Portpatrick to the Mull of Galloway
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-> Portpatrick to the Mull of Galloway
Situated roughly halfway along the west shore of the Rhinns of Galloway, the hilly, hammer-shaped peninsula at the end of the Solway coast, PORTPATRICK has an attractive pastel-painted seafront that wraps itself round a small rocky bay, sheltered by equally rocky cliffs. Until the mid-nineteenth century, when sailing ships were replaced by steamboats, Portpatrick was a thriving seaport, serving as the main embarkation point for Northern Ireland, with coal, cotton and British troops heading in one direction, Ulster cattle and linen in the other.
Portpatrick has several good hotels and guest houses, the best of which is the lilac-painted Waterfront Hotel (tel 01776/810800, www.waterfronthotel.co.uk; £60-70), which has gone for the contemporary look inside. Cheaper choices include the neighbouring Knowe Guest House (tel 01776/810441; under £40), a bright, white B&B which runs a tearoom in its conservatory, and the equally comfortable Victorian Carlton Guest House, also on the harbour at 21 South Crescent (tel 01776/810253; under £40). It's impossible to miss the Portpatrick Hotel (tel 01942/824824, www.shearingsholidays.com; £70-90; Feb-Nov), a grand turreted Edwardian mansion on the hill above the harbour; inside, it's a bit tatty round the edges, but it goes down well with the tour groups, for whom there's live music more or less every night.
There are several caravan and campsites in a row on the hill overlooking Portpatrick and Dunskey Castle, quite a distance from town (and the sea), but accessed by a pleasant walk along the disused railway and cliff-top trail; Sunnymeade (tel 01776/810293) has the better facilities, but Castle Bay (tel 01776/810462) has the more informal atmosphere. The best place for a meal and a drink is the Crown pub on the seafront. For something more formal and slightly pricier, head to the Waterfront Bistro next door.
It's twenty miles south from Portpatrick to the Mull of Galloway (www.mull-of-galloway.co.uk), a bleak and precipitous headland, where wheeling guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes and whistling winds circle a bright whitewashed lighthouse. This is the southernmost point in Scotland and on clear days you can see over to Cumbria, Ireland and the Isle of Man. The headland is also an RSPB reserve and there's a new visitor centre (Easter to mid-Oct daily 10am-5pm) in a building near the lighthouse.
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