
Sweetheart Abbey
Founded in 1273 by Lady Dervorgilla, who carried her husband's embalmed heart with her for twenty-one years and was buried holding it. The red stone ruin still stands roofless against the sky.
Two Lowland distilleries
Guided tastings at Annandale and at Bladnoch, Scotland's most southerly distillery — a quieter, gentler whisky tradition than the peated Islay malts most visitors know.
Burns country
The Robert Burns House in Dumfries, where the poet spent his last years and died in 1796, alongside the historic streets of the town that claims him.
Kirkcudbright & the Solway coast
Scotland's Artists' Town, with its galleries, painted houses and working harbour, then Castle Douglas and the coastal village of Kippford.
Wigtown, the National Book Town
A small Galloway town of independent bookshops — more booksellers than pubs — and the kind of afternoon that disappears before you notice.
Day by day
Your itinerary
- 1Day 1
Arrival in Edinburgh
Arrive at Edinburgh Airport and transfer to the DoubleTree by Hilton Edinburgh Airport. The afternoon and evening are free to rest after transatlantic travel.
- 2Day 2
Edinburgh, Moffat & Gretna Green
Depart Edinburgh mid-morning and stop at Moffat, a handsome Borders spa town, with time for its streets, shops and cafés. Continue to Gretna Green, check in to Smiths for six nights, and gather for the welcome group dinner.
- 3Day 3
Caerlaverock, Sweetheart Abbey & Dumfries
Visit Caerlaverock Castle in its moat, then Sweetheart Abbey with lunch in the village. The afternoon is in Dumfries, including the Robert Burns House and the historic town centre.
- 4Day 4
Drumlanrig Castle & Annandale Distillery
A morning at Drumlanrig Castle, the pink sandstone seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch, and its gardens. Lunch and independent shopping in Thornhill, then a guided whisky experience at Annandale Distillery.
- 5Day 5
A Free Day
No coach, no schedule, nothing you must attend. Walk to the Famous Blacksmiths Shop, take a taxi to Annan, arrange a private run to Carlisle Castle or Hadrian's Wall at Birdoswald — or do nothing at all. Breakfast is included; the rest of the day is yours.
- 6Day 6
Kirkcudbright, Castle Douglas & the Solway Coast
A day on the coast: Kirkcudbright's galleries and harbour, lunch and shopping in Castle Douglas, and a scenic stop at Kippford. Return to Smiths for the second group dinner.
- 7Day 7
Wigtown & Bladnoch Distillery
West to Wigtown, Scotland's National Book Town, for its bookshops and lunch, then a guided Lowland tasting at Bladnoch. Scenic countryside touring on the return to Gretna Green.
- 8Day 8
Melrose & the Scottish Borders
Check out after breakfast and travel north through the Borders to Melrose, with time for the village and the ruins of Melrose Abbey. Lunch in Melrose, then on to the Edinburgh Airport DoubleTree for the farewell group dinner.
- 9Day 9
Departure
Breakfast at the hotel, then individual transfers to Edinburgh Airport. The tour concludes at checkout.
A glimpse
Scenes from Scotland
More in Scotland
Other Scotland tours
Photography: Caerlaverock Castle © DeFacto, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sweetheart Abbey © Billaitken2562, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Melrose Abbey © Holger Uwe Schmitt, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Annandale Distillery © Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kippford © James Johnstone, CC BY 2.0 · Drumlanrig Castle (CC0) and Moffat (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons