Tuesday, May 6, 2025 - Thursday, May 15, 2025
Scotland,
International,
Scotland
Join us on a walking tour of one of Scotland's Great Trails, the Borders Abbeys Way. This 68-mile circular walking route, only an hour's train ride from the capital city of Edinburgh, links four of Britain's most magnificent ruined medieval abbeys - Melrose, Dryburgh, Kelso, and Jedburgh. We'll spend a week hiking the rolling hills and rural countryside from one abbey to the next. The route passes through charming villages and towns, alongside the rivers Tweed and Teviot, through farmland, lowlands, and wooded riverbanks, with hilltop views over the surrounding landscape. It begins and ends in Melrose and includes overnight stops in the bustling market towns of Selkirk and Hawick. We'll spend our arrival night in Edinburgh, then travel by train to Tweedbank near Melrose. There, we'll begin our seven-day walk to visit each of the four historic abbeys, commissioned by King David I in the early 1100s. Over the centuries, their proximity to the border with England made them a frequent target of the British, and by the mid 1500s the ruined abbeys were abandoned. Their original grandeur endures, however, and we'll have the opportunity to explore them up close. Our walk ends at Melrose, the most impressive and well-preserved of the four abbeys, where we linger for one night before returning to Edinburgh. While Scotland is known for its unpredictable and often wet weather, the southeastern lowlands tend to be drier, with May temperatures ranging from the mid 40s to the mid 60s. We'll stay at small hotels and B&Bs, with luggage transfer, all meals, transportation between Edinburgh and Melrose, and museum and abbey entrance fees included in the price. The ideal participant for the Borders Abbeys Way walking trip is in good health and strong physical condition with recent moderate hiking experience. You should be comfortable walking 5-6 hours a day for multiple consecutive days, with an average of ten miles a day and a total of 6300' elevation gain over the entire walk.
