In mid-June Alice and her family went to the West Coast of Scotland, and stayed near Largs in Ayrshire. A beautiful spot, infrequently visited by tourists, the landscape and coastlines are incredible.
Here is what Alice has to say about her trip:
"When we initially arrived in Scotland, it was on the day of the heatwave, and crossing the border, we were met with torrential rain, a little different to the 26-degree heat back home!
When we arrived at our accommodation the sun started shining and didn't leave us for the rest of the weekend. A particular highlight was Kelburn Castle & Estate, with its giant Secret Forest and graffiti castle. We initially decided to go, thinking Hugo (who is 2) would love it, but ended up enjoying it as much as he did! With many hidden fairytale houses, stepping stones across quaint waterfalls, and having to find your way out of the maze, I think we enjoyed it as much as he did!
After spending almost two hours in the Secret Forest, we headed on to see the graffiti castle and to do the history walk that is on offer. The castle is amazing to look at, and we even got to see someone playing traditional bagpipes! The history walk gave lots of information about the history of the Kelburn Estate and took us on a lovely scenic route past the larger waterfall river.
The other highlight of the weekend was Largs, a traditional Scottish coastal town, home to Napolis, a world-famous ice-cream parlour. The ice-cream was divine, and the sundaes were giant! And of course, we had to get fish and chips being so close to the sea. After a delightful lunch, we caught the Largs-Cumbrae ferry. The ferry crossing only takes 10 minutes, but Hugo was so excited to go on his first ever boat!
Cumbrae is a lovely island itself, it is tiny with stunning views and you can drive the whole way around it in 30 minutes! We walked around it a little, taking in the spectacular scenery and collected some shells before heading back. There is a bus to take you into the town centre, but Hugo needed a nap so unfortunately we decided to head back.
Overall, Ayrshire, on the West Coast of Scotland is a fabulous place to visit, and is simply beautiful. I would definitely go back again!"
