The Southern Upland Way is Scotland's Coast to Coast walk and the longest of the National Trails north of the border. It runs for 212 miles (341km) from picturesque Portpatrick on the west coast across the Galloway and Border Hills to finish on the east coast at Cockburnspath, south of Dunbar. The route can be walked as a long distance trail or broken into shorter sections or day walks.

The best long distance walking trails have two characteristics that make them great: a succession of dramatic landscapes coupled with a broad selection of interesting places to visit along the way. The Southern Upland Way scores highly on both. As the way cuts across the grain of the country many different landscapes are unveiled, coastal cliffs, high moorland, rolling hills, remote mountains, forests, lochs, mountain streams, majestic rivers and sylvan valleys abounding in wildlife.

This guide describes the route in thirteen stages, suitable for a two week walking holiday. There is a comprehensive route description walking from west to east and this is supported by full colour OS 1:50,000 mapping with the route highlighted. There is also extensive commentary on historical background and local interest and plenty of full colour photographs to whet you appetite during the planning stages. Contact details and other useful information to help plan your walk is included.

The section starting locations are: Portpatrick; Castle Kennedy; New Luce; Bargrennan; St John's Town of Dalry; Sanquhar; Wanlockhead; Beattock (Moffat); Tibbie Shiels (St Mary's Loch); Traquair (Innerleithin); Melrose; Lauder; Longformacus.