Stranraer is the western terminus of the Southern Upland Way — one of Scotland’s three great long-distance trails — and sits at the head of Loch Ryan, the great natural harbour of south-west Scotland. The Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s most southerly point, lies just twenty miles to the south.

A practical harbour town with good transport links to Northern Ireland, Stranraer is the natural starting point for the Southern Upland Way and a useful base for the Rhins of Galloway peninsula — one of Scotland’s most dramatically sited extremities.