road
Jonathan Manning diverts from the classic Scottish tourist trail on a journey around the sensational south-west
T
ucked away in the south-west corner of Scotland, under night skies of the blackest ink, it is all too easy to overlook Dumfries and Galloway. Doe-eyed romantics get no farther than its border for weddings at Gretna Green; freight lorries make a beeline for Stranraer’s port as they trundle to Northern Ireland; and holidaymakers barrel along the A74(M) north towards Glasgow, the Trossachs and the Highlands. But branch off these well-worn routes and a new world opens, full of whisper-quiet beaches, exotic gardens and magnificent forests. Established only a few years ago, the South West Coastal 300 (SWC300) driving route showcases these land- and seascapes, hugging the shoreline of Dumfries & Galloway then Ayrshire, before circling back inland. It clearly rides on the coat-tails of Scotland’s phenomenally popular North Coast 500, but to treat the young pretender as a tick-list tour would do a massive disservice to the region. 33
