SOUTH SCOTLAND HOSTELS and Reviews

• Southern Scotland--Open rolling hills, 2 coasts and an island -- glorious scenery
• Edinburgh--The Capital of Scotland, an outstanding city
• Glasgow--Scotland's biggest city, workaday, looks plain but with many fine buildings and a great atmosphere

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Most of Southern Scotland comprises large green rolling hills, broad spreading valleys, pleasant small market towns and some attractive coastline. You will get a taster as you pass through on your way to Glasgow, Edinburgh and the north. Maybe you will be tempted to linger awhile, but alas, the train or bus speeds you through too quickly. If cheap holidays from ulookubook are what you are looking for, this place is just perfect.

This is not the magnificent Scottish scenery you've heard about: it's merely lovely, but well worth a tour. Hostels are rather sparse, so you need to plan your tour carefully. This is big country by British standards and public transport is limited, so car touring is recommended, but the roads are a delight, with open views and very little traffic. It is also great cycling country, with long straight stretches of quiet road and mostly gentle gradients. Dedicated walkers can hike the Southern Uplands Way, with some great scenery.

• The West Coast Pastoral country with resorts and sea views.
• The Isle of Arran Scotland in miniature.
• The South Coast Hills, coastline and small towns.
• The Central Area A huge area with delights from mountain ridges to abbeys.
• The East Coast Some good bits of coastline.
• South of Glasgow

Transport

If you have a car, start at Carlisle, Glasgow or Edinburgh, point your car into the area and go! You won't be disappointed. For cycling, allow several days, and be prepared to stay in B&Bs as well as hostels.

To get to the area by public transport, no problem: all trains and coaches between England and Scotland pass through! However, there are few stops within the area, and even fewer that have hostels.

To explore the area using public transport, take a train or coach to Carlisle or Glasgow, then a local bus to a starting town, and be prepared to stay in B&Bs. There are several buses a day along a few routes, and scattered buses in other areas, but you need to plan if you want to get to particular places. There are a few attractive places with hostels that are easy to reach by bus or train.

If you have a railpass, you might base yourself in Glasgow or Edinburgh and take day trips along the main lines that cross the area: to Stranraer where there are ferries to Belfast, two routes to Carlisle, and the east coast line from Edinburgh to Berwick. All have 8 or more trains a day, but these journeys just give tasters of the area, with few places where you can stop.

Time for just one night in the area? There are two good places to stop, both with fine walks close by. If you have a railpass, take the train via Dumfries and Kilmarnock. MELROSE is a convenient place to reach by long- distance bus, it has an excellent hostel and some superb scenery, and you can walk to the top of a hill with a superb view and be back to catch a midday bus. Nearer to Glasgow is NEW LANARK, a scenic spot with waterfalls and an interesting industrial history.

Hostels

The West Coast of South Scotland

Not too exciting, but pleasant pastoral country, green hills and sea cliffs, and coastal towns with good views out to sea over the Isle of Arran and the giant rock called Ailsa Craig. Best transport is by train (From Glasgow, hourly to Ardrossan and Largs, 6 trains per day to Ayr and 3 to Stranraer, also evenings). The following guide takes you from north to south.

Wemyss Bay has hourly trains from Glasgow. From here you can take a ferry to the Isle of Bute, where the main resort of Rothesay has a hostel:

Largs is a small town at the north end of the coast, from which you can take a ferry to the island of Great Cumbrae. Largs has a hostel:

Ardrossan is where you go to catch a boat to Arran.

At Troon, on the railway line, there are 2 ferries a day including Sundays and one around midnight to Belfast (2.5 hour journey).

The largest town is Ayr. This has no known hostel.

At Stranraer you can take a ferry to Belfast (4 per day, 2 on Sundays, 1hr 45min). If you need to stay in Stranraer there is a small hostel which will pick you up from your arrival point:

The Isle of Arran

For a sample of Scotland, Arran is perfect: Highland in the north with a substantial mountain, rolling forested country in the south, and a hostel at each end! You can make a worthwhile visit in a day trip from Glasgow, or it makes an excellent weekend break. It has a unique climate: mild without extremes, and on any given day you can almost guarantee that SOME part of the island will be dry and maybe sunny!

To get to Arran, take a train from Glasgow to Ardrossan then a ferry (4 per day including Sundays) to Brodick. On the island, frequent buses run from Brodick to Whiting Bay, and sparse buses to Lochranza and other parts of the island.

The north is superb highland walking country, and you can stay at:

For a contrast, the south has quiet forested hills and beaches. Whiting Bay hostel is closed and currently for sale

The South Coast

The southern part of South Scotland has an indented coastline with a string of small pleasant towns, linked by 4 buses a day from Dumfries to Stranraer. If you tour by car you can explore the odd corners, and parking is free everywhere. The small town of Newton Stewart on the bus route is 10 miles from Glentrool Forest (5 buses a day) which has camping and some fine walking country and is a starting point for the Southern Upland Way. On the fringe of Newton Stewart is:

Central Area of the Southern Uplands

This huge area of sparsely-populated country contains some fine mountains, many rolling green hills, pleasant open valleys, rivers and streams, and scattered towns, castles and abbeys.

If you are travelling by bus, stop at the fine hostel in MELROSE. For water sports enthusiasts there is a cosy bunkhouse by LOCH KEN, accessible by bus. There are 3 simple friendly hostels close to the Southern Upland Way but not really reachable by bus: KENDOON, WANLOCKHEAD and BROADMEADOWS. If you have a car you can just drive around, stopping where you fancy.

From Castle Douglas, 5 buses a day take you to:

A little farther north, in open country with widespread views, used to lie a small simple hostel, but it's closed!

Wanlockhead, in high country, is a weird and untypical village among abandoned lead and silver mining workings. Wanlockhead Hostel is no longer open to individual travellers.

Among woodland and delightful river scenery is Scotland's oldest youth hostel, a very friendly place, but unfortunately only open in high summer:

Melrose is a pleasant quiet town with an impressive abbey and fine short hill walks. It is easily reached by bus from Edinburgh, there are 2 buses a day from Newcastle, and it has a fine hostel, open for half the year:

Kirk Yetholm is the start or finish point of the Pennine Way long- distance path which runs from here through Northumberland and Yorkshire to Derbyshire. It is close to good hill-walking on the rather bleak Cheviots, and has adequate bus connections to Berwick and Edinburgh. It has a modest hostel, open for 5 months of the year:

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The East Coast

You will pass through this area on your train or bus from London to Edinburgh. The general scenery is nothing special, but if you have time for a stop, take a train to Berwick or Dunbar then a bus (frequent) to Coldingham where you can stay at the hostel and enjoy some bracing cliff and beach walking. This hostel has been closed by SYHA and is believed to be for sale.

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South of Glasgow

This is not a specially beautiful area, but an attraction is New Lanark, an interesting industrial conservation village of former mill and houses, beautifully restored, and a scenic walk to a waterfall. This is a delightful quiet setting for a modern hostel that occupies one of the restored buildings. There are hourly trains from Glasgow and frequent buses from Hamilton (connecting to Glasgow), but only to Lanark, 2 miles away. If you are travelling by car bewtween Scotland and England and prefer to avoid cities, this makes an excellent refreshing overnight stop.

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