Ayr is Scotland’s most prized seaside town… seriously… we actually have one or two of them. The other is Wemyss Bay on the East Coast.
Ayr even has a river named after it – or is it the other way round.?
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This awesome big town was once home to William Wallace, was the site of the birth of Robert Burns, and was one of the five fortified towns Oliver Cromwell used from which to ‘control’ the population of Scotland. When he built Ayr Citadel he destroyed Dunure Castle, Greenan Castle, Ardrossan Castle – and many more. Along the promenade towards the harbour, you can still see the statues he built to himself. The people let them stand as a reminder.
Nowadays Ayr is a popular student town, home to both Ayr College and the University of the West of Scotland. The combination of seaside town and student town makes for great summer beach days… for the handful of sunny days, we do get, anyway.
There are plenty of places to eat and drink lots of shops to choose from, and any number of nightlife activities in Ayr. It has lots of things for the kids to do, plenty of history and some really interesting little sights if you know where to look. Let’s take a closer look at what you ought to do if you have a few minutes free and you happen to be in Ayr…
Ayr – the Best Sights
There are plenty of rumours around about what actually happened here with regards to William Wallace. It is known that his mother was born to a Sheriff of Ayr; which would have put her in either the Campbell or the Crawford clan. We also know that Marion, his lover, was of the Crawford’s of Lambeth. Their clan seat is Loudon Castle, situated not far from Ayr and nowadays an abandoned amusement park… spooky.
You can visit the Barns of Ayr, the William Wallace monument. Reportedly, Wallace captured the guards from the Ayr garrison, trapped them in the barns outside of Ayr and set fire to them. The area and tower is informally named ‘Burnweill’ tower…. That’s ‘burn-well’, in plain English.
There are other tales about Wallace and Ayr. One that this writer remembers from childhood was about the man’s capture by the Ayr soldiers. They treated him expectedly poorly – but they did not know who they held in their prison. When Wallace became weak and they thought he would die, the guards tossed him over the walls of the citadel with the other bodies. It was there that a childhood friend found him, whisked him away, and nursed him back to health.
After that, he returned to wreak havoc in the barns. You can read more stories here if it interests you. Be warned though, every clan lays claim to Wallace and each bard added a new tall tale with every generation.
Anyway. Those who are fans of Wallace will love walking the streets of Ayr and knowing that they are the same streets he once walked. Don’t worry if you have no interest in the stories of Wallace; there are plenty of other things to get excited about in Ayr.
Ayr Beach
Slightly surprisingly for a seaside town, there’s not much on the actual beach itself – but it is real sand – and clean, too. There is a pier at one side where you can usually chat with some sea fishermen on a nice day. At the opposite end, you will find Greenan Castle. This is perched on the edge of a cliff and crumbling into the ocean. If you want Instagram pics go here.
If you keep going you will pass the Heads of Ayr Farm Park and hit Dunure. You will find Dunure Castle and other attractions in this quaint little village. It’s a bit of a hike but oh my goodness… that is the scenery you will never have a chance to see again! There is a really good play park, a choice of casinos and amusement arcades, and loads of fish, chip, and ice cream shops along the promenade to choose from.
The Heads of Ayr Farm Park
The Park has a petting zoo, is situated right on the seafront, and hosts a wealth of activities that the little ones love. If you are in need of something to do for the day in Ayr with kids then this is it. They operate a Santa’s grotto throughout December, have an activity zone packed with playground choices, there is food, places to drink…. If you name it, you can find it there. It’s also perched right on the stunning coastline with craggy wilderness all around… love it!
The kiddies will also love Pirate Pete’s. It’s a swimming pool type adventure waterpark thing. It tends to only be busy in the summer but it gets great reviews.
Burns… Everything
We do love Robert Burns here. We still celebrate a day to him every January where we all eat haggis, neeps, and tatties, even though nobody really likes it very much. You can visit the Burns monument and gardens. You can peruse the Burns Cottage, or you can take a stroll in his birthplace museum. You can walk down streets named after him and you can even find streets and pubs named for Tam O’Shanter.
Those who don’t know much about history will probably still sing about ‘Auld Lang Syne’ every New Year. In Scotland, we call this celebration Na’irday and know most of the words. Auld Lang Syne doesn’t really translate. It is a sort of sense of nostalgia for the past. The song argues whether ushering in new times means forgetting our roots and our past. We literally have clan mottos that answers that question directly… you get bonus points if you can tell us which ones In the comments section…
The Electric Brae
There are so many sights in Ayr and there isn’t enough space to talk about them all. The Electric Brae is a must-experience and a free day out in Ayr. It is a road that lies just to the south of Ayr and along the coastal paths. You drive downhill on the Electric Brae and you feel like you are going uphill, or vice-versa. It’s a strange pace with stranger gravity going on. You should definitely drive through… It’ll only take five minutes!
Got Five More Minutes?
Do you still have some free time to kill? You can head on over to our pages and have a good old rifle through for our best bits. Five minutes is not a long time – but we can still teach you something new!
