On this transport page, we’ve outlined the transport services serving Dumfries. Please scroll down for that information.
Of particular interest to choir members who expect to be on site from Friday afternoon, is the question of how they are going to get from Easterbrook Hall, on the Crichton campus, to the site for the Massed Sing on Saturday morning. We have the following information available now:
How to go between the Crichton and Dock Park
On the Saturday morning there is an interval of one hour between the end of the Massed Sing practice in Easterbrook Hall at 11.00, and the Sing itself in Dock Park at midday. Everyone will have to find their way between the two in a relatively short time. There are three ways of doing this:
- Walk: there is a lovely walking route largely off-road, down through the Crichton estate, along Glencaple road, through Castledykes Park, and along the bank of the Nith to Dock Park. The route is shown on the map in the back cover of the booklet, and there will be stewards along the way to guide you. The walk takes about 30 minutes, and is downhill most of the way (at least it is on the way to Dock Park!), and we hope that as many as can will take this walk.
- Car: there is a fairly large car park at the town centre side of Dock Park, so anyone with their car at the Crichton could easily travel between the two. Should Dock Park car park fill up, there is a much larger car park at Brooms Road, which is a few minutes’ walk away. Both car parks are marked on the map in the centre spread of the booklet (the same hand-drawn map is shown on the Street Singing main menu).
- Shuttle bus: we have arranged for three minibuses to shuttle between the main entrance at Easterbrook Hall and Dock Park from 11.00 in as many runs as we can fit in. The buses will only accommodate at most 20% of people at the festival, given the short period of time, so are intended mostly for people for whom other options would be daunting. If wheelchair users need to use the bus, they must contact us in advance (email our Disabled Transport Coordinator) so we can arrange the minibus to suit. We shall also use the shuttle buses for the return journey after the busking, departing from the Dock Park car park from 2.15pm onwards.
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 Whitesands parking area is the main parking site for the centre of Dumfries town. In addition, there is Parking at the Brooms Road Car Park. 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 Easterbrook Hall in the Crichton Estate (our primary venue) to the town centre (eg Loreburne Shopping Centre) where most of the busking venues will be sited. This map shows the pedestrian route from Easterbrook Hall to Dock Park, where the Massed Sing will be held on Saturday.
