Gretna Gateway Outlet Village is located in the town of Gretna which is not to be confused with Gretna Green which is actually a seperate town albeit only a few hundred metres from Gretna.
Whereas Gretna Green is famous for weddings Gretna is now famous for having it's own designer outlet shopping centre.

Opened in 1999 the outlet village has steadily expanded to where there are now over 50 different stores with new one's popping up everytime I visit.
Finding the shopping village is easy as it is situated right next to the motorway and because it is so huge you would need to be blind to miss it. If coming on the motorway from either England or Scotland just take the turning to Gretna and follow the signs to the carpark.

The car park is huge and has hundreds of spaces so even on it's busiest day there should be plenty of spaces available. Parking is free at Gateway and there is no time limit on how long you can stay and there are loads of disabled spaces right next to the entrances.

I remember when Gateway first opened it was billed as being a designer dicount village and to begin with it did have a lot of designer stores there such as DKNY and Ralph Lauren but over the years most of the designer stores have dissapeared and it's become much more high street in the types of stores it has. For example there is an M&S outlet which anytime I have visited has always been the busiest store there.

Other famous stores include a Cadburys outlet, a Gap, Antler luggage, Claire's Accessories, Game, Hallmark, Reebok, Rockport and Edinburgh woolen mill. There are also loads of home stores selling bedding and home ware and quite a few sports shops and even jewellers. Including independent stores there should be something for everyone at Gateway but when it comes to clothes the shops are definately more skewed towards women than men with the majority of shops stocking only womens clothes.

When it comes to dicounts it really depends on the shop on how much you can save compared with on the high street. Some shops offer quite generous discounts whereas others are prety much the same as they would be anywhere else. The M&S is really good with everything being cheaper than it is in the Carlisle branch that is only 10 miles away.
I also bought an Antler bag there once which I got for about 50 per cent cheaper than I could find it online. The whittard shop is another good one for stocking up on mugs and kitchen things cheap.

When it comes to eating at Gateway there are quite a few options to choose from including a Costa coffee, Subway, O'briens and a Thorntons cafe. Most of them also have outdoor seating which is nice when the weather is good.

Walking around the outlet village is an enjoyable experience as it is designed really well and the management make sure it is kept spotlessly clean with plenty of litter bins around. There are also quite a few benches so that you can have a rest when shopping becomes too much.
For kids they have a play area and they also have plenty of toilets spaced around the village which are also spotlessly clean.

Gretna Gateway makes a nice day out and although the majority of the shops there aren't really to my taste for most people there should be enough choice to find something they want to buy.
Even when the tourist buses are in the car park the village never seems crowded and you never have to worry about there being too many people it becomes chlostrophobic as the village is laid out in a really spacious way.
For the disabled the village is laid out flat with no steps to worry about.

If you fancy going to Gretna Gateway then the opening hours are 10:00AM until 6:00PM 363 days a year inluding all sundays and bank holidays.