Activities In Lanarkshire

Lanarkshire's family offer follows the River Clyde, and its best days out are the green ones. The county's 34 attractions include a remarkable run of country parks: Calderglen Country Park pairs woodland gorge trails with a children's zoo on the edge of East Kilbride, Chatelherault spreads hunting-lodge grandeur over miles of river walks, Strathaven adds a boating pond and miniature railway to the classic playground formula, and the Falls of Clyde Wildlife Reserve at New Lanark delivers genuine waterfalls at the end of a pram-friendly path. Fifteen venues are outdoors in all, and they carry the county's character. The indoor side — 26 venues strong — has its own curiosities, none better loved than the Biggar Puppet Theatre, a miniature Victorian-style playhouse that has been charming small audiences for decades, alongside climbing walls and visitor centres for the wet months. Nothing here trades on scale; the county's habit is the quietly excellent afternoon, usually costing little more than the petrol, always ending with mud on someone's wellies.