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map showing location of tourTweed Valley and Scottish Borders guided walking holidays

The valley of the River Tweed and the hills of the Southern Uplands, with their network of ancient tracks and drovers’ roads, is an excellent venue for a guided walking holiday. Throughout history, these routes have provided passage across Scotland’s beautiful border country.

Picture: Melrose Abbey

Our base for this tour is Melrose, a small and peaceful town which stands beside the river Tweed and beneath the Eildon Hills which rise abruptly from the surrounding countryside. The Eildon Hills were much admired by Sir Walter Scott, who lived nearby, and provide the focus for one of our walks. On a clear day they offer fine views across to the Cheviots, the Tweedsmuir Hills and the Lammermuir Hills.

Other walks take us along the Southern Uplands Way, St Cuthbert’s Way, the Peebles Drove Road and Roman Dere Street to visit Dryburgh Abbey, St Mary’s Loch and Traquair House, behind whose ancient walls 27 monarchs have rested.

This is a green and fertile region of Scotland, the towns and villages are as attractive as their surroundings and the hedgerows are glorious. Depending upon the season they are laced with hawthorn, festooned in wild roses, dripping with wild raspberries and bright with flowers. Salmon and trout leap in the Tweed, grouse call on the high moors and the sheep, whose wool is used in the manufacture of the traditional cloth for which the area is so famous, graze on the hillsides.

Melrose has a Cistercian Abbey, now in ruins but still magnificent, which displays some of the finest masonry in Scotland. The heart of Robert the Bruce is buried in the Abbey.

We stay at the superbly appointed Burt’s Hotel [AA***, STB****], which faces onto the Market Square in Melrose. As well as providing exceptionally comfortable accommodation Burt’s boasts an award-winning restaurant with two sought-after AA Rosettes for it’s food, and the distinction of having been named as the AA Pub of the Year for Scotland 2004/2005. All bedrooms have ensuite facilities.