John Paul Jones Cottage

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 3 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 4 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 2 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Overpriced

Best thing about this site is the glorious views across the Solway to Cumbria. I have to agree with the review from 05/04/24, though. The site is in desperate need of maintenance and it suffers from a serious lack of attention. It looks grubby and tired and it is not worth the £25 per night fee. If we had paid £15 or £16 per night we wouldn't mind, but this site isn't nearly as good as many sites we have stayed on that charge much less than £25. The staff in the museum are lovely, but they have no access to the caravan bookings and are not able to sort out problems. The site needs a good clean. The planted areas look tired and scruffy. The fresh water tap is not fitted correctly. The hose on the toilet emptying point is broken. There doesn't appear to be any recycling facility. Advice to the owners would be reduce the price or smarten it up to bring it in line with the really good CL's that can justify charging over £20.

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moggers

Reviewed on 18/04/2024 20:23

3 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 4 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 4 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 2 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Disappointing and needs maintenance

This site is a disappointment. The location and views are excellent and the staff are lovely However… The fresh water tap wasn’t fitted correctly The fresh water station was filthy and smelly (I have a photo) The elsan is the dirtiest I have seen with the hose pipe just lying in “mud”. (I have a photo) The trees need pruning The hard standing is covered with a sloppy layer of mud The bins are on the road and there is no recycling The toilets are shared with museum visitors We booked pitch #1 but that was occupied when we arrived The museum staff have no access to the booking system and therefore were unable to help when we asked to move as our pitch was waterlogged

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NeilNickiW

Caravanner from Warwickshire

Reviewed on 05/04/2024 13:23

1 review

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Cracking C L

Just returned from a fabulous 5 night stay at this cracking C L. The views are absolutely fantastic. Outstanding customer service from the lovely staff. Museum and Arbigland Gardens well worth visits. We loved walks from the site down to the beach to see the Thirl Stane Arch. Also visited RSPB Mersehead, the lighthouse at Southerness and made it to the summit of Criffel -all close by. A very quiet and peaceful. Loved sitting on the bench at the end of the site seeing as far as St Bees head. Highly recommend and would definitely return. Thank you.

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willden

Reviewed on 10/08/2023 17:00

5 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Lovely little site

We stayed here last year and enjoyed it immensely. The site is clean and the facilities are well maintained. Access to the beach and surrounding woodland is good. The staff are very friendly and helpful Our only criticism is the grey waste and toilet disposal points are basic and could be improved. That said, we enjoyed our stay and are heading back there later this year

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Colin K

Caravanner

Reviewed on 26/06/2023 06:17

1 review

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Luck to get in

We hadn't booked any CLs prior to going up to Scotland, and after a few phone calls to various CLs we were lucky to get into this one - albeit just for 2 nights. The ladies in the visitor centre were very friendly and hoped we were happy with our allocation of pitch no 1. Very happy - we got the last of the sun on the first day and were able to sit outside until it finally went down behind the trees. Settled in, we then paid to go over to the visitor centre itself. We bought a joint ticket for the museum and the gardens down the road. Not once were our tickets checked when in the garden. I just wonder how many people "chance it". As it was such a lovely evening we then decided to walk down to the beach past the CL. We walked along the coast, which brought us back to the gate at the bottom of the garden we had previously been in. We had been told that the gate to the garden is never closed, (it was gone closing time by the time we got back from our beach walk) so we were able to walk back up from the beach, through the garden, and back to the CL. Day two looked promising - the forecast rain was nowhere to be seen - so we set out on our bikes - heading towards Castle Douglas. We arrived - the sun was still shining - we risked going to the Red Kite Feeding Centre up the road. Was it worth it? No, the Kites weren't hungry. We left after half an hour - and that's when the heavens opened. Our ride back was about 30 miles. We were absolutely soaked by the time we got back - but hey ho! Though we mainly use our own facilities, the on-site toilets were clean and open 24/7. What was extremely handy was that we were able to dispose of our grey water in the permitted area with the use of a hose we attach to our disposal pipe. Sadly, some CLs that claim to be "motorhome friendly" don't provide "motorhome friendly" waste disposal areas.

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Carolee

Motorhomer from Lincolnshire

Reviewed on 29/09/2022 18:47

61 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 4 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Almost Perfect.... but

A warm welcome, well marked out and spacious pitches and basic but perfectly adequate facilities. Nice walks and cycling nearby and though a good stretch we did walk to Kirkbean for a bus to Dumfries. The ‘but’ is because despite being fully occupied for the 4 nights we were there a small Motorhome turned up late in the day and entered the site with the person going over to pitch number 5 and being overheard to say that she could put her Motorhome in the line if the occupants in pitch 5 agreed, thus making it 6 . It didn’t directly affect me but the occupants of pitch 3 who were out should at least have been consulted if this was to occur at all, which is debatable. They were surprised to find a new Motorhome squeezed in at what I would say was unacceptable distance ( fire regs etc) . To cap it all that person let her dogs out the following morning and both came round to do their “ business” between my van and next doors car. When I remonstrated she claimed to be about to walk them. That situation needn’t have been created. Hence 4 stars.

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Pilotty

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 14/09/2021 11:16

2 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 2 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 3 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

A little gem that been neglected.

Lovely sea views and very quiet site with a shail beach about a mile walk away ideal if you have dog. The forgotten gardens a short walk away are beautiful and well worth a visit. The site its self is in my opinion is a bit neglected with seating areas overgrown and quiet a lot of small rocks around the site which were an hazard while waking around. Toilet disposal was absolutely disgusting. Staff in the museum are very friendly and helpful. This site was one of 12 that we stopped at while having a 4 month tour around Scotland and overall the most disappointing. With a bit of love this site would be a little gem but unfortunately not one I would revisit.

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ScreenName878E4FCEC8

Caravanner

Reviewed on 28/08/2021 05:00

7 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

An excellent site in every respect

My wife and I have been using this site as a base for our birdwatching adventures in the area with RSPB Mersehead just down the road and WWT Caerlaverock not that far away. Everything about the site is perfect for us and we can thoroughly recommend it as a destination.

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Scott1949

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 12/04/2021 13:35

2 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Wonderful location. Friendly Welcome.

We had three wonderful nights at this lovely CL. Great views over Soloway Firth towards Lake District.. We watched hundreds of Canadian geese feeding/resting in the fields. Saw deer and a hare. ECHU, WiFi and dump stations (£15 per night) Staff at the museum left the toilets open. Great location for a cycle. Close to the Steamboat Inn (a fantastic pub nearby, 1.5 miles (booking essential). Great walks nearby. On advice of the museum staff, we did great walk from Rockcliffe to Kippford. We visited the museum and adjacent Nearly Lost Gardens of Arbigland. The gardens are a gem. We had both the museum and gardens all to ourselves.

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Mick Byrne

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 03/10/2020 05:05

4 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Lovely Site

Very nice, quiet site on the grounds of the John Paul Jones Birthplace Museum. Small cafe/shop EHU, WiFi and views across the Solway from pitches. Friendly staff. Conveniently placed for Powillimount beach and Caresthorn beach/village.

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ScreenName35E2B6E1AD

Campervanner

Reviewed on 20/09/2020 21:02

1 review

1 Helpful note

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