Dumfries and Galloway Guide

Imagine standing on the cliffs at Scotland's most southerly point, breathing the fresh ocean air, watching as seabirds glide below, listening to the crash of the waves and looking out to the horizon and seeing Ireland, England and the Isle of Man, silhouetted against the setting sun.

Or picture yourself with a loved one, the contentment of sharing a walk along a quiet beach, a fine meal and the warmth of the local "water of life" as your stresses melt away.

Take time to discover your perfect break now so that when you arrive you can relax and let the landscape and atmosphere of this inspiring corner of Scotland work its spell on you.

Here are some facts about Dumfries and Galloway:

• The great Victorian engineer, Thomas Telford, designer of canals and suspension bridges, was born in Eskdale, in the valley of the Esk, east Dumfriesshire.

• Once one of only two spa towns in Scotland, Moffat still boasts Scotland's shortest street (Chapel Street) and narrowest street (Syme Street), as well as Britain's narrowest hotel, The Star.

• The last witchcraft trial in Scotland took place in Dumfries and Galloway in 1701, when Elsbeth Rule was branded and banished. Dumfriesshire also hosted Scotland's last public execution which was Robert Smith in 1868.

• Scotland's highest village is Wanlockhead, at 1,409 feet, it is also home to Britain's highest post office.

• Dumfries' Theatre Royal, built in 1792, is Dumfriesshire's, and Scotland's, oldest working theatre. Recently overhauled and re-roofed, it was saved from demolition in 1959 by 'The Guild of Players', an amateur dramatic group.

• Britain's first steam-powered boat, designed by William Symington, sailed on Dalswinton Loch in 1788, it made it's way across the water at 5 mph. The poet Robert Burns, a local Dumfriesshire resident at the time, was said to be one of the passengers on the boat's one and only journey.

• Traditionally in England and Scotland, a couple over the age of 16 could declare themselves husband and wife without parental permission until 1745 where an Act of Parliament banned such marriages in England. Gretna Green was the first changing post across the border in Dumfriesshire on the main London-to-Edinburgh stagecoach route.

Here are just some places to visit in and around Dumfries and Galloway: