Monday, April 23, 2012

© Copyright Steve Partridge and licensed for
 
reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The small island off the coast of Ayrshire is Arran, you can see it in the map below. This island is serviced by a ferry which crosses from Ardrossan to Arran. The ferry departs approximately every two to two and a half hours. For further information on Arran you can visit here; Visit Arran
Arran is a quiet island which you can easily cycle round in a few hours. There are hotels, guest houses, and Bed and Breakfasts, if you prefer to spend a few days there.
If you like to hike there are some beautiful walking routes. There are also many nice beaches, if the weather is nice. I like Arran it is quiet and relaxing and after a hectic schedule it's fun to relax there. 
But it's not all laid back living on Arran if you like excitement and adventure then this might also be the place for you. There are many places where you can indulge your adventurous side. Visit here;Arran Adventure to find out more. Arran has many fun places to investigate. Hope you have fun there.
Please feel free to make a comment. Or if you have a question about any part of the UK you just need to ask.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Home Turf

I have spent the last few days trying to decide where to start my journey. There are many places in the UK that I love so deciding my first stopping off point was hard. But like all good journeys I will be setting off from home. My home turf is Ayrshire in Scotland. To be exact I am from Irvine a town on the west coast.
Irvine is a medium sized town and although it has quite a nice sea side there is not a great deal to do there. Even though it is my home town I would not recommend a vacation there. But if you are in the area a nice place to visit is Eglington Castle. It has a lovely park around the castle ruins and a very pleasant day can be spent there. The ranger service organizes events and the brochure can be downloaded here Eglington Country Park.
As you can see from the map Ayrshire is situated on the west coast of Scotland and is made up of three areas. North, South, and East Ayrshire. The famous links golf course at Troon as well as Turnberry are both situated in Ayrshire. There are many other golf courses in Ayrshire and for further information about golfing in Ayrshire you can visit Golf Ayrshire. There are many golf courses situated very close to the sea
One of the biggest towns in the area is Ayr. I always enjoyed a visit to Ayr, it is a pretty town with a long pedestrian friendly high street. You can get there both by public and private transportation. Ayr is well served by buses and trains. The main street has many great shops and there is also some covered shopping. There are also many pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes. Ayr is also home to a Racecourse, a race schedule and information about Ayr Racecourse can be found here Ayr Racecourse.When we lived in Irvine and would visit Ayr we would occasionally enjoy a meal at The Chestnuts Hotel and Restaurant, Racecourse Road, Ayr. In my younger days I would regularly head to Ayr for a night out, but now I'm not sure where the trendy places are, but if the past is anything to go by you should have no trouble finding exciting nightlife in Ayr.