For the truly romantic amongst you, Sweetheart Abbey is a lovely red sandstone ruin from the late 13th century and is just over an hours from Otter Cottage in Newton Stewart. The Abbey of Dulce Cor as it is properly called is a Cistercian monastery and was founded by Lady Dervorgilla of Galloway. Wife of Lord John Balliol, this grieving widow is said to have carried around his embalmed heart…
A 40 minute drive from Otter Cottage gets you to the Isle of Whithorn and it is well signposted to the carpark for St Niaiians Cave.
It is a nice half hour walk approximately 3/4 of a mile down from the car park on a rough track through the beautiful woods but be prepared it can be quite muddy at times especially on the lower trail.
Castle Douglas is a delightfully busy wee town and only 40 minutes drive from Otter Cottage. The town is known as the Food Town and as such has a great selection of cafes and restaurants that serve fantastic local produce.
There is a good range of quality shops which are well worth a wander around including Interior design, Home Ware, Art Galleries …
Wigtown is just a 15 minutes drive from Otter Cottage. Known as Scotland’s National Book Town, it won it’s title back in 2014 and has thrived on it ever since. There are loads of book shops in such a small town and even the cafes and gift shops sell books too. ’The Bookshop’ boast to be Scotland’s largest second-hand bookshop with over 100,00 books with over a mile of shelving …
Newton Stewart & Minnigaff Traditional Music & Dance Festival is a fantastic weekend in July filled full of great traditional and acoustic music. It happens in and around the town in a range of venues from street busking to ticked events with top headline acts. Whether you like to soak yourself in traditional music or just fancy catching the odd band, there is something for everyone.
