The best solution at present is to arrange transport pick-ups at various points, with return the following morning. The useful pick-up points at stage ends are:
Stage 2: New Luce back to Stranraer or Castle Kennedy, or south to Glenluce
Stage 4: Craigenbay (west of), for transport forward to St John’s Town of Dalry
Stage 5: Stroanpatrick track end, for transport back to St John’s Town of Dalry
Stage 7: Overfingland, on the A701 Dalveen Pass, for transport to Leadhills, Thornhill, etc
Stage 9: Scabcleuch, Ettrick valley, for transport to Selkirk, etc
Various B&Bs and inns do provide such pick-ups, and these should be detailed in the official SUW accommodation listing. Several companies offer a bespoke self-guided holiday using these options (see Appendix D and the SUW website). With this programme, the longest day will be 19 miles (30km), with a daily average of 15 miles (24km).
The alternative is backpacking the route, carrying your tent, food and cooking equipment. Scotland’s access laws allow wild camping almost anywhere along the route – a huge choice of idyllic camps; there are also the five bothies available as wet-weather fallbacks. This removes the need to complete a full stage each day in order to reach accommodation. Of course, the down side is carrying all the extra weight.
If you do not have the time available or the energy to walk the entire SUW as one expedition, then break it down into two or more sections. The best point to split the route in two is at Beattock/Moffat at the end of Stage 7. Here, there is good motorway (M74) access, and bus transport readily available north towards Glasgow and Edinburgh or south to Lockerbie and Carlisle, from where transport connections home are plentiful. The western half of the SUW will take approximately 8 days to accomplish, but longer if time is spent at the various places of interest along the route, which is always the recommended way to walk a long-distance trail. At a later date, you can return to Moffat/Beattock to walk the eastern half of the SUW, soon leaving Dumfries & Galloway and crossing the entire Borders region to the North Sea on the east coast. This eastern half, less rugged than the west, takes about six days of walking.
Those people living in southern and central Scotland and in northern England could walk the SUW in its entirety as separate day walks or two-day backpacks over as long or as concentrated a time period as desired. For example, travel to Lauder, take an early bus to Melrose and walk the short Stage 11 to Lauder the same day; or travel to Dumfries, take an early bus to St John’s Town of Dalry, and walk the long Stage 4 to Sanquhar over 2 days, perhaps using the bothy at Polskeoch. The SUW’s five bothies are well placed for such a programme, occurring within each of the four really long stages that could not be covered in a single day whilst fitting with public transport.
If you choose to walk the entire route, whether in one go or in sections, I’d urge you not to rush through this marvellous country. There is much to see and enjoy. Remember that you are on holiday, not on a gruelling assault course. Relax and enjoy the area, particularly if it is your first visit. There are several possibilities along the route for taking off a half-day, a full day or even several days to visit a place of interest, public garden, museum or the like, or, if you are a compulsive walker, to enjoy some of the first-rate hill walking on offer in the area. This guidebook provides several ideas for breaks from the route, and the tourist offices on or near the SUW will provide other information and inspiration.
On Broomy Law west of Three Brethren (Stage 11)
Of course if you have no desire to walk the entire length of the SUW you can still enjoy sections of it on day walks or longer outings. The SUW offers a good, well waymarked walking route through some wonderful countryside and can be used in part by all types of walkers, from those content with a leisurely stroll of a mile or two to committed long-distance and hill walkers. Hillwalkers will find that the SUW forms convenient and easy access routes into remote hill country and after a hard day on the pathless tops often provides an undemanding and relatively fast route of return to the car and civilisation.
Finally, give a thought to the idea of combining the SUW with one of the other long-distance paths in southern Scotland. A week long holiday in south-west Scotland could be had by walking the SUW from Portpatrick to New Luce, then south into the Machars to Whithorn along the Whithorn Pilgrim Way. A companion trip to this could be a week or 10 days in the Borders and Northumbria along the SUW from Moffat to Melrose, from where St Cuthbert’s Way will lead you to Lindisfarne, Holy Island. The SUW also connects with the excellent Borders Abbeys Way at Melrose and the two trails combined would also make a worthwhile walking holiday. Finally, the new Annandale Way from Annan itself to Moffat, combined with the eastern half of the SUW, allows for a very fine and rather shorter coast-to-coast crossing of 215km (135 miles) (see http://annandaleway.org).
Luggage transfer and drop-off/pick-up services
Some commercial companies (see Appendix D) operate luggage support services, transferring luggage from B&B/hotel establishments to the next one that has been booked further along the SUW, so that only a small daysack need be carried. Along the way, they will also sort out the pick-up and drop-off links described above. If you think you are incapable of leaving heavy luxuries at home, you should strongly consider using these services. But one word of warning: always carry with you adequate warm and waterproof clothing, a first aid kit and any necessary medicines, and sufficient food and drink.
Accommodation
At the end of each of the 13 stages of the SUW described in the previous edition of this guidebook, accommodation was available in the form of B&B establishments or hotels. However, at the time of writing, accommodation is lacking at St Mary’s Loch, where Tibbie Shiels Inn has closed, and doubtful at New Luce.
Approaching Lauder (Stage 12)
There is plenty of choice in some of the other locations, such as Moffat, Galashiels and Melrose, less so in others, and just a few places where accommodation is limited, such as at Bargrennan at the end of Stage 3. Sadly, all four of the youth hostels on or close to the SUW (Kendoon, Wanlockhead, Broadmeadows and Melrose) have now closed. Sometimes more choice is available a little off-route by walking or taking a taxi (or even a bus) to a nearby larger town; for example there is more accommodation in Stranraer than in Castle Kennedy at the end of Stage 1. Some B&B owners will pick up SUW walkers by car if the B&B is a little off-route and will return them to the SUW the next morning.
It is strongly recommended that accommodation is booked for each night, particularly if there are more than two in your party, or if you are planning to walk in the height of the summer season or at bank holidays (remember that some bank holidays are different in Scotland from those in England – it is best to check on this before setting out). An official SUW Accommodation Guide, produced by the SUW Ranger Services, can be found on the SUW website at www.southernuplandway.gov.uk. This contains details of hotel, B&B, hostel, campsite and self-catering accommodation on or in the vicinity of the SUW, including those that offer crucial pick-ups and drop-offs from remote road crossings along the Way. Local Tourist Information Centres (see Appendix D) will provide more information on accommodation possibilities and book accommodation, if required.
There are campsites with facilities on or close to the SUW at Portpatrick (Stage 1), Bargrennan (Glentrool Holiday Park – Stage 3), Beattock (Craigielands – Stage 8), Moffat (Stage 9), Innerleithen (Stage
