Coldstream holiday, recommendations?

[Yellowcrockpot]

Hello,

We are very excited to be visiting Coldstream end of August for 6 nights! We haven't been away for a good couple of years. We managed to nab a lovely little place that had just come up for holiday let (after being priced out of anything else!)
Will be DP, myself and my son (7)

My son loves history, nature, wildlife, night skies, fish & fishing (We don't know how to fish, but would love for him to have proper experience of it - he sadly watches YouTube videos of people fishing!)

We went to berwick on tweed, a few years ago and went on a boat trip to try and spot wildlife- only saw a few seals but still thought it was magical.

Any "great outdoor" ideas would be so appreciated. We don't mind travelling a while into Scotland etc, to get the experiences we would like.
I never actually been to Scotland properly and I have always wanted to visit, so happy to travel around.

Very excited but we have no idea where to start with finding things to do, so thought I would ask for inspiration here.. we were also thinking we might need to start booking out the activities now, incase of demand.

Thanks in advance :)

Ps. Hope it was OK to start a thread here :)

We often Holiday in Coldingham. It's too not far away from Coldstream.

The Bay at Coldingham is lovely.

There's Eyemouth near by too.

St Abbs is worth a visit. You can do a rib boat trip from St Abbs and Eyemouth.

There are hill forts everywhere
Edins hall broch is good

Cove harbour is quite nice mixture of seaside and history also

Both not exactly high octane

I definitely recommend the Hirsel Estate www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/the-hirsel-arts-crafts-centre-p247891

Also, you're not too far from Ford and Etal, the Heatherslaw railway and Norham castle, just over the border. If you want a little bit of a drive, then Melrose Abbey and Abbottsford are worth a trip. You'll have a great time!

Melrose ( and the other abbeys ) are mostly closed for falling masonary checks

Definitely visit Coldingham Bay where you can hire bodyboarding stuff; you can also do a fast RIB ride from Eyemouth.

Day in Kelso with a visit to Floors castle and ice cream in the square.

Abbotsford house and gardens are lovely.

Main Street Trading bookshop/deli in St Boswells.

Born in Scotland near Jedburgh has a map of Scotland you can walk round, pizza garden and grass sledging.

A day out to Bamburgh castle/beach.

Alnwick castle and gardens.

Also there’s a go ape at Glentress and amazing mountain biking at Glentress.

Alnwick Gardens are amazing. Take a change of clothes for dc as they can go into some of the water fountains,. If he's a Harry Potter fan the castle is good too, it's a lot to do in one day though, we split it over two days (if you get your ticket for the castle validated at the service desk you can return anytime within the year).

Spittal beach is lovely and has a good splash park area (although haven't been in a few years so check it's still there).

Excellent ideas, thank you to all who have taken time to reply, I'm going to do some googling now.

I am just so excited about this trip, Scotland abit bucket list for me with all its history and natural beauty, I drove through Scotland once (whilst with an horrible ex ... and was just in awe. Unfortunately wrong person to be visiting with!)

Boat trips to smaller island suggestions are welcome..or to see wildlife...although not sure what kind of wildlife you can see in August?

When we were in berwick we visited Holy Island and had an absolute blast...

DS also loves sea and sea animals/fossils, he caught little fish rock pooling a holiday previously any more of these wonderful experiences would be very welcome...!

If he doesn't mind a car trip, you could do a circle out to Moffat via St Mary's Loch and the Grey Mare's tail waterfall, stop off at the Moffat Toffee shop and then loop back past the Devils Beef tub, up through to Peebles and stop there (or Innerleithen) for some Calders ice cream and maybe some nice pies at Forsyths Baker and Butcher in Peebles and then back home via Glentress (or actually a nice walk on the other side above Glentress village) access via Peebles and drive the back road to Traquair.

Having said all that something tells me that the Devils beef tub is better coming down to it rather than up, but you could research that :)

Also might enjoy this?:

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186508-d4374585-r407439350-Kailzie_Fishery-Peebles_Scottish_Borders_Scotland.html

Kielder is fabulous and not too far away. Castle, lake, watersports, woods etc. If he likes dark skies the observatory is amazing and it has one of the best dark sky areas in Europe.

Thank you so much for excellent suggestions, please keep them coming!
We are so looking forward to it and really want to make it special and memorable!

[quote ElephantOfRisk]Also might enjoy this?:

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186508-d4374585-r407439350-Kailzie_Fishery-Peebles_Scottish_Borders_Scotland.html[/quote]
This looks wonderful, will be such a treat for DS. Hopefully someone could help us fish/help us get the right gear.

I'm sure they would OP, I took a quick look at their website and it's really quite cheap and you hire the gear from them too. Nice pictures of kids with their catch too.

Maybe get in contact beforehand to book and explain that you are all newbies. It's a lovely area around Peebles and the one I know best as that's where my husband comes from. I'm sure it's equally lovely where you are going to be based but I don't know it so well as to be able to make recommendations.

I think this is what you'd be looking to do:

www.kailziefishery.co.uk/bait-pond

That's on the back road to Traquair/Innerleithen that I was talking about, there is also horseriding nearby and a carpark run by the forestry commision further towards the innerleithen end that has some walks marked out through the forest and some lovely views over glentress. You could easily fill a whole day in that area, Peebles is lovely for a wander around and to get food too.

Love Coldstream! We go to Little Swinton Cottages twice a year with family. The Hirsel is a beautiful walk with lovely little craft shops; if the weathers nice take a picnic or they have a lovely little cafe. Eyemouth is lovely for a walk and fish and chips, garden centre at Kelso is nice and there's a lovely walk along the riverbank next to it

You could do a day trip into Edinburgh - use one of the park & ride car parks on the outskirts of the city and hop on the bus.

Coldstream is great. Small but plenty of life.
There is a wee military museum there in the basement of 'Walk This Way' army surplus shop with a model train.
Get into Berwick. Go back to Holy Island. Alnwick Gardens is well worth the money (take wetsuit and jelly shoes for small person).
Paxton House is very close and you can take a short boat trip along the Tweed. Seahouses for Fish & Chips and IceCream at Coxons. Also boat trips out to the Farne Islands. Coldingham Bay for rockpooling. Bamburgh Castle and beach are AMAZING.

Coldstream got a new play park recently and it's great, would fill a space after tea.

Peter rabbit tour is on at floors, mine enjoyed that.

Harestanes is good, walks and adventure play park.

Birdwatching at Budle, Chillingham Castle. Breamish Valley - great for splashing around in the River. Honey farm at the Chainbridge, although I think the bridge is actually closed for repair.

Roughtin Linn Waterfall and rock art.

@reprehensibleme

Birdwatching at Budle, Chillingham Castle. Breamish Valley - great for splashing around in the River. Honey farm at the Chainbridge, although I think the bridge is actually closed for repair.

The bridge is taken away (although still with a visit ) and the farm was shut last weekend

Midge, I hope they're planning on bringing it back !