Hidden gems in west or central Scotland

[Summerspring12]

Inspiration pls- have done all the main touristy things eg the castles.
Are there any interesting or picturesque hidden gems in central or west of Scotland?
Indoor or outdoor sights- suggestions welcome. Thanks!

millport worth a trip- bus from buc street to largs.ten mins on ferry.bus to "main strip" we got super lucky and spent a week there in rare event 6 consecutive days of sunshine n-lol .is also lesser cumbrae for the curious 😍

To be fair it is almost always bloody freezing :-)

The hidden bunker just outside Largs.

Dalgarven mill museum and the nearby walk to the Lynn falls

Kilwinning abbey and the river walk out to eglinton park

Burns cottage, museum, poets path and Alloway tunnel cycle path walk to Greenan castle.

Turnberry lighthouse.

Assume you have done Culzean.

Troon ferry to Millport.

Bargany Gardens - May only.

In the 1989s we were so lucky to have caravan holidays in Scotland. I don't think my grandparents paid for any days out.
If we stayed in Comrie - a beautiful village near Crieff - we swam in Loch Earn and had the rubber dinghy to play in. I believe they call it wild swimming now. Some days we would go to Loch Tay which had a sandy bottom rather than pebbles.
On the week's we stayed in Tonbridge near Fort William we would walk up GlenRoy and spot Golden Eagles and walk up Ben Nevis. We visited Loch Ness and Inverness.
I guess you would pay to go in Fort George now.
For the weather doubters I got my worst sun burn ever in Scotland in 1989. And when DH and I went to the Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace in 2015 the heat was blistering that was a fab day I think it's on in July.
I just find driving in Scotland wonderful.

That should be 1980s not the 1989s !
And Roybridge not Tonbridge.

Glen Lyon.

Culross has a market, think monthly, also few really nice farm shops nearby.

Mull of Galloway - drive to the southern tip where you can see the Isle of Man and the Mountains of Northern Ireland on the horizon.
Logan Gardens is near by but sadly affected badly by the last storm and lost some major trees. North over the A75 is Castle Kennedy Gardens.
Port Patrick is nice wee harbour town on the west coast. Sweeping beach on the east side. Drive to Kirkcudbright for a day, another harbour town - known as an artists's town made popular by the Glasgow boys and girls artists in the 1900 onwards.
Edit - check cafes etc are open before you go as it's a quiet time of year.

More likely you mean you are a bloody wimp

Don't be rude - we need al the tourists we can get 😂

Electric brae !

Oh and missing the point of thread .. when Kelburn castle opened its Adventure course many many years ago , my school entered a competition to design the logo ... and won !!! I remember it involving a sheep 🤭

And head to Ayr for a Nardini's ice cream on the shore .. even if it is freezing .. get yer coat on

with kids focus? Or without? There’s an enormous list floats about on Facebook of stuff to do with kids.
are you coming on holiday, or live here?

Falkland, Loch Leven and the Lomonds.

Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire. Be sure to take the tour. It’s great! There’s a cafe too, then you can head to Troon for over creams and Wee Hurry chips

Crawick Multiverse near Sanquhar is also great and well worth a visit.

Keep meaning to go to the David Livingston centre as the cafe looks great 😂

Strathaven in the summer for the park, nice wee shops and cafes. Or for the balloon festival or HangarFest when there’s live music in all the pubs, cafes and restaurants

New Lanark

Douglas, and the lost village of Glenbuck. Douglas bakery a must when you’re there.

Baron’s Haugh RSPB reserve and estate in Motherwell (yes, really!)

crookston castle then lunch at Stailinn kitchen at Silverburn

And to be fair to @tillytoodles1 both Aberdeen and Castle Douglas are indeed freezing! The wind 🥶

I love Aberdeen, Fitdee is well worth a walk around, just at the end of the beach. And the beach is glorious, we've been swimming when its a but colder and folk probably thought we were nuts but i loved it.

Loads of great suggestions on this thread though, i live in the west and haven't heard of many of these

As the OP knows the central belt already she'll be well aware of the weather and how to dress to make the best of it.

It's really not difficult.

Cowden Japanese garden - near Dollar
Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life - Coatbridge, this is a fab day out if you have kids
Finlaystone Country Park- I guess you might have been to these last two.

Oh yes

OP you can get a boat across to the island that Mary QoS was imprisoned on and escaped from.

Nice playpark and nice places to eat in Kinross and Milnathort

@66babe Largs for a Nardinis... Ayr for a Renaldo's 🍦.

The Electric Brae is the bain of my life, I get stuck behind cars 'testing' it at least twice a week 🙈.

Jupiter artland near Livingstone gets my vote.

I keep meaning to go here!

Mounst Stuart is incredible with lots of hidden gems inside the house...
Have you done the Hill house while it has the box? Fascinating to see a building from above, and I think you can do the outside only for free.
We did this place totally randomly years ago and loved it but don't know whether that's because we had zero expectations and it was a sunny day! https://www.scottishsculpturepark.com/