1-Bedroom Hot Tub Lodge in Dalry - Fun Days Out

M&D's is an amusement park in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, bordering Strathclyde Park. It has two roller coasters, including Runaway Mine Train and the children's Big Apple, plus thrill rides such as Air Raid and a pirate ship, and Moby's Revenge, a three-lane dinghy water slide. Younger children have their own junior rides, including trampolines.

Away from the rides, there's plenty more to fill a day. Amazonia is a temperature-controlled tropical house with monkeys, parrots, snakes, frogs and butterflies. Devil's Island is an 18-hole mini golf course played over water and in caves. Cosmic Bowl is Scotland's first glow-in-the-dark ten-pin bowling alley, Krazy Congo is a large indoor soft play area, and the Gamezone is an arcade with over 150 games. There's a bistro, a bar and restaurants on site. Families with younger children and groups who like a mix of rides and games are the best fit.

Tip: Check the park's website for opening times before you go, as hours differ between attractions.

Kelvingrove is a major art gallery and museum in Glasgow's West End, set in Kelvingrove Park. The Spanish Baroque building opened in 1901, and its 22 galleries display over 8,000 objects. The collections range from natural history, Egyptian antiquities and armour to Scottish history, design and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, plus one of Europe's great civic art collections.

Highlights include Salvador Dalí's Christ of St John of the Cross, Sir Roger the Asian elephant and paintings by the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists. The grand Centre Hall has a Lewis and Co organ, with free recitals given daily. There are tours and trails to follow, a floor plan to download, and a table-service café and a coffee shop for a break. It has a family-friendly atmosphere, and Glasgow Life calls it a must-see if you only have one day in the city.

Tip: Download the floor plan or the free digital guide before you go, to pick out the must-see objects first.

Dean Castle is a 14th century stronghold in Kilmarnock, once home to the Boyd family, who were lords of Kilmarnock for over 400 years. The keep dates from around 1350 and has walls two to three metres thick. Inside, the Great Hall displays collections of arms and armour, while the solar holds early musical instruments.

Other rooms are worth a look too. The banqueting hall shows the Kilmarnock Edition of Robert Burns's poetry, and the Laigh Tower has a large chest said to have held the head of the 4th Earl of Kilmarnock. The castle stands in the 200-acre Dean Castle Country Park, which is home to wildlife, so you can combine history with a walk outdoors. It is a good pick for history fans and walkers.

The Hunterian is the oldest public museum in Scotland, run by the University of Glasgow on its main campus in the West End. It is a group of venues rather than a single building, and holds over a million items, from meteorites to mummies and Mackintosh.

The Hunterian Museum itself is in the university's neo-Gothic main building. Its displays cover William Hunter and his collections, Roman Scotland (especially the Antonine Wall), geology, ethnography, ancient Egypt, scientific instruments and coins and medals. The nearby Hunterian Art Gallery has major collections of work by James McNeill Whistler and most of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's watercolours, plus an outdoor sculpture garden. The Mackintosh House and the Zoology Museum are also part of the complex, so you can pick the parts that interest you.

Tip: The venues are spread across the campus and beyond, so check the Hunterian's website for each venue's opening times and any temporary closures before you go.

Glasgow Science Centre sits on the south bank of the River Clyde and is one of Scotland's most popular paid-for visitor attractions. The main building, the Science Mall, has three floors and over 250 interactive exhibits that you can use and play with, rather than just look at.

Highlights include a planetarium with a 15-metre fulldome projection, a Science Show Theatre, and BodyWorks, an exhibition on health and wellbeing with 115 interactive exhibits. Powering the Future looks at the energy behind modern life and how to live sustainably. The Big Explorer is aimed at young children. There is also an IMAX cinema, the first in Scotland, which can show 3D films. The ground floor has cafes, a gift shop and a cloakroom.

It suits families with children of different ages, and anyone curious about how things work.

Tip: Arriving by car, take Junction 24 off the M8 and follow the brown tourist signs. The Exhibition Centre train station is a 12-15 minute walk away.

The Dick Institute in Kilmarnock opened in 1901 and houses the largest museum and gallery spaces in Ayrshire, alongside East Ayrshire's central library. Its main gallery hosts major touring exhibitions, often in partnership with national institutions such as the V&A and National Galleries Scotland, and it has been described as "Scotland's finest municipal gallery".

The museum rooms cover local history and nature. The South Museum and Loom Room tell East Ayrshire's social and industrial story, including a replica of the printing press behind Robert Burns's Kilmarnock Edition and a Johnnie Walker display. The North Museum has natural history and archaeology, with Brian the Lion, Samantha the dinosaur, a whale jawbone and a 400-million-year-old scorpion fossil. There is also a Young People's Gallery. Afterwards, the tearoom serves barista coffee and sweet treats. It suits history fans, art lovers and anyone curious about Burns.

Tip: The venue is signposted once you are in Kilmarnock, with car parking around it and town centre parking a 5-minute walk away.

House for an Art Lover is an arts and cultural centre in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. It was built between 1989 and 1996 from a design that Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret MacDonald, produced in 1901 for a German magazine competition. The house in that competition was never built, so this is a later interpretation of their drawings, realised with contributions from many contemporary artists.

Original portfolio designs were displayed in each room so you can compare them with the finished interiors. The house is a prominent example of Art Nouveau, the precursor of the Modern Style, and Mackintosh's blend of traditional Victorian ideas with modern ones runs through the building. It is both a visitor attraction and a venue for exhibitions and other events, run by a charity that aims to stimulate public interest in art, design and architecture.

The Burrell Collection is a museum in Glasgow that houses the art collection of Sir William Burrell, a shipping magnate, and his wife Constance, Lady Burrell. It spans 6,000 years of art and history, with highlights including Rodin's The Thinker, Rembrandt's Self Portrait, a Degas portrait, a Ming Dynasty meiping vase and a tapestry of a falcon fighting a heron.

The building itself is part of the appeal. Its glazed courtyard and large windows bring in natural light and look out over Pollok Country Park, and some pieces, such as Romanesque doorways, are built into the structure. The museum was Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2023 and won Best Large Museum in the Family Friendly Museum Award 2025. It runs family trails, talks and creative sessions, and has food and drink on site, so it works well for families and for anyone who likes to combine a gallery with a walk in the park.

Tip: Pick up the museum's top 30 objects list and head for those first, then explore Pollok Country Park next door.