3 Best Sights in Scotland

At this fascinating interactive museum, both the young and the not-so young can test their scientific knowledge and travel into the solar system via the planetarium. You can even try on astronaut gloves to get an idea of how hard it is to use your hands in space. It seems especially appropriate since Dumfries and Galloway both have extensive areas of dark sky for great star-gazing within Galloway Forest.

Fun and engaging, this museum for children and adults alike has three floors packed with games, experiments, and hands-on machines from pendulums to small-scale whirlpools, soundscapes to optical illusions. Its space-age home on the south side of the Clyde has a whole wall of glass looking out onto the river. The BodyWorks exhibition explores every aspect of our physical selves—you can even try and reconstruct a brain. There are daily events and science shows, a lovely play area for under-sevens, a planetarium, an IMAX theater, and the spectacular Glasgow Tower, 400 feet high, where you can survey the whole city from the river to the surrounding hills. All carry an additional charge. Always inquire whether the tower is open—even moderate winds will close it down. Admission is expensive, but the tower and planetarium cost less if you buy all the tickets at the same time.

On the Firth of Lorne, this imaginative venture lets you get a look under the sea. Hands-on exhibits include microscopes where you can observe tiny algae and a live undersea camera where you can see what's happening below the waves. Part of a scientific research center, it's educational but also accessible and fun. There is a bright little café and a shop with books on marine science and other topics. It's 2 miles from Oban—follow the signs for nearby Dunstaffnage Castle.