Scotland advice
we are looking at a trip to Scotland in August, and looking at staying at 2 sites for about 4 days each ,New England bay and Garliestone ,my question is ,is there enough to do and see in the area for a4day stay on each site , it's a long way to go and find the stay is to short or to long
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I think it will depend on what you want to do HD. We have stayed at Garlieston, a long time ago though. Wigtown isn't far away, this is Scotland's "book town", sort of a mini Hay on Wye. The scenery is nice, but it can seem a very long way from anywhere, and I suspect NEB will seem even more remote. We did a good bit of walking that holiday, but did remark on the distances between places. We did enjoy slightly further East, Kirkudbright a lot more, but we like castles and there are a few more in this area.
My OH loves it around here, but it isn't my favourite part of Scotland.
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We did both one year. Super areas. From garlieston we visited whithorn where there's a fascinating museum next to st ninian's priory. We also went to coast and visited, i think, his cave. Just interesting driving round the coast. At new england bay, there was the lighthouse with the rspb and a coffee shop. Also don't miss the logan botanic gardens. Perhaps don't book, except for weekend, and then see how long you want to spend at each one. As you can see we come from Kent too and we found it was well worth the visit, keep meaning to go back.
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Husky, if I were you, I'd concentrate on NEB. I found it a much more scenic area with plenty of places to visit than Garlieston and the site is good for dogs with immediate access through the dunes onto the beach.
Although others like Garlieston, I was disappointed and a bit bored there.
If you are a member of C&CC, you could consider trying their site at Moffat which has easy access on foot and scooter to the town, the nearby supermarket and the woollen mill and plenty of places to visit by road.
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We are going to New England Bay at the end of April/start of may.Not been near Moffat for many years but booked in for the C&CC site there as well. I keep thinking that there was a CC site there or an affiliated one that I used over 30 years ago,
OH not keen on Garlieston.
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Husky, D&G isn't The Highlands but it's a nice area for a few days. It's worth seeing for the experience and I understand your commitments are limiting your time away.
Have you considered Gibson Park, Melrose? Again, there's easy access to the town and, combined with Moffat, makes an excellent two stop break. (I wouldn't recommend taking the A708 between the two, though.)
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The Rhinns of Galloway tourist info is useful for New England Bay. You'll need to use your motorhome to get out and about in both places, Garlieston has a bit more locally with a pub and shop so nice for a wander round and the easy shoreline walks past Galloway House from the site, I think it's fairly level if you are less mobile. New England Bay is set on it's own, the nearest shop is in Drummore which is the last village on the Mull. People have mentioned good places to visit in both areas. Worth a mention is the close proximity to Northern Ireland, you can see the Mountains of Mourne from Port Patrick and quite a few use this area to take a trip over there. You can also see the Isle of Man from another direction further south.
Here's some tourist information for both areas.
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Stayed on both sites. New England Bay is right at the end of a road and you literally can't much further south (unless you have a boat) and while there is plenty to see/do you end up doing the same road north and south. It is right on the beach and mostly grass and the pitching areas do run uphill so not that good for easy getting about.
Garlieson is in a very pretty village with and the site is flat with most hardstandings and easy to get about and easy access into the village as well. There are two pitching areas one over looking the harbour beach and another one behind (see the site plan). If you don't have an awning you can pitch right up to the harbour wall. More to see and you can go north/west/east.
New England Bay, because of the beach will be mostly families and children in August, while Garlieson is mainly couples..
Agree with TW about Melrose, very easy access to the village and it has a pitching area which is all tarmac and perhaps easier for your wife?
Melrose is very popular so book as early as possible.
Post edit - a day trip to Ireland and/or Belfast is possible with the 'fast' ferry from Stranraer either with your MH or on foot. We took our car over once and another time with a tour bus that does a quick one day tour.
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A couple of views of Garlieston and one of Whithorn.
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I was wondering what Dolce & Gabbana had to do with it.
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Having done both sites, I prefer Garlieston because it gives greater scope for getting out and about. Melrose is a good option.
On another thread, someone posted about the southwest-coastal route which might be worth a think. It's now on my list. If you wanted to do both Garliestan and New England Bay, you could do half the route from each site. Galloway Forest is lovely.
https://www.visitsouthwestscotland.com/attractions/southwest-coastal-route/
You can use both sites if you are willing to travel into the wider beyonds or take your pleasures from simply being in nice places.
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just for interest Garliston is where they tested the floating Mulberry harbours in preparation for for D day.
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Garliston site photos from 2007
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Another like here for the Melrose area, we have never used the sites, but it is a beautiful area. Our Scotland default is the East Coast, warmer and drier and less midges. Excellent transport links as well, both road and for getting around by rail. We have done a split Site holiday using Yellowcraig (brilliant with dogs) and another site near the Eildon Hills. That gave us some superb coast, lots of castles, Abbeys, houses, Edinburgh, and many other of Scotland's pretty and interesting towns. Lots of wildlife as well, we saw lots more deer around Edinburgh than we did in the Highlands!
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Also there is the new railway station a few minutes drive from Melrose with trains to Edinburgh
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After looking at all the advice (thank you) we now think the trip will be ,Kent to overnight at Hawes then to Bunree down to Garliestone and back for an overnight at Hawes , just looking at how many nights at each of the Scotland sites
this all depends on availability at the sites, so its all a bit fluid
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sounds a good trip HD, just be aware that the dreaded midges can be a HUGE problem at Bunree, all it needs is a few wet/damp days. I know people swear by various lotions and potions and candles but we tried all those and had to leave as they seemed to 'enjoy' my middle daughter so much she was in pain. Also I remember thinking the awning light was faulty when it was actually covered in midges. You can't predict how bad they will be.
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That’s a fair old trip, Husky. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
If Bunree is booked, you could try North Ledaig but the nearby C&CC site is in a walled garden and is a haven for midges.
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Hope you enjoy it Husky, nice mix of places you could break the journey at Ayr and follow the coastline to Garlieston if you get stuck for a pitch elsewhere. If it's late August hopefully the midges will have packed up for the winter and gone home!
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Gosh that is some tour HD! You'll see plenty of Scotland on that trip. Some nice places all over that route.
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Well done!
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+1
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