📌 Carronbridge, Dumfries & Galloway
★★★★★
The “pink palace” of Drumlanrig Castle is probably southwest Scotland’s greatest residence: an opulent mansion set among 40 acres of perfectly-landscaped gardens and even more extensive grounds. The building was constructed over a number of decades in the late 1600s by the Douglas family, Earls and Dukes of Queensberry and later of Buccleuch. They no longer use the castle as a main residence, but pay frequent visits – not bad for a second home! The interior is viewable only for a fairly short season each summer, though the grounds are open for much of the year. The excellent (albeit quite expensive) guided house tours take in £200 million items of furniture, £100 million paintings, secret passageways, tales of recent armed robberies, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Neil Armstrong and much, much more. Then there are the gardens, woodland, miles of waymarked walking routes and mountain biking trails, adventure playground, craft village, and even Land Rover safaris, fishing and shooting on the wider estate; it should come as little surprise to learn that the current duke owns more of the UK’s land than any other private individual apart from The King.
🌍 Location
📌 Off minor road 1 mi northwest of Carronbridge
🧭 O.S. Grid Reference: NX 852992
🛰️ GPS coordinates: 55.273670,-3.808942
🚌 Bus stops on A76 at castle turnoff (1 mi)
🚗 Car park (charge)
📝 Key info
⌚ Castle open Friday to Monday, July & August, plus Easter long weekend & early / late May Bank Holiday weekends. Gardens: daily, April to September. Grounds: daily
🎫 £18 adult / £9 child
