Driving Roads in the Borders?
Discussion
Is the Borders area any good for good driving roads? Lockerbie-Langholme-Selkirk-Moffat area?
It's a part of the country that I normally bypass on the A74(M) but having had a great blast along the B6357 from Canonbie through Newcastleton before turning off through Kielder I was wondering whether the rest of this area is worth a visit (for the roads)?
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholme
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir
- B709 Ettrick - Langholme
- B6399 Newcastleton - Hawick
- Anywhere west of the A74 north of Dumfries any good?
It's a part of the country that I normally bypass on the A74(M) but having had a great blast along the B6357 from Canonbie through Newcastleton before turning off through Kielder I was wondering whether the rest of this area is worth a visit (for the roads)?
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholme
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir
- B709 Ettrick - Langholme
- B6399 Newcastleton - Hawick
- Anywhere west of the A74 north of Dumfries any good?
Mostro said:
Is the Borders area any good for good driving roads? Lockerbie-Langholme-Selkirk-Moffat area?
It's a part of the country that I normally bypass on the A74(M) but having had a great blast along the B6357 from Canonbie through Newcastleton before turning off through Kielder I was wondering whether the rest of this area is worth a visit (for the roads)?
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholme
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir
- B709 Ettrick - Langholme
- B6399 Newcastleton - Hawick
- Anywhere west of the A74 north of Dumfries any good?
Yes, the area is worth visiting for decent driving roads.It's a part of the country that I normally bypass on the A74(M) but having had a great blast along the B6357 from Canonbie through Newcastleton before turning off through Kielder I was wondering whether the rest of this area is worth a visit (for the roads)?
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholme
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir
- B709 Ettrick - Langholme
- B6399 Newcastleton - Hawick
- Anywhere west of the A74 north of Dumfries any good?
The A708 Moffat to Selkirk is a great road and was once voted the best road in Britain (or something like that).
I can't comment on the other specific roads you've named but I would expect most of them to be decent, even the A7 on that stretch should be good, if not too busy. It and the A68~696 will be the more heavily policed I would have thought.
West into Dumfries there are plenty other great roads. A702 and A712 are two good examples. I also like the A710 Dumfries to Dalbeattie 'coast' road.
My in-laws live near Hawick, so I've been up there a fair few times over the past 12 years. I know some of these very well.
Mostro said:
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholme
- A7 Langholm - Hawick - Selkirk - good road, can be (relatively) busy during the day at peak times. Scameras like to congregate around Langholm. There are some wide straights between Langholm and Hawick which can be very quick.
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat - great road.
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir
- B709 Ettrick - Langholme
- B6399 Newcastleton - Hawick - I would avoid personally, quite a bit of it is single track and not in a great state. Its slow and can be quite frustrating.
- Anywhere west of the A74 north of Dumfries any good?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholme
- A7 Langholm - Hawick - Selkirk - good road, can be (relatively) busy during the day at peak times. Scameras like to congregate around Langholm. There are some wide straights between Langholm and Hawick which can be very quick.
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat - great road.
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir
- B709 Ettrick - Langholme
- B6399 Newcastleton - Hawick - I would avoid personally, quite a bit of it is single track and not in a great state. Its slow and can be quite frustrating.
- Anywhere west of the A74 north of Dumfries any good?
John MacK said:
The A708 Moffat to Selkirk is a great road and was once voted the best road in Britain (or something like that).
What a road!! It's brilliant. I've driven lots of miles on plenty roads in UK and Europe and this is my favorite. The B709 from A708 to Traquair is fairly worthy too.
Edited by stewy68 on Tuesday 24th November 11:35
Borders IMO; has a lot of Scotlands best roads, as i'm from D&G i'll try help you out with your question
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholm - Pretty rough and ropey road, but a quiet one and a very twisty road in places. All in a all good fun
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk - Have never drove it but if it's anything like the next one then i'll have to take a look
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat - Absolutely amazing road, surprisingly not my favourite road in the area but thats down to preference.
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir - Potentially my favourite road in the area, quite a rough road up until a small village called Boreland, then you have some smooth road and a very fast road all in all, not the most twisty and technical but for a good hard run it's up there with the best IMO. Just don't make too much noise near the Monks
Don't know the other roads you have mentioned, but a few recommendations, all interlinked into my favourite way to spend a summer day, probably the best way to get an idea of the D&G roads
A701 Moffat - Edinburgh aka "The beeftub" - Was my favourite for over a year, could complete the 40 miles at an awful rate of leptons; but don't get to drive it much these days. It's a good mix of fast driving and twisty technical stuff; so in other words just keep an eye on the road, it chops and changes an awful lot, but the condition of the road is really good so it's a good challenge to your driving.
A702 Edinburgh - Abington - Good fun road but watch for speed camera's and slow drivers, as it is a fast road when in the dry, not much twisties but good fun none the less
A702 Abington - Thornhill aka "Daveen pass" - Lovely road, usually absolutely dead of slow drivers, expect to find bikers and drivers going like the clappers though! Funny that you can actually stop at the top, middle or bottom and have a good chat with a biker or whoever's there. Quite a twisty road, but once you've been down it a few times you can get pretty quick at it, down to the good road conditions. I'd actually recommend stopping and climbing to a good vantage point for a view or picture,
Quick drive down the road to Holywood then;
Holywood - Castle Douglas (Via Moniave) - 40 miles basically through the countryside from one end of Dumfries to the other, road conditions vary but it's a brilliant drive none the less;
Clicky
Any other questions feel free to message me!
Are any of the following decent drives?
- B7068 Lockerbie - Langholm - Pretty rough and ropey road, but a quiet one and a very twisty road in places. All in a all good fun
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk - Have never drove it but if it's anything like the next one then i'll have to take a look
- A708 Selkirk - Moffat - Absolutely amazing road, surprisingly not my favourite road in the area but thats down to preference.
- B723 Lockerbie - Eskdalemuir - Potentially my favourite road in the area, quite a rough road up until a small village called Boreland, then you have some smooth road and a very fast road all in all, not the most twisty and technical but for a good hard run it's up there with the best IMO. Just don't make too much noise near the Monks
Don't know the other roads you have mentioned, but a few recommendations, all interlinked into my favourite way to spend a summer day, probably the best way to get an idea of the D&G roads
A701 Moffat - Edinburgh aka "The beeftub" - Was my favourite for over a year, could complete the 40 miles at an awful rate of leptons; but don't get to drive it much these days. It's a good mix of fast driving and twisty technical stuff; so in other words just keep an eye on the road, it chops and changes an awful lot, but the condition of the road is really good so it's a good challenge to your driving.
A702 Edinburgh - Abington - Good fun road but watch for speed camera's and slow drivers, as it is a fast road when in the dry, not much twisties but good fun none the less
A702 Abington - Thornhill aka "Daveen pass" - Lovely road, usually absolutely dead of slow drivers, expect to find bikers and drivers going like the clappers though! Funny that you can actually stop at the top, middle or bottom and have a good chat with a biker or whoever's there. Quite a twisty road, but once you've been down it a few times you can get pretty quick at it, down to the good road conditions. I'd actually recommend stopping and climbing to a good vantage point for a view or picture,
Quick drive down the road to Holywood then;
Holywood - Castle Douglas (Via Moniave) - 40 miles basically through the countryside from one end of Dumfries to the other, road conditions vary but it's a brilliant drive none the less;
Clicky
Any other questions feel free to message me!
RossB_eg4 said:
- A7 Langholme - Hawick - Selkirk - Have never drove it but if it's anything like the next one then i'll have to take a look
Its not as good as the 708, the A7 is very much a main trunk road and isn't a 'challenging' road if that's what floats your boat. The A7 is a well-sighted A-road with quite a number of straights and high-speed corners where you can maintain your progress.It suits my big old barge nicely, but those of you with more 'driver-focused' cars won't get as much pleasure as some of the other Border roads.
Please do take care though, my in-laws live in a village on the A6088 (think thats right) between Hawick and the Carter Bar, the road is massively popular with bikers and sports car drivers and there have been several fatals - the police watch these roads very closely now.
Edited by Highway Star on Tuesday 24th November 17:15
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