Galloway & the Southern Uplands

Galloway and the Southern Uplands are the quiet end of Scottish hillwalking. The Merrick (843m) is the highest point in southern Scotland and the centrepiece of the Galloway Hills — a compact group of rounded granite summits above Loch Trool that includes the best hill walking south of the Highland Boundary Fault. The terrain is heathery, boggy in places, and genuinely enjoyable in a way that doesn't depend on superlatives. On a clear winter day, the views from the Merrick south over the Solway Firth to the Lake District and north to the Arran skyline are exceptional.

The 7stanes mountain bike trail network — Glentress and Innerleithen, Mabie, Kirroughtree, Glentrool, Ae, Dalbeattie and Newcastleton — has put Galloway on the map for cyclists and given the region a tourism infrastructure that wouldn't otherwise exist. Glentress near Peebles is the flagship site and one of the finest trail centres in Britain. Kirroughtree near Newton Stewart is the Galloway Hills specialist, with trails that work through open moorland as well as forest. The 7stanes as a whole are the reason there are decent cafes and bike shops in small Dumfries and Galloway towns.

Galloway Forest Park was one of the first places in the world to be designated an International Dark Sky Park, in 2009, and holds Gold Tier status. Forestry and Land Scotland says over 7,000 stars and planets are visible to the naked eye on a clear night. Its Kirroughtree visitor hub has information points on the night sky; at Clatteringshaws Loch, check Forestry and Land Scotland's page for current facilities before relying on a café or toilets, and stargazers use the roadside pull-ins. Winter visits for dark-sky watching, combined with the surprising mildness of the Solway coast, make Galloway a genuinely compelling shoulder-season destination. See our guide to seeing the Northern Lights in Scotland for aurora forecasting, the Kp index and the country's best dark-sky viewing sites.