Places to Explore

• Ayr and Alloway

  The commercial port of Ayr is Ayrshire's chief town, a peaceful and elegant place with an air of prosperity. Poet Robert Burns was baptized in the Auld Kirk (Old Church) here and wrote a humorous poem about... (more)

• Biggar

  A pleasant town built of stone, Biggar is a rewarding place to spend an hour or two, out of all proportion to its size, thanks to an excellent collection of small, specialized museums. At Biggar you are... (more)

• Blantyre

  Blantyre, a suburb of Hamilton, is not a pretty town. The explorer David Livingstone was born here.... (more)

• Irvine

  Beyond Irvine's cobbled streets and grand Victorians, look for a peaceful crescent-shape harbor and fishermen's cottages huddled in solidarity against the Atlantic winds. The town has links to Robert Burns... (more)

• Isle of Bute

  The Isle of Bute affords a host of relaxing walks and scenic vistas. Mount Stuart, a stately home, is a popular attraction. Like the nearby Isle of Arran, the Isle of Bute was a Victorian holiday favorite... (more)

• Lanark

  Set in pleasing, rolling countryside, Lanark is a typical old Scottish town. It's now most often associated with its unique neighbor New Lanark, a model workers' community about a mile to the south.... (more)

• Medieval Glasgow and the Merchant City

  In this central part of the city, alongside the relatively few surviving medieval buildings, are some of the best examples of the architectural confidence and exuberance that so characterized the burgeoning... (more)

• Paisley

  The industrial prosperity of Paisley came from textiles and, in particular, from the woolen paisley shawl. The internationally recognized paisley pattern is based on the shape of a palm shoot, an ancient... (more)

• South Side

  Just southwest of the city center in the South Side are two of Glasgow's dear green places—Bellahouston Park and Pollok Country Park—which have important art collections: Charles Rennie Mackintosh's... (more)

• Troon

  The small coastal town of Troon is famous for its outstanding golf course, Royal Troon. You can easily see that golf is very popular here and in this area: at times, the whole 60-mi-long Ayrshire coast... (more)

• The West End

  Glasgow's West End is a neighborhood of museums and art galleries, having benefited from the generosity of industrial and commercial philanthropists and from the deep-seated desire of the city founders... (more)