Road and Gravel

The half and half of cycling holidays - Imagine being on South Scotland’s quiet roads and world-class gravel tracks

Gravel bikes are amazing: they roll well on roads, and are perfect for our less than smooth rural lanes, and allow you to ride Galloway's remote gravel paradise.  

 You stay in two hubs Thornhill - up in the Galloway Highlands, and Gatehouse of Fleet, down at the coast with access to Galloway Forest ( home to the UCI Gralloch gravel race ). Together you can ride the Alpine style passes up to Scotland’s highest village and then the now world famous forest gravel of Gatehouse.

Special indeed.

You can do your rides leisurely and enjoy the scenery, or take on big day challenges.  There are so many options here. A a picnic by the coast, even go to a gallery or two, or challenge yourself to reach the highest village in Scotland (Wanlockhead), or the highest tarmac in Scotland - if you want to go harder.  Loops are around 40 miles, or more if you want and you will have one transfer day to ride - a beautiful remote moorland cycle down to the coast. 

Whatever you do, you will relax in comfortable 4* rated hotels with great food and perhaps a dram too.

Tour details

  • Road cycling around Thornhill, maybe even to the highest village of Scotland and several castles in the way , and gravel cycling from your hub in Gatehouse of Fleet with great access to the coast and the world-class gravel tracks of the Galloway Forest Park

    f you do not have enough time, we can easily shorten the duration. Just let us know.

    Minimum of two nights in one location.

  • Most suggested routes are around 40 miles on quiet rural roads and gravel tracks. But remember Gravel-miles are double-miles if you are not used to them. 

    The transfer day from Thornhill to Gatehouse of Fleet is 41 miles on quiet country roads with long gentle ups and downs - we can put in a bit of gravel if you like!

    We call the terrain undulating and rolling: some hills, but nothing too serious unless you ask for a challenge. You are in a cycling paradise here, with so many options, you get to pick and choose.

  • 7 day schedule:

    From: £990 per person, based on shared accommodation

    SINGLE (part of a group) from: £1290

    SOLO: £1340

    Gravel Bikes are an Extra @£40 per bike per day.

    There is a 5% discount per person for groups of 4 or more people. Please ask for a code when ready to book.

  • Day 1: Arrival Thornhill Settling in, bike fitting and introduction to navigation with ridewithgps.

    We have two short rides for you to test the bikes and get a feel for the area, including a loop to see the grave of the inventor of the bicycle - how amazing is that!

    Day 2 & 3 - Thornhill : Explore the area and hills of the Galloway Highlands and Lowther Hills. This includes a visit to Wanlockhead, highest village in Scotland and the amazing Mennock pass - this is our Alpine riding - Want more? - you can ride the highest tarmac in Scotland.

    Other routes let you explore the rolling hills to Ae Forest with grand views when returning to Thornhill, and a loop through the almost hidden and “awesome” Scaur valley.

    Day 4 - This is over 40 miles, and is exposed to the weather in places. The good thing is, that it is down hill to the coast at Gatehouse of Fleet, but there are a number of short climbs early on in the ride and one long-ish one just before Gatehouse.

    Day 5 + 6 - Gravel Heaven, Your gravel routes are a mix and match and can be customised to suit you. But a flavour would be: tracks that are part of the UCI World Gravel Series event The Gralloch that loops back to the iconic Gatehouse of Fleet Viaduct, or a loop to the quirky town of Kirkcudbright and off-road tracks along the coast back to base. Or choose the routes to Clatteringshaws Loch with the grand views across to Merrick, our highest hill.

    Day 7 - Departure : We bring you back to Lockerbie or Dumfries (or as discussed)

  • Staying in 4*- rated accommodation with breakfasts.

    The prices include:

    Pickup from Lockerbie or Dumfries and bringing you to the first accommodation.

    Luggage transfer

    Transfer from Gatehouse of Fleet back to Lockerbie or Dumfries train/bus station

    If you arrive by car, we can arrange safe parking and bring you back to it.

Hub 1: Thornhill

A small town in the Galloway Highlands, bordering the Scottish Borders. An important junction of the old trade routes into the interior of the southern hill ranges and on to Edinburgh.
Sheep, cattle, castles and unexpected gems in architecture and culture, several castles, an Anglo-Saxon Cross, an old Roman Road - and  it is also the and place of invention of the pedal bicycle by Kirkpatrick MacMillan.

For such a small place, Thornhill has a remarkable number of good cafes.

Sites to see on your journey

Apart from extraordinary landscapes, you could see a variety of sights.

Thornhill: Morton Castle, Drumlanrig Castle and Estate, The Queensberry Marbles in Durisdeer, public sculptures by Andy Goldsworthy, and of course the place where the first modern pedal bike was invented by Kirkpatrick MacMillan, Wanlockhead and its highest pub in Scotland.

Gatehouse of Fleet: Gatehouse Viaduct, Castramond Wood, Rusko Castle, Cardoness Castle, the oldest Football Field in the world, Cally Woods, Carrick Coast, Kirkcudbright

Hub 2: Gatehouse of Fleet

Gatehouse of Fleet is a small picturesque town (it does like to be called a town, though more of a village in size ) in the south of the UNESCO Biosphere.

The town is set at the heart of the Fleet Valley National Scenic Area –a nationally outstanding landscape – which encompasses the Fleet Valley from the wild moorland at the top of the valley to the estuary with its fine beaches and rocky shores. Gatehouse is an 18th century planned town and is remarkably well preserved with most of its historical features easily viewed. There are several great cafes to sit and watch the world go by.

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