Dumfries & Galloway

Dumfries, a historic market town and former royal burgh established in 1186, sits along the River Nith and features Scotland's oldest surviving multiple-arched bridge, the Devorgilla Bridge, built in 1432. The town holds significant historical importance as the site where Robert the Bruce killed his rival Sir John Comyn in 1306 before becoming King of Scots. Visitors can explore numerous attractions including the Caerlaverock Castle, a unique triangular fortress, the Robert Burns House where Scotland's national poet spent his final years, and the Dumfries Museum with its 18th-century windmill and camera obscura. The area boasts diverse landscapes with hills, moorland, coastline and forests, whilst the Aviation Museum, housed in a restored World War II control tower, showcases Scotland's only private aircraft collection. The town also has a darker history, as nine women were executed for witchcraft in 1659.

Grey Mare's Tail features a spectacular 60-metre waterfall, ranking as Britain's fifth-highest cascade, which plunges from Loch Skeen into the Moffat Water Valley. The nature reserve harbours Britain's rarest freshwater fish, the vendace, alongside feral goats, peregrine falcons, and ring ouzels. The landscape was carved by glaciers during the last Ice Age, and includes Dob's Linn, a significant geological site where Charles Lapworth's 1864 study of graptolite fossils revolutionised rock dating techniques. The area contains Iron Age remains, including the misleadingly named 'Giant's Grave', which is actually a 2,000-year-old earthwork that may have been used for ritual purposes rather than defence. The reserve boasts eight habitats of European importance and the richest collection of rare upland plants in Southern Scotland, including the endangered oblong woodsia fern. Sir Walter Scott was so moved by the falls that he penned a poem about them, whilst in the 17th century, Covenanters used Watch Knowe as a lookout point to spot approaching government troops.