The Globe Inn – Burns's Howff, His Kirkyard and a Dram
A few hours, from Dumfries station and back.
The route
Robert Burns spent his last years in Dumfries, and an evening stroll through the old town follows him from his white-domed mausoleum in St Michael's kirkyard, past the house where he died, to the Globe Inn.
It was his favourite howff, the old Scots word for a haunt, and it has been pouring drinks since 1610 down a narrow flagstoned close off the High Street, with over 300 single malts behind its bar.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
None of ours is close by: the nearest is The Scullery in Yarrow, 38 miles away. Sleeps 2; next free Fri 13 Nov to Sun 15 Nov.
Book a dinner table at the Globe Inn online or on 01387 323010 if you want to eat: dinner is served Wednesday to Saturday, 6pm to 9pm, and the bar keeps the same four days, noon to 11pm.
Book the Burns tour at the Globe Inn
Book the Globe Inn's Burns tour at least 24 hours ahead on its website for 4pm, the last of the day, if you want to see the poet's rooms and the verse on his window: tours run Wednesday to Saturday at noon, 2pm and 4pm, take about 45 minutes, and cost £10 for adults and £5 for under-18s at the time of writing.
The day
Dumfries
An early-evening walk in the poet's footsteps through the old town, ending with a dram in the inn he loved.
About two and a half hours
St Michael's Church, Dumfries
An attraction
It's 17 minutes' walk from Dumfries station to St Michael's, the old burgh kirk, where Robert Burns lies in the white-domed mausoleum among the red sandstone gravestones. The kirkyard can be visited at any time, and there's an information panel outside the mausoleum. From there it's a short walk along Burns Street, past the plain sandstone house where he died in 1796.
12 min on foot
The Globe Inn, Dumfries
A drink
Then it's down to the High Street and the narrow close that leads to the Globe Inn, 8 minutes in all from the kirkyard. The bar opens Wednesday to Saturday, from noon until 11pm, with over 300 single malts and a snug bar in the old tack room. Burns's own writing chair is here: whoever sits in it must recite or sing some Burns, or buy a round. Arrive by 4pm to join the last of the day's Burns tours, booked a day ahead. Dinner is served from 6pm to 9pm, and it's best booked. It's 12 minutes' walk back to the station.
If it rains
In the rain, keep the kirkyard short and go straight on to the Globe, 8 minutes' walk: the rest of the evening is indoors.
The Globe Inn, Dumfries, a restaurant in Dumfries.
Photograph by Tom Butler via Google