Solway Tours

Solway Tours Five star, bespoke guided historic and ancestral tours of Dumfries and Galloway and across Scotland. DandG Life Tourism Champion Winner and Thistle Award Winner

We aim to provide unforgettable experiences through our extensive knowledge and insight into the History of Scotland which will create memories and smiles that last a lifetime. We seek to provide our customers with positive travel experiences delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, pride and a passion for promoting Dumfries and Galloway as a high quality tourist destination. We are very co

nfident that you will thoroughly enjoy all aspects of our guided tours and be in awe of the majestic countryside and impact which South West Scotland has had on shaping our global community. We are more than happy to create a flexible itinerary to suit your areas of interest. Our website gives more suggested areas to visit and we will arrange a bespoke and personalised tour for each party. We also offer guided tours of other areas of Scotland including city tours of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling. Our tours offer an individually tailored and unique insight into the historical and cultural delights of South West Scotland and beyond. We provide a personalised, chauffeur-driven, high quality service which will allow you to experience the most majestic countryside whilst visiting some of the most important historical and cultural sites in the country. Lesley and Mark, your Solway Tours guides, offer a range of flexible, tailor-made tours for families or small groups to experience the charms that Dumfries and Galloway has to
offer. We are both experienced historians with specialist backgrounds in secondary education at a senior managerial level and will delight and regale you about the historic and cultural importance of Dumfries and Galloway and beyond. Your tour experience will be enhanced further by being chauffeur driven in our comfortable and stylish seven seater Renault Grand Scenic. Suggested Themed Tours

Castles and Kids
We will take you to a number of agreed historic sites within the Region and allow time to visit one of the excellent local attractions for children. Wars of Independence
Dumfries and Galloway is renowned for its pivotal role in Scotland's fight for independence. We will guide you through the crucial role played by the Bruce family during this war torn period. Robert Burns
Follow in the footsteps of the National Bard from Ellisland Farm to the “Sanghoose” and from The Brow Well to Burns Mausoleum. Dumfries offers an incredible insight into the life of Scotland’s favourite son. Cradle of Christianity
St Ninian landed in Galloway at the end of the 4th Century and changed the religious map of the Nation. This tour will look at how Dumfries and Galloway played a crucial role in the spread of Christianity. D&G Heroes and Heroines
J M Barrie, Kirkpatrick McMillan, Thomas Carlyle and Jane Haining are just some of the people raised locally who have impacted so much on the world. Their tales will inspire you!! For full details and prices for all of our tailor made tours please check our website or contact us by email or phone.

Day 6 of Lesley’s adventure with Dave, Laurie , Kris and Phil included Slieve League Cliffs which are the highest sea cl...
06/09/2026

Day 6 of Lesley’s adventure with Dave, Laurie , Kris and Phil included Slieve League Cliffs which are the highest sea cliffs in Europe, a visit to Cong where the Quiet Man was filmed and the lively Latin quarter in Galway.

A great day visiting some incredible sites and we are now enjoying our night In Salthill and we look forward to 6 more days exploring this beautiful island .

Mark had a great day 6 with his group today. We stayed within County Cork moving from Kinsale to Cork City. We stopped f...
06/09/2026

Mark had a great day 6 with his group today. We stayed within County Cork moving from Kinsale to Cork City.

We stopped for some retail therapy first thing at Blarney Woollen Mills before our guests had at tour and tastings at the fantastic Middleton Distillery. Redbreast 15 seemed to be the favourite wh**ky within the group.

We paid our respects at the emotive Kindred Spirits memorial commemorating when in 1847 the Choctaw Native Americans sent a donation to the country of Ireland to support them during the impact of the potato famine.

After a lovely lunch in Cobh we spent time in the afternoon at the Annie Moore statue, Cobh Heritage Centre and the Deck of Cards housing.

Another great day in the Rebel County in SW Ireland.

Tourism Ireland Jameson Distillery Middleton

06/09/2026
Today Mark’s tour of Ireland reached the most Southerly point of mainland Ireland. We started the day in the vibrant tow...
05/09/2026

Today Mark’s tour of Ireland reached the most Southerly point of mainland Ireland.

We started the day in the vibrant town of Killarney before making our way into the National Park and stopping to see the dramatic drop at Torc Waterfall.

A long drive down through Kerry and West Cork saw us spend a few hours at Mizen Head the most southerly point of the Country with Irelands Teardrop of Fastnet Lighthouse in the distance.

We then headed up to Kinsale which is a beautiful and colourful fishing village. We spent some time with Ronan at Kinsale Crystal which was fantastic as he demonstrated his incredible glass cutting skills.

Another great day on the Wild Atlantic Way

Tourism Ireland 🇮🇪

It’s day 5 for Lesley and her lovely group and today we started the day in Belfast in Northern Ireland and have ended it...
05/09/2026

It’s day 5 for Lesley and her lovely group and today we started the day in Belfast in Northern Ireland and have ended it in Donegal , Ireland.

Our first stop this morning was the magnificent Dunluce Castle where the views were incredible . We then went to the Giants Causeway which was amazing to see and the day was finished nicely with a tour and tastings at Bushmills Distillery.

Another great day and we are now looking forward to 7 days of exploring Ireland .

Good morning from Solway Tours fromthe lower lake in Killarney in County Kerry. Have a good Saturday everyone!
05/09/2026

Good morning from Solway Tours from
the lower lake in Killarney in County Kerry.

Have a good Saturday everyone!

It’s Day 4 of Lesley’s adventure with her lovely group and they have made it to Northern Ireland. They had lovely views ...
04/09/2026

It’s Day 4 of Lesley’s adventure with her lovely group and they have made it to Northern Ireland.

They had lovely views of the Ailsa Craig as we drove South to Cairnryan this morning and then we boarded the ferry to Belfast.

We had a very special birthday in the group today so we helped Kris celebrate her birthday with some cake on the ferry .

Once in Belfast the group enjoyed the fantastic Titanic Museum and then we went to hear the history of the Falls and Shankhill Road and to see the peace Wall.

Tonight we have had a lovely dinner at the historic Crown Inn Bar and it was the perfect way to finish off a great day .

Mark had a great Day 4 with his  Slattery group from the USA today. We are travelling in Ireland and today drove the Sle...
04/09/2026

Mark had a great Day 4 with his Slattery group from the USA today.

We are travelling in Ireland and today drove the Slea Head peninsula in the morning before spending a couple of hours in Di**le. We visited the Beehive Cells and Dunquin Pier as well as Krueger’s bar - the most easterly on the Island.

In the afternoon we made our way onto the Ring of Kerry and visited the Kerry Bog Village Museum

Tonight our guests are enjoying a meal at The Laurels, Killarney

Another great day!

Day 3 of Lesley’s grand adventure with Dave, Laurie, Kris and Phil has been another brilliant day even though the weathe...
03/09/2026

Day 3 of Lesley’s grand adventure with Dave, Laurie, Kris and Phil has been another brilliant day even though the weather was pretty dreich at times.

We started out this morning from Inverness and travelled alongside Loch Ness to Fort William and along the way we spotted plenty of Highland Coos and enjoyed some shortbread, wh**ky and Lesley’s tablet along the way.

After paying our respects at the Commando Memorial we had lunch in Fort William then visited the Glenfinnan Viaduct and then headed further south and drove through an atmospheric Gelncoe where the views were incredible.

We then travelled alongside Loch Lomond and are now enjoying our night in Glasgow and we are looking forward to heading to Northern Ireland tomorrow!

Another great day with a lovely bunch of people!

Well today was a very special day for the Slattery family who make up the bulk of Mark’s group. 6 of the group are Slatt...
03/09/2026

Well today was a very special day for the Slattery family who make up the bulk of Mark’s group. 6 of the group are Slattery siblings and the other 3 members have married Into the Slattery clan.

Today we initially drove from Ennis to the Townland of BallySlattery which is the lands where the Slattery name originated around 1000 years ago. With the Norman English invasion of Ireland in the 12th Century the township is now known as Newgrove rather than Ballyslattery

A Townland was an old name for an Irish farming community like a term found in Scotland. Mark’s group were delighted to see where their family name originated. Slattery means strong or robust in Gaelic.

We then moved further East to both Cloughjordan and Moneygall in Counties Tipperary and Offaly. We spent time in the church where the families Great Grand Father was married and their Great Grandfather was baptised before they emigrated to the USA in 1868.

It was interesting to note that Moneygall was also the town visited by Barack and Michelle Obama in 2011 as it was where Falmouth Kearney an ancestor of President Obama emigrated from. Kearney was an ancestor on his maternal line.

Our Slattery’s and the Obama’s Kearney ancestors were contemporaries and would have known each other as Ireland lived through the great famine of the late 1840s.

It was an emotive morning.

In the afternoon we visited the historic village of Adare in County Limerick before reaching our destination for tonight in Tralee in County Kerry.

Another great day!
It was also Alice’s birthday today!

Moneygall Village Tourism Ireland Rose of Tralee International Festival

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18 Barnhill Place
Dumfries
DG29HP

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