Dryburgh Abbey is one of the great ruined abbeys of the Scottish Borders, quieter and more atmospheric than its fame might suggest. Its red sandstone walls stand in a green bend of the River Tweed, with enough surviving architecture to make the medieval scale clear.
The abbey is also the burial place of Sir Walter Scott, which gives literary weight to an already beautiful ruin. From Melrose, it makes an easy excursion and pairs naturally with the other Borders abbeys.