GETTING away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is what we should all do more often.

So we took a trip to Dumfries and Galloway for a family get away to enjoy the countryside and spend a weekend at Conifers Leisure Park in a luxury lodge.

When we arrived to the Newton Stewart base it was great to see it had everything we needed in a home from home environment.

The cabin that we stayed in was clean and stylish, with two bedrooms it was perfect for a family of four, with the hot tub situated outside on the decking, it’s a great way to pass a couple of hours, or to wind down and relax after a long day.

The modern, open kitchen and dining area is the perfect place to entertain after exploring the local attractions so we were more than happy with our base for a long weekend.

Newton Stewart is described as the gateway to the Galloway Hills and the local attraction of Galloway Forest Park, the largest in Britain with 300 square miles of forest – it was a place we were keen to explore over the short break.

The scenery surrounding Galloway is breathtaking and has the magnificent hills, set around and within the vast Galloway Forest Park, moorland, lochs and peaks and Newton Stewart is the prime location.

We started off our stay entertaining the children with a stargaze in the UKs first Dark Sky Park in an area where we were keen to explore.

According to our mentor for the evening, Scotland has some of the darkest skies in Europe and Galloway Forest Park is one of the darkest places in Scotland, which is why it’s the UK’s first Dark Sky Park.

So few people live within the Forest Park that the nights really are inky black, and there's no light pollution making it a brilliant place to enjoy the stars and even planets if you're lucky!

After a delicious snack to warm us up before the evening began the children made paper rockets and got crafty with other children before we learnt about the night sky.

Once it was dark we popped out to see from the pitch black forest, The Milky Way and other popular constellations.

It was a great experience and without the light pollution in the area we were happy to stargaze for as long as we could.

With so much to do in the area including cycling and mountain biking, archery and clay pigeon shooting – the list is endless especially for those who love the outdoors.

So many local attractions tempt you, it's hard to chose what to do.

But to fill the next day it was a trip to Cream ‘o Galloway, an ideal family day out.

We started our morning with a delicious brunch in the visitor cafe followed by an ice cream tasting session.

We were given a tour of the farm by more than friendly staff and were shown where the ice cream is made, needless to say the children were more than happy to volunteer to answer any questions as well as polish off any spare samples.

The ice cream is delicious and unfortunately raised my taste buds to another level. Once you’ve had Cream ‘o Galloway you won’t go back.

After an exciting afternoon we sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful scenery whilst the children played on the adventure park and had a ride on the go-karts, bliss for some quality family time and making your little ones happy.

One thing for sure is that the fresh air can make some very sleepy souls, so there wasn’t a better place to spend the evening in the hot tub back at The Lodge in the luxury surroundings.

A weekend wasn’t enough to fill in everything that is on offer in Galloway Forest Park. We will probably have to stay for a week when we visit again to take advantage of a wonderful place that makes for a perfect break away.