General Info on Getting Around Dumfries

[Stuart McLaren]

The main route through Dumfries is the A75, which runs from the Ferry Port at Stranraer to the M74 (M6) at Gretna. It by passes Dumfries, with a series of 5 roundabouts filtering you into the town.

From the Stranraer (west) approach, the first roundabout will take you down the Castle Douglas Road into the Town Centre.

The 2nd roundabout is a massive affair, you can either head into town along the Glasgow Road or head out along the A76, which eventually reaches Kilmarnock. You will also find 2 Retail Parks and a couple of Fast Food restuarants out here.

Next is the Edinburgh Road roundabout, which joins the A701 to Moffat and the M74 north bound, or a right turn will take you into town along either the Edinburgh Road or Moffat Road.

Then it's the Lockerbie Road roundabout, a left turn takes you along the A709 to the M74 at Lockerbie, right to the Peel Centre Retail Park and on towards the Town Centre.

Finally is the Annan Road roundabout, carry on along the A75 towards Gretna, Carlisle and the M6 or turn right to head into town.

In the centre of town, the High Street is pedestrianised, and there is a one way system along Academy Street, down English Street and back down Shakespeare Street, which can make it quiet difficult to get from A to B on occasion, but works well.

The River Nith runs through the middle of the town, and it's the bridges over the river which cause the biggest bottlenecks, particularly on the Whitesands, Glasgow Road and Buccleuch Street approaches to the Buccleuch Street Bridge. A journey from one side of Dumfries to the other shouldn't take much more than 20 minutes at most times though.

The main town centre car park is on Brooms Road/Shakespeare Street, but it can fill up quite quickly, so click on the Dumfries Place Finder link to your left to locate car parks slightly further out where you have a better chance of finding a space.