Summer time has arrived in our lovely land of Scotland!
Yep we are a whole three weeks usually ahead of the rest of the UK as we love our summers so much we just can’t wait a moment longer! Or perhaps not risking the rain coming too quickly into the holidays – one or the other.
Our family is made up of a 4yr old mini person with a 1yr old baby explorer side-kick and with myself and my husband working full time, we like to make sure we have plenty of activities in the background prepared for enjoying the summer holiday annual leave days and weekends ahead.
Don’t get me wrong – we love nothing more than an unscheduled weekend (personally I think it is good for the soul to not have to rush about as much if you can and where you can allow) but having these local highlights planned out gives us no excuses to explore and make the most of family time.
Every school holiday now I find my list of family days out my trusted friend, in turning a normal day into a mini adventure in a split second. With more than 25 ideas here, I hope if you like in the Glasgow or Edinburgh central belt of Scotland you might use some with your family too.
27 Family Days Out near Glasgow for all ages on a tight budget
Sunshine a Plenty Day Ideas (Rare but still lovely in Scotland)
- Any National Trust for Scotland Property – FREE if you have a yearly family membership
Our favourites are Greenbank Gardens, Museum of Rural Life and Culzean Castle & Country Park - Falkirk Wheel – FREE
- The Kelpies -FREE
- Calderglen Country Park FREE but Zoo is worth the little cost (£)
- Almond Valley Farm Park (£)
- East Yonderton Farm – Fruit picking FREE but pay for your fruit (before you eat it!)
- Strathaven Country Park – FREE – check out the little train ride and parks for a fun morning or afternoon out
- Rouken Glen Playgroup and Park – FREE – wonderful play ground and lots of space to move and run about for everyone in the South side of Glasgow.
- Bothwell Castle and Fairy Trail – (£)
- Troon Beach – FREE
- Pollok Park – FREE
- Botanic Gardens Dinosaurs – (££) – Limited time open
- Whitelee Windfarm – FREE
- Blair Drummond Safari Park – (£££)
- Edinburgh Zoo – (£££) – huge Zoo to explore but take the buggy if travelling and exploring with young children.
- Heads of Ayr Farm – (££) – Great family day trip with loads to explore and do for all ages.
- Glasgow Green Cycle Track – (£) – Hire bikes for all the family and race round their track together
Wet Day Idea
- Science Centre – (£££) – we love this place and with a dedicated packed lunch hall, ideal for families.
- Swimming at Hamilton Water Palace – (£) – this place has so much to offer from Water rapids to a kids playground water area.
- Bowling at Xscape Glasgow– (££)
- Riverside Museum– FREE
- Lego Shop – FREE to look – regular events for kids to play with the lego and have fun in store.
- Soft Play East Kilbride – (£) – great little softplay area for crawling babies and older kids to spend an hour and a snack time
- Krispy Kreme Donut Designing at Braehead Store (ask for Kids decorating packs when ordering) – (£)
- Dobbies Garden Centre, Braehead – FREE – we love to explore the fish displays, like a free zoo only better
- Glasgow Climbing Centre – (££) -Sessions available during week for young children and their parents to climb together
- Cinema Trip – (££) – We find the Odeon pricing to be the most reasonable around for the whole family.
Feeling adventurous? Why not try to complete all 27 Family Day out ideas and let us know which would be your top 5 activities to recommend to other families?
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