Dryburgh Abbey Hotel - Country House Comfort Beside the River Tweed

Essentials

• Address: Dryburgh Abbey Hotel, St Boswells, Melrose, Scottish Borders, Scotland TD6 0RQ, UK
• Telephone: +44 (0)1835 822261
• Price Band:$$
• Visit their website

Also Worth Noting

• Swimming pool
• Friendly bar
• Very dog friendly
• Free fishing tackle available during trout fishing season
• Salmon fishing with a ghillie available

On it's own, Dryburgh Abbey Hotel is a pleasant but not exceptional Scottish country house hotel. A 19th century brick pile, in what is known in Scotland as the baronial style, it offers traditionally furnished, large and comfortable rooms in a mid-price, B&B range. Breakfasts, which include the usual selection of eggs, meats and porridge, along with a small buffet of fruits, fruit juices and dry cereals are sufficient. The dinner, from a menu which seems to emphasize traditional roasts and grills, was competently prepared and efficiently served without being particularly memorable.

What lifts this hotel in the Scottish Borders out of the ordinary is its exceptional location beside Dryburgh Abbey, on the one side and a fishable reach of the River Tweed on the other.

Chosen by Scott

According to local stories, the Dryburgh Abbey was chosen by Sir Walter Scott, creator of Ivanhoe and popularizer of Rob Roy, as his final resting place because of its beauty. On the October day we visited, with golden leaves carpeting the grass around the abbey ruins, it was easy to appreciate. Most rooms of the Dryburgh Abbey Hotel, separated from the ruins by a meandering drystone wall, overlook the abbey.

Fisherman's heaven

The Tweed, washing one side of the hotel grounds, is one of Scotland's finest salmon fishing rivers. The hotel will arrange a ghillie (a Scottish fishing guide)for salmon expeditions. But if fishing with a guide seems too expensive, there is also good trout fishing, in season, and the hotel will provide fishing tackle free of charge.

This is heart of Scotland territory with plenty to do for anyone interested in Scotland's history, heritage and landscape. Within half an hour of Dryburgh Abbey Hotel find:

• Melrose Abbey, burial place of the heart of Robert the Bruce
• Scott's View, a breathtaking overlook of the Eildon Hills, three extraordinary volcanic plugs that dominate the local landscape
• Trimontium, a partially excavated Roman fort and settlement, considered the Roman capital of southern Scotland
• Abbotsford House, fantasy castle home of Sir Walter Scott, near Melrose
• Ettrick Forest, haunt of William Wallace