Scotland is a first-rate place in which to take a short vacation. The nation is suitable for an excellent amount of diverse vacations, with extensive regions of lovely countryside with excellent amounts of sites of outstanding natural beauty (perfect for ramblers, hill-walkers, mountain climbers, hikers and the likes). Scotland also features some of the best tourist attractions, including, some of the best museums and galleries in the UK, awe-inspiring sites, fortified houses, castles, historical buildings and country houses plus much, much more. In the following article I introduce the port of Stranraer.

Stranraer situated in south Scotland in Dumfries & Galloway, the town is widely known for being where folk can sail to Northern Ireland. Unfortunately overwhelmingly visitors fail to investigate some of the attractions in the town and the surrounding countryside. This fact is a bit of a puzzle, if you arrive at the port, and reserve yourself a room in a Stranraer bed and breakfast, a couple of days earlier you can get to visit a few of the visitor attractions before sailing to the city of Belfast.

There are a couple of places to visit in the town including the Castle of St John (a medieval tower house) situated in the heart of town. St John’s was built at the very beginning of the sixteenth century as a home for Ninian Adair of Kilhurst (the Laird of Wigtownshire). The building underwent restoration, during eighty eight/eighty nine, by the district council of Wigtown who made it available for public viewing in 1990.

Another attraction near to Stranraer is the gardens at Castle Kennedy. Castle Kennedy forms the centrepiece of the garden which are found on a hill between two lochs (sadly you are no longer allowed access to the ruins. The castle’s landscape gardens extend across seventy five acres. You can buy plants from a shop which has reared them from seed collected in the garden.

Another gorgeous attraction worth visiting is Glenluce Abbey, not too far from Stranraer. Even though Glenluce Abbey is in ruins (actually the most ruined of a trio of Cistercian monasteries located in the south westerly region of Scotland) it has an incredible fifteenth century Chapter House. Other places worth consideration include, the Mull of Galloway, Portpatrick, the Machars and Port Logan.

If you are thinking about havinf a vacation in Scotland you will be pleased to learn that there is a reasonable selection of hotels in Stranraer. Please take a look at our comprehensive listings of hotels in Stranraer and guest house accommodation.