Glenluce is in Wigtownshire and lies between the ferry port of Stranraer and Newton Stewart. The village is set in a beautiful valley and a key attraction is the 12th century Glenluce Abbey which also features the Museum of Monastic Life.
The Water of Luce flows by the village and offers excellent salmon and sea trout fishing. Glenluce has a good variety of shops, hotels, and other services and is a great base for touring the Rhinns of Galloway where Logan Botanic Gardens are situated and the Machars area where there are many interesting attractions including good golf courses and coastal walks.
Glenluce is the starting point of the marked Pilgrim Way, a 50-mile route that winds along paths and quiet roads to the Isle of Whithorn and which can be completed by walking, cycling or riding. The Stairhaven Coastal Circuit is only 3km from Glenluce and offers fine coastal scenery, with a clifftop walk and return along minor country lanes providing the main draw. The Circuit also takes in the picturesque Stairhaven Beach.
The village also houses the ruins of one of the three Cistercian monasteries in the southwest. Founded in 1192 as a daughter-house of Dundrennan, Glenluce is the most ruinous of the trio. However, the 15th-century Chapter House has survived largely intact and its ribbed-vault ceiling haas excellent acoustics. The corbels and ceiling bosses carry interesting 'green man' motifs. The 13th-century wizard and alchemist Michael Scott lived at Glenluce for a time.
