Headline photo

Headline photo
Rockcliffe and Kippford from South Glen Brae: Ed Iglehart [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Introductory text

Kippford and Rockcliffe are on the East Stewartry Coast, an unspoilt National Scenic Area with two other NSAs in close proximity. It is in Dumfries & Galloway, South West Scotland, a region known for it's wonderful scenery, biodiversity, turbulent history, smugglers and black and white 'belted' cattle known as Galloway Belties. This stretch of coastline has many names. Known locally as the Colvend Coast or the 'Secret Coast' (due to the peace and tranquility) it is often referred to as the 'Scottish Riviera' due to it being the holiday resort of choice for Victorian millionaires and having a Gulf Stream influenced microclimate: evidenced by palm trees in some gardens. Castle Douglas, the food town is a short drive away and Kirkcudbright, the Artists Town is over the next headland.


This a scenic and unique part of the world and we started the blog to share the experience of living in this wonderful place. We hope that it will be of interest to others who live here and give those planning to visit the area a taste of all it has to offer.


The blog has a correspondent in both Kippford and Rockcliffe village, you can also follow their Twitter feeds on the right of the page. If you would like to get involved we look forward to hearing from you.

Thursday 12 June 2014

Dumfries & Galloway named 2014 'Destination of the Year'


Earlier this week we were delighted to see that Dumfries and Galloway was recognised as  ‘Destination of the Year’ in the Scottish Hotel Awards. Thank you and well done to all who participated in the event and made the award possible.

Full details feature in the Scottish Hotel Awards press release below.


The Scottish Hotel Awards is pleased to announce that this year’s ‘Destination of the Year’ is Dumfries & Galloway, the mantle passing from last year’s top holiday location – the Isle of Arran.

Each year, in collaboration with Scotland Magazine, the Scottish Hotel Awards team choose a destination which they feel offers something particularly special to tourists, whether they are visiting from within the UK or travelling from abroad. To be named ‘Destination of the Year’ the area must not only boast fabulous places to stay & eat, but also offer tourists a wide variety of things to see & do.

A hidden corner of Scotland, Dumfries & Galloway was chosen this year on account of its strong hotel offering, warm hospitality, stunning landscape & rich culture. In particular, the Scottish Hotel Awards & Scotland Magazine teams felt that the area’s scenic beauty, history, fishing communities, Christian heritage, culture, visual arts, literature, fresh local seafood, dairy farms (famous Galloway cheese), and charming country house hotels come together to make it truly deserving of the ‘Destination of the Year’ title.

As visitors often fly direct to Glasgow or Edinburgh, or drive north through the Borders from Berwick or Carlisle, we encourage holiday-makers to ‘turn west’ and sample the myriad of pleasures Dumfries & Galloway has to offer.

The title was accepted on behalf of Dumfries & Galloway by Angus Fordyce, Chairman of Luxury Galloway and Paula Mcdonald, Regional Director for Dumfries & Galloway and Scottish Borders at VisitScotland. Honorary President of the Scottish Hotel Awards, Gary Mclean Quin commented:

This year the whole of Scotland will be in the global spotlight thanks to major events and the Homecoming 2014 initiative.  Our organisation knows Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire well but they are sadly often overlooked. The region offers availability of a wide range of high quality, good value accommodation, food and drink in an exceptionally busy tourism year.