Best Hidden Gems in the Scottish Borders

1. Hermitage Castle

Five miles south of Newcastleton, standing alone in a boggy valley with nothing but sheep and sky for company, Hermitage Castle is the most atmospheric ruin I've ever set foot in. The walls are blackened and brooding, and even on a bright afternoon the place carries a heaviness that gets under your skin.

The history is brutal. This was a stronghold of the Borders wars, where prisoners were starved in the dungeons and at least one lord was allegedly boiled alive by the locals. Mary Queen of Scots rode 25 miles here and back in a single day in 1566 to visit the wounded Earl of Bothwell, nearly dying of fever on the return trip. You can still feel the weight of those centuries pressing down on the stonework.

There's no gift shop, no cafe, no audio guide. Just you and eight centuries of raw Scottish history. Get there early on a misty morning if you want the full experience — the castle materialises out of the fog like something from a ghost story.

2. Liddel Water Walks

You can step out of the village and within five minutes be following the Liddel Water upstream through quiet riverside paths that barely appear on any tourist map. The water runs clear over sandstone and gravel, herons stalk the shallows, and in autumn the trees along the banks turn the valley into something out of a painting.

What I love about these walks is how private they feel. You'll pass through old farmland, cross simple wooden bridges, and hear nothing except the river and birdsong. It's proper countryside walking without the crowds you'd find on the Southern Upland Way. For anyone who enjoys forest walks and hiking trails around Newcastleton, the Liddel Water paths make a brilliant half-day outing, especially when the riverside wildflowers are blooming in June.

3. Riccarton Junction

This one is genuinely strange. Riccarton Junction was once a busy railway interchange on the Waverley Route, with a small community of railway workers living in houses built right beside the tracks. The line closed in 1969, the families moved away, and the forest swallowed everything.

Today, the only way to reach the site is on foot — there's no road access at all. You walk through dense Kielder Forest for a couple of miles, and then the trees open up to reveal crumbling platform edges, old foundations, and the ghostly outline of a settlement that time simply forgot. It's the kind of place that makes you stand still and just listen. Bring sturdy boots and allow a full morning for the walk in and back.

4. Cauldshiels Loch

Tucked away near Melrose, Cauldshiels Loch is a small, hidden body of water surrounded by birch and pine. Most visitors to the area head straight for the Eildon Hills or the abbey, which means this little loch stays blissfully quiet. On a calm day the reflections on the surface are almost impossibly still.

A handful of locals use it for wild swimming through the warmer months, though "warm" is relative — this is the Borders, after all. The water is peaty and dark, the kind that looks black until you scoop it up and realise it's the colour of weak tea. There's a rough path around the shore that takes about thirty minutes, and the birdlife is excellent. I've seen teal, goldeneye, and the occasional red kite circling overhead. If you're interested in the wildlife around these parts, the birdwatching guide for the Scottish Borders covers what to look for in every season.

5. Dryburgh Abbey

Everyone visits Jedburgh Abbey or Melrose Abbey, and they're beautiful, no question. But Dryburgh is the one that stays with you. It sits in a bend of the River Tweed, half-hidden by ancient cedar and yew trees, and there's a stillness to the place that the busier abbeys can't match.

Sir Walter Scott is buried here, which you'd think might attract coach parties, but somehow Dryburgh remains the quietest of the four great Border abbeys. The cloisters are remarkably intact for a building that's been a ruin since the 1540s, and the surrounding grounds are worth exploring in their own right. The heritage and history of this corner of Scotland runs deep, and Dryburgh captures it better than anywhere else I know.

6. Grey Mare's Tail

About an hour's drive west of Newcastleton, near Moffat, the Grey Mare's Tail is a 60-metre waterfall that crashes down between steep hillsides in a way that stops you in your tracks. It's managed by the National Trust for Scotland, but outside of peak summer weekends, you'll often have the path to yourself.

The walk up from the car park is steep in places — nothing technical, just a solid uphill slog that gets your lungs working. Keep an eye on the crags as you climb. Wild goats live on the hillsides here, shaggy and sure-footed, watching you scramble past with a look of mild contempt. At the top, Loch Skeen sits in a mountain bowl, perfectly silent. It's the highest loch in the Southern Uplands and rarely visited.

7. Kielder Observatory

Technically a few miles across the English border, but I'm claiming it for this list because the night sky doesn't care about jurisdictions. Kielder Forest is a designated Dark Sky Park, one of only a handful in Europe, and the observatory runs regular stargazing events that are genuinely spectacular.

On a clear night you can see the Milky Way as a bright band stretched across the sky, and through the observatory's telescopes you can pick out nebulae, star clusters, and the rings of Saturn. The astronomers who run the sessions are passionate and funny, and they've got a talent for making you feel very small in the best possible way. Book ahead — the popular events sell out weeks in advance, particularly around meteor shower dates.

8. Peel Fell

At 602 metres, Peel Fell straddles the border between Scotland and England, and on a clear day the views from the summit stretch across the Cheviot Hills, deep into Liddesdale, and south towards the Lake District fells. It's not a difficult walk by Scottish hillwalking standards, but it is remote and the approach through the forestry can be confusing if you're not paying attention to your map.

What makes Peel Fell special is the solitude. The Lake District gets millions of visitors a year. The Cairngorms are packed with hikers every summer. Peel Fell? You could stand on the summit on a Saturday in August and have the entire panorama to yourself. There's something deeply satisfying about that.