I needed some motivation to get us spending time outside, so a few weeks ago I decided I was going to try to visit every park in Glasgow over the next few months. And I made a big list of every park in Glasgow!
Bellahouston Park is jammed full of art exhibits and sculptures. It’s a brilliant park and well worth a few hours exploration. The playpark at House for an Art Lover is great too. Absolutely one of our favourites in Glasgow.
Things to do in Glasgow in Autumn for families. Free stuff, outdoors, indoors, cosy times at home… Loads of ideas for activities and events this Autumn.
The Kelvin Walkway is a beautiful walk, stretching 10 miles along the banks of the River Kelvin from Kelvinhaugh all the way out to Milngavie. It’s a great, easily accessible walk where you really don’t feel like you’re in the middle of a big city.
We have just started coming back to Dawsholm Park in the past weeks as lockdown has eased a bit, and we all absolutely love this park. It has open meadow spaces, massive trees, a bit of river to splash in and lots of little hidden bits to explore. It’s such an underrated park and the kids really feel like they’re on an adventure here. Great fun.
“Build” your own adventure day out on the Glasgow Subway. Great for rainy or sunny days. You can make it as low cost as you like. Choose your stops and make your own adventure day up from this list!
One of the best things we started doing a few years ago was asking family to get the kids vouchers for days out or annual passes instead of toys. So here is a wee list of memberships that we’ve absolutely loved.
Outdoor playgroups & forest schools in Glasgow for kids 0 – 12. Climbing trees, playing with sticks and mud, den building, marshmallow toasting, all the rustic fun!
We always have a great time at Mugdock Country Park. It’s a huge open space to explore with a great castle and a nice wee playpark. Totally free as well, with free parking.
The Fullarton Fairy Trail is a really sweet little activity. There are fairy doors to fin, a nice playpark at the end and Troon Beach is only a 5 minute drive away. A lovely wee afternoon out, and it’s totally free!
We’ve been enjoying lots of time outdoors lately which has inspired me to make a little list of things to do with kids this spring. I’m going to use it as a little bucket list for the next couple of months. I hope it’s useful for you too!
Strathaven Park and their model railway is one of my favourite memories from last year. It’s such a fun activity. Along with the playparks and having our picnic we had a fantastic afternoon out here.
These are our 10 of the best family days our near Glasgow: a list of the places that we love to go and spend the day. Our Top Ten. The places we’ve returned to again and again. Some of them are free; some of them are most definitely not. Some of them are suited to rainy days and some are better for the dry days we’ve had so many of recently. Hopefully if you visit any of them, you’ll love them as much as we do!
The Falkirk Wheel splash park is so much fun. There are a couple of different parts to the splash park, plus a playpark and lots of other (paid) activities. We spent the best part of 2 hours here and could easily have stayed longer. It’s such a great place for a cool down on a hot sunny day, and best of all, it’s free!
The Glasgow Botanic Gardens are a lovely sanctuary in such a busy corner of the city. The playpark is fun and theres lots of space for the kids to run free. The Botanics are the perfect place to let the kids let off steam without travelling too far or spending any money. As a bonus, I get to see the gigantic cacti too!
I really enjoy a trip to the Kelpies, and the kids do too. It’s outdoors, it’s free, and because the Kelpies themselves are just beautiful. The playpark is fantastic and it’s a totally wheel friendly place too.
Linlithgow Palace is a really fun castle to explore. It is incredibly pretty with a really interesting history. The grounds are beautiful and the walk round the loch isn’t too long or strenuous for little legs. If you take a picnic, it’s a lovely place for a day trip.
We took a trip out to Dollar Glen & Castle Campbell in the summer. It’s a great day trip if you’re looking for something totally laid back and outdoors. There’s lots of natural things to examine on the walk up the Glen, and a beautiful castle to explore when you reach the the top!
Rustic, lovely and a tiny bit magical; Finlaystone is one of my favourite finds from last year. There’s so much to entertain kids. They can let their legs and imaginations run wild. And it’s a great place to bring the dog too.
Dumfries House is set in beautiful grounds. There are lots of bits to entertain kids and their Engineering Playpark (a water play area) is absolutely fantastic. We all had a blast!