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 Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel |
 Portpatrick |
 Glenluce Abbey |
The south west tip of Scotland is a hammer shaped piece of land known as the Rhins of Galloway. Twenty miles from north to south, The Rhins has a very island feel. Oddly enough, apart from the fact that The Rhins is home to many trees, the island it most feels like is Shetland, from which it is separated by every inch of the length of Scotland plus a fair amount of sea.
On the north side of the neck of land that prevents The Rhins from actually becoming an island is Stranraer, the largest town in the area. Stranraer's origins date back nearly 500 years to the building in 1511 of Stranraer Castle, also known as the Castle of St John. This now stands in the centre of the town, but it was originally built behind the broad beach at the head of Loch Ryan.
Stranraer is home to ferry and fast catamaran services to Belfast, a short distance to the south west across the North Channel. Other ferries operate to Larne in Northern Ireland from Cairnryan, near the entrance of Loch Ryan.
The Rhins has three main villages. Drummore is a small port lying just north of the Mull of Galloway, the spectacular home to a lighthouse and the most southerly point in Scotland.
North west of Stranraer is Leswalt, an inland village and arguably the focal point of the northern Rhins.
But the real gem is Portpatrick on the west coast of the Rhins, approximately opposite Stranraer itself. In the early 1600s the village was linked by a military road to Dumfries designed to improve access to what by then was the main port for the short crossing to Ireland. In the years that followed, Portpatrick played an important part in the plantation of Ulster by James VI/I. Harbour improvements followed through the 1700s and the village became the main landing place for livestock from Ireland en route to market in Dumfries.
Portpatrick is a wonderfully attractive town with a wonderfully attractive harbour and if you are thinking of staying anywhere in this area then this has to be a very strong contender. It has a range of accommodation options on offer, plus good pubs and restaurants. It also forms the south west end of the Southern Upland Way long distance footpath.
East of Stranraer the A75 now bypasses Glenluce. This is a busy market town at the head of Luce Bay and not far from Luce Sands. Nearby is a real gem, the remains of Glenluce Abbey.
