As the old Irish saying goes, if I wanted to get to Dumfries, I wouldn’t start from here. But one starts where one starts, of course. We will outline the various transport options within the bounds of Dumfries itself, to help us get from Venue A to Venue B, for example, in another post. We need to remember that at circa 30,000 residents, Dumfries in not a big city, so transport resources within the town are not like those in larger urban centres.
Rome2Rio offers a comprehensive variety of options for travel to Dumfries from anywhere in the United Kingdom, of which the following links are just a few possibilities:
Newcastle upon Tyne to Dumfries
And, since we live here or in the area, we do have local knowledge and understanding of the various transportation options, which can be briefly summarised:
Dumfries is served by direct trains from Carlisle and Glasgow: timetable information at https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ . There are also direct trains between Edinburgh and Lockerbie, then bus 81 to Dumfries, which is usually quicker and cheaper from the North than changing trains at Carlisle. Needless to say, it being Britain, there are no buses from the station to the Crichton! It is a short walk to Great King Street in the town centre, from where the buses to the Crichton run.
Getting Around in Dumfries (ie Local Transport considerations)
Bus
Traveline Scotland is usually the best destination for up-to-date travel information.
The Crichton campus is served from Dumfries town centre (Great King Street) by Bus Service 5 at hourly daytime frequency, which does a circuit within the campus: and by Bus Service 6/6A which run to an irregular timetable along Glencaple Road near to the western entrance to the Crichton.
Bespoke Taxi Services
(In smaller towns, like Dumfries, it can be difficult to hail a taxi on the street, as most operators work by prior bookings). The list below was derived from a Google search for Taxi Services in Dumfries.
Woodgrove Taxis (Dumfries): 07721 309537
Dumfries Taxis: 07784 920096 Website
Premier Taxis Ltd: 01387 250000
Solway Taxis: 01387 259090
Lush Exclusive Cars: 07535 672874
Rab’s Cabs: 07391 129293
Connect Cabs Dumfries: 01382 444546
Kingholm Taxis Dumfries: 07884 377815 Website
Drews Taxis Dumfries: 07784 920096 Website
Car/Own Vehicle
The White Sands parking area is the main parking site for the centre of Dumfries town. Parking at The Crichton, our main venue, and the area around this site, is ample.
Bicycles
We’re delighted to report that there are lots of useful cycle routes around Dumfries, but we need to mention, in the context of the Street Choirs Festival here in 2026, that on the road that Google Maps suggests between The Crichton and the centre of town, where much of the busking will take place, it’s a 9 minute (1.8 mile) journey by bicycle between these two places.
There is a good map (better than the bus map) of cycle routes in Dumfries itself, which is available for download. The Crichton is pretty well served, there being off-road cycle routes with several cycle bridges along both sides of the Nith to a point just West of the campus, from which a local off-road cycleway goes up through Castledykes Park to the campus and beyond.
There are designated cycleways through and around Dumfries, including a route from from Whitesands to Castledykes which is part of National Cycleway 7. The local Caledonian Cycleway links through to Beattock and National Cycleway 74.
By Foot
It’s a 32 minute (1.5 mile) walk from The Crichton (our primary venue) to the town centre (eg Loreburne Shopping Centre) where most of the busking venues will be sited.
