Dumfries

The Dumfries area is lowland and sits on red sandstone, well-drained and fertile. The town grew up east of the lowest crossing point and tidal limit of the River Nith - Maxwelltown on the west bank was separate until merged with Dumfries in 1929. Although it's a burgh of great antiquity, few of the buildings are very old, as invading armies kept wrecking the place. The last such visitor was Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745, who demanded money and shoes for his men. But the Duke of Cumberland was marching down on him so he and his Jacobite forces scarpered, none too nimbly as few of the shoes had been handed over.

Dumfries is on the transport route between England and Northern Ireland. It's grown rapidly and its industry and transport depend upon these UK links; in 2016 it voted heavily against Scottish independence.

By train:

Scotrail trains run every 2 or 3 hours from Glasgow Central, taking 1 hour 50 min via Kilmarnock and Sanquhar, and continuing from Dumfries to Annan, Gretna Green and Carlisle.

From England, take the train towards Glasgow or Edinburgh and change at Carlisle. From Glasgow it's almost as quick to come via Carlisle as by the direct train.

1 Dumfries railway station is east side of town centre. It has a staffed ticket office and machines, a cafe, toilets and waiting room. There is step-free access to Platform 1, which in practice all trains use. There are steps and no lift for the bridge to Platform 2. Plusbus is available at this station.

By bus:

Stagecoach Cumbria Bus 79 runs from Carlisle, taking 1 hr 40 min via Longtown, Gretna, Annan and Ruthwell, M-Sa hourly and every two hours Sunday.

Stagecoach Bus X74 runs from Glasgow, taking 2 hr 15 min via Hamilton, Lesmahagow, Abington and Moffat to Dumfries, hourly M-Sa and every two hours on Sunday.

Stagecoach Bus 101 runs from Edinburgh 3 or 4 times a day, taking 3 hours via Penicuik, West Linton, Biggar, Abington and Moffat.

Stagecoach Bus 500 runs from Stranraer via Glenluce, Newton Stewart and Castle Douglas to Dumfries, with six M-Sa and three on Sunday. It doesn't serve the ferry ports at Cairnryan.

Stagecoach West Scotland Bus 81 runs from Lockerbie M-Sa every 30 min, every two hours Sunday, taking 20 min via Torthorwald.

National Express no longer serves Dumfries: the Ulsterbus from London to Belfast has been axed.

2 Whitesands is the town bus station.

By road:

A74(M) is the main Carlisle-Glasgow highway, to the east of Dumfries. From Carlisle take A75 past Annan to Dumfries; this continues west to Castle Douglas and Stranraer. From Glasgow or Edinburgh leave A74(M) at Beattock for A701.

A76 runs up the Nith Valley from Dumfries via Sanquhar and Cumnock to Kilmarnock, for routes to Glasgow and the Ayrshire coast.