Days out in Ayr , Scotland

joanne_d_3

Hi .

Myself , my husband and my kids are planning to visit Ayr in July.

Ideally , i would lik to plan our activities before we get there.

Is there anyone who lives in Ayr or who has been there befor who could reccommend some places for families.

My kids are more the action adventure type than art galleries or musemn lol.

We have looked on the internet and saw two places we *could* be interested in :

Pirate Pete's and Heads of Ayr farm.

Any experience of either of these ?

Im trying to find out what kind of age group they cater for ?

Thanks

Joanne

loadsacash

Heads of Ayr Farm is great - loads of animals and the slide is great - my son and his friend played on that all day.


We went in October and it was rather muddy, but July you should be fine

loadsacash

Culzean Castle and country park are also a great day out

http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/97/

littlepinky84

Heads of Ayr is fab, my 3 loved it last year when we went.

Pirate petes we havent been to yet, Right next to pirate petes is the beach and the huge adventure playground which is amazing lol

joanne_d_3

Hi and thanks for your replies.

Yes , we have been to Ayr beach last time we were over in Scotland and i have to say it is such a lovely place. My kids also loved the park.

The problem this year is that my kids are that bit older at 11 and 13 years old and so im trying to find things which would entertain them .

For the posters who mention that they have been to Heads of Ayr farm and Pirate Petes , would there be much there to amuse my kids or is it targeted more towards the younger age group ?

Thank again

joanne_d_3

loadsacash wrote: »

Culzean Castle and country park are also a great day out

http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/97/

Hi and thanks for the link....have to say , Culzean Castle and Country Park looks just lovely . I could see my husband and i enjoying a nice day there ......unfortunately i just dont think it would appeal as much to my kids lol .

Maybe i could leave them behind and escape for the day :rotfl:

joanne

bevvy

What about Louden Castle for the kids.
http://www.loudouncastle-online.co.uk/

smitchy73

Have you thought of heading up to Glasgow for the day, it's only an hour on the train, or if you go to the railway station you can get a day tripper ticket, which covers two adults and two kids, use the trains and the buses all day, you could explore all over.
Heads of Ayr farm park is good but i'd say mainly for younger kids. Loudon castle is a theme park, not quite Alton Towers but pretty good, it's near Kilmarnock.
The other side is I'm not sure about cycle hire in the area, but if you can get some mountain bikes there is loads to do, further up the coast go to Largs and get the ferry across to Cumbrae, hire a bike and cycle round the island(11miles or so) it's mostly flat and everyone and anyone driving on the island knows about hte cyclists, there is also the marine biology centre(think it still opens to the public) is run by Glasgow University and used to be brilliant, there's loads of wee beaches, rocks for climbing on, beasties to look at in the rock pools. Not forgetting you two either, there's plenty of cafe's/bars/hotels for a wee drink if you fancy it.
Another choice is train to Ardrossan Harbour, ferry to Arran and take a tour round the island, there's an outward bound centre, Brodick Castle walks, climb Goatfell one of the many munro's in Scotland has easy paths for climbing and can be done by novice's. Arran is like Scotland in miniature, high hills/mountains in north, and low rolling hills in the South.

joanne_d_3

bevvy wrote: »

What about Louden Castle for the kids.
http://www.loudouncastle-online.co.uk/

Hi Bevvy.

Thanks for the response .

Last time we were over in Scotland we went to Loundon , kids absolutely loved it !!!

Needless to say we have arranged to visit Loudon on TWO days of our holiday this year lol.

Joanne

joanne_d_3

smitchy73 wrote: »

Have you thought of heading up to Glasgow for the day, it's only an hour on the train, or if you go to the railway station you can get a day tripper ticket, which covers two adults and two kids, use the trains and the buses all day, you could explore all over.
Heads of Ayr farm park is good but i'd say mainly for younger kids. Loudon castle is a theme park, not quite Alton Towers but pretty good, it's near Kilmarnock.
The other side is I'm not sure about cycle hire in the area, but if you can get some mountain bikes there is loads to do, further up the coast go to Largs and get the ferry across to Cumbrae, hire a bike and cycle round the island(11miles or so) it's mostly flat and everyone and anyone driving on the island knows about hte cyclists, there is also the marine biology centre(think it still opens to the public) is run by Glasgow University and used to be brilliant, there's loads of wee beaches, rocks for climbing on, beasties to look at in the rock pools. Not forgetting you two either, there's plenty of cafe's/bars/hotels for a wee drink if you fancy it.
Another choice is train to Ardrossan Harbour, ferry to Arran and take a tour round the island, there's an outward bound centre, Brodick Castle walks, climb Goatfell one of the many munro's in Scotland has easy paths for climbing and can be done by novice's. Arran is like Scotland in miniature, high hills/mountains in north, and low rolling hills in the South.

Smitchy.

Hey , thanks ever so much for taking the time to post all of that , it was very detailed and im certainly going to spend some tim looking into all the places you mention.

No need to ask what part of the world you are from then lol.

Once again , thank you , your help is appreciated.

joanne

captainbeaker

Pirates petes is good for the kids and adults when you fancy a break and a cuppa,will keep them amused running around for ages.

Our two loved Loudon Castle as well, another thing we did was http://www.craft-daft.co.uk/
pottery and other crafts, makes good souvenirs for the holiday,I'm sure there's loads more but its been 3 years or so since we went, the beaches are great too, if you just fancy a day there.