3 Best Sights in Dumfries, The Borders and the Southwest

A camera obscura is essentially a huge reflecting mirror that projects an extraordinarily clear panoramic view of the surrounding countryside onto an internal wall. The one at the Dumfries Museum, which claims to be the oldest in the world, is housed in the old Windmill Tower, built in 1836. The museum itself covers the culture and daily life of the people living in the Dumfries and Galloway region from the earliest times.

The little community of Kirkbean is the backdrop for the bright-green landscape of the Arbigland Estate; in a cottage here, now the John Paul Jones Museum, John Paul (1747–92), the son of an estate gardener, was born. He eventually left Scotland, added "Jones" to his name, and became the founder of the U.S. Navy. The cottage where he was born is furnished as it would have been when he was a boy. There is an informative video, which you watch in a reconstruction of his captain's cabin. Jones returned to raid the coastline of his native country in 1778, an exploit recounted in an adjoining visitor center.

Not surprisingly, Dumfries has its own Robert Burns Centre, housed in a sturdy 18th-century former mill overlooking the River Nith. The extensive yet compact exhibition commemorates Burns's last years in Dumfries. The center has an audiovisual program; it also houses Dumfries's only cinema. Tours of the center are available, but should be booked in advance.