Visitor Attractions

Gatehouse has the 'Mill on the Fleet', with its permanent historical exhibition, its variable exhibitions of art and skills, its café, shop, and the biggest bookshop outside Wigtown.
Phone: (01557) 814099

© kirkmoor.com

Between Gatehouse and Kirkcudbright lies Cream O' Galloway, with home-made ice cream, restaurant, nature and play trails, wild life and picnic sites. Very popular with families.
Phone: (01557) 814040
Web: www.creamogalloway.co.uk

Kirkcudbright usually has several art exhibitions, the film of Kirkcudbright artists at the Tolbooth, and the Museum.
Phone: Kirkcudbright Tourist Information Centre on (01557) 330494

Kirkcudbright is also home to its very own Wildlife Park which is home to, amongst others, Pygmy Goats, Llamas, Racoons and Wallabies. A good day out for both children and adults.
Phone: (01557) 331645

The nearby town of Creetown has the popular Gem Rock Museum - with its world class collection of gemstones, crystals, fossils, rocks and minerals. A fully interactive museum with lots to see and do for all the family
Phone: (01671) 820357.
Web: www.gemrock.net

Creetown also hosts the very popular Country Music Weekend which attracts over 10,000 visitors each year. Contact (01671) 820251 for further details.

Newton Stewart has its cinema, recently refurbished, with both live and recorded shows, and its museum.
Phone: (01671) 402431
Web: www.nscinema.co.uk

Cardoness Castle at Gatehouse is a popular visitor attraction, with its office in the cottage below it.
Phone: (01557) 814427
Further details of Cardoness Castle can be found on the Historic Scotland web site at:
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

Rusco Castle by Gatehouse has been recovered as a private house, but is open to visitors by appointment.
Phone: (01557) 814471

Carsluith Castle on the road westward is open to the public, and has a fine view over the Cree estuary and a cafe.

To the east, McLellan's Castle at Kirkcudbright is really a fortified town house, open to the public.

© kirkmoor.com

Near Castle Douglas, Threave Castle stands on an island in the river Dee, giving excitement to children who are taken over to it by boat.

Archaeology

Cairn Holy, to the west of Gatehouse, contains two neolithic burial chambers. The hills above it have numerous burial cairns, stone circles, and carved rocks dating from both the Neolithic and bronze age. Bronze age farm sites abound in the hills around Gatehouse. There are about a dozen iron age forts around Gatehouse, including Trusty's Hill Fort, with its carved stone by the gatehouse with its Pictish symbols.

Fabulous Gardens with Visitor Centres and Cafes

© Michael Wickenden

Cally Gardens is a specialist perennial plant nursery housed within an 18th century walled garden. A treasure trove of unusual varieties, it offers a stunning display of the mature plants which it specialises in. The gardens which are situated on the edge of Gatehouse are approached through the ornate gateway to the Cally Palace Hotel and are open to the public from Easter to September.

Threave garden, near Castle Douglas, is run by the National Trust as a school for gardeners, well worth a visit.
Phone: (01566) 502575

Into Wigtownshire, Glenwhan Garden by Dunragit is an extraordinary garden entirely created in the last quarter century, including its two lakes.
Phone: (01581) 400222

A little further on, Castle Kennedy Gardens are famous for their rhododendrons in May and June, and the enormous earth-works, carried out by the army.

And at the bottom of the Rhins of Galloway, Logan Garden is famous for the semi-tropical plants.
Phone: (01776) 860231

The Dumfries and Galloway Gardens and Nurseries Association Website has details of and links to many more gardens and nurseries in the region.

Golf

Golf is very popular in the area, with over 20 golf courses within a 50 mile radius of Gatehouse.

Gatehouse Golf Club
www.gatehousegolfclub.co.uk

Further information is available by clicking here.