The Rhins of Galloway – Portpatrick, Logan and the Mull
A day by car, from Portpatrick and back.
The route
The Rhins of Galloway is the long, narrow peninsula at Scotland's south-west corner, with the Irish Sea on one side and Luce Bay on the other.
It's a quiet, out-of-the-way part of the country. The Gulf Stream keeps it mild enough for palms to grow outdoors, and its west coast is mostly cliffs and sandy bays. This day runs from Portpatrick down to the Mull of Galloway, where a Stevenson lighthouse looks out, on a clear day, to the Isle of Man and Ireland. There's time for a cliff walk, a garden of tree ferns and tea on the cliff top, with under two hours at the wheel in all.
Before you go
Book a bed near Portpatrick
The night to book is the one before a Saturday or Sunday from Easter to mid-October, the only days outside the holidays when the lighthouse tower and Gallie Craig both open; in school holidays, Monday to Wednesday work too.
The day
The Rhins
A day of sea air and big views, from the cliffs above Portpatrick's harbour to the very bottom of Scotland, and home again up the shore of Luce Bay.
1 hr 39 min at the wheelAbout 51 miles
Portpatrick
An attraction
The only fuel on the Rhins is in Stranraer, so set out with a full tank. Portpatrick's painted houses curve round a little harbour that was once the main port for Ireland, and the Southern Upland Way sets off from its inner basin. Steep steps climb from the harbour to the cliff path south of the village and a view of old Dunskey Castle, a roofless tower house of the 1500s on its own headland. There's no way inside. Allow an hour there and back, on a dry, still day.
30 min by car
Logan Botanic Garden
An attraction
It's 30 minutes' drive by the A716 and Sandhead to Logan Botanic Garden. Palms and tree ferns grow outdoors here, with giant gunnera to walk beneath and a walled garden round a lily pond. The Logan Conservatory shelters tender plants from South Africa. Pet dogs can't come in. Lunch is at the Potting Shed, the garden's own café. Leave by one o'clock for the Mull, stopping for ten minutes on the way at Port Logan, where an old stone pier runs out to a little bell tower.
25 min by car
Mull of Galloway Lighthouse
An attraction
Drive 25 minutes on from Logan to the Mull of Galloway, the last miles on single track: never park in passing places. From the Gallie Craig car park, walk up the lane to Robert Stevenson's lighthouse of 1830. You can usually climb its 115 steps at weekends and in school and bank holidays, the last tour at 4.15pm; the exhibition opens daily. The cliffs are an RSPB reserve, busy with seabirds in early summer, and sheer: keep children and dogs back from the edge, above all in wind or rain.
6 min on foot
Gallie Craig, Mull of Galloway
A café
It's 6 minutes' walk back to Gallie Craig, the turf-roofed coffee house on the cliff top, named after the pointed rock said to be Scotland's true southern tip. It looks out to the Isle of Man and over Luce Bay, and opens Saturday to Wednesday, with last food orders at 4pm. It's 45 minutes' drive home to Portpatrick, where the Harbour House Hotel serves food until 9pm. The day runs from Easter to mid-October. After that, the light is going by the time you leave the Mull; in November the lighthouse shuts, and then Logan.
If it rains
Logan is still a fine garden in soft rain: the Logan Conservatory is under glass, and the Potting Shed has tables indoors as well as out. In heavy rain or a strong wind, leave out the cliff path to old Dunskey Castle, where the steps and the edge turn slippery, and keep away from the clifftops at the Mull. The lighthouse exhibition is indoors, though the Trust may close the lighthouse and the exhibition in severe weather, and Gallie Craig's glass front looks out over the sea from the dry.
Worth a detour
- Killantringan Lighthouse and Bay
A white lighthouse of 1900 by David Alan Stevenson stands on the Black Head promontory above its own bay, about 10 minutes' drive north-west of Portpatrick, the last stretch on a minor road. It no longer shows a light and is a private house, so this is a view from outside, with the cove and the cliffs below. Allow three quarters of an hour in all.
Photograph by Logan Botanic Garden