Dumfries Museum – A Windmill, Fossils and Lunch in Town
A few hours, from Dumfries station and back.
The route
Dumfries Museum fills an old windmill on the hill above the River Nith, and it's free.
Inside are fossil footprints, the wildlife of the Solway and, at the top of the tower, a camera obscura the museum calls the oldest working one in the world. Afterwards it's a short walk down over the river to the Stove Café on the High Street for homemade soup and a sandwich. It's a good morning for a wet day, though the camera obscura only runs in dry, still weather.
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.
The day
Dumfries
A morning indoors among the region's treasures, on the hill across the river from the town centre, then lunch back on the High Street. All of it is on foot from the station.
About three and a half hours
Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura
An attraction
It's about 21 minutes' walk from Dumfries station, across the Nith and up the hill on the far bank, to Dumfries Museum. Come on foot: there are only two disabled parking spaces at the door. The museum is free and, from October to March, opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Look out for the fossil footprints left by prehistoric animals, the wildlife of the Solway, and the carved stones of the first Christians. The main hall is level, with a lift to the gallery above. At the top of the windmill tower is the camera obscura, fitted in 1836, which shows a moving view of the town and the countryside round it. It costs £5 for adults at the time of writing and is reached by a spiral stair. It only runs in dry, still weather, usually from April to September and in winter only now and then, so ask at the desk when you arrive. Dogs can wait in the grounds, where there's a water bowl.
11 min on foot
The Stove Café
Lunch
Then it's 11 minutes' walk down the hill and over the Suspension Bridge to lunch at the Stove Café, 100 High Street, a not-for-profit café and community arts venue with a menu of fresh produce from the region's makers. Visitors praise the stew, the falafel wraps, the soup and the toastie. It opens Monday to Saturday until 3pm and is shut on Sundays, and it's said to have a step-free entrance. It's 11 minutes back to the station.
If it rains
The museum is all under a roof, and so is lunch: on a wet day only the walks to and from the station and the 11 minutes over the river are out in it. The camera obscura is the one thing the rain stops, as it isn't shown in wet or windy weather.
