Ayr: an agricultural market town in the south west of Scotland, boasting a population of around 48, 000.
Scotland was one of those places on my ‘must visit’ list, so when we found Haven holidays had a campsite there we decided to take the plunge and visit the much talked about beauty of Scotland. We stayed just outside of Ayr at the Haven Craig Tara c a few minutes on the bus or taxi would take you into the town centre. I was under the impression that the further north you went, the cheaper things become. How wrong could I been, prices are no cheaper, and indeed some are even more expensive than my hometown in Suffolk. Still I digress.
Ayr is a pleasant enough town, with old building over looking the shoppers in the bustling streets below. The town offers a whole host of both local and national shops! To make you feel at home they have such stores as: Asda; Dorothy Perkins; Burtons; Woolworth’s etc. For the little touch of Scotland there are some good quality gift shops, one that we particularly liked, was ‘the tartan corner’. A little expensive: but some good stuff. You can buy all the usual gifts that you might expect, such as Edinburgh rock, ordinary rocks, tartan goods, Scottish ornaments and so forth. Ayr can also brag of a beach, which certainly cannot be accused of being ‘commercialised’. As far as we see it had one dingy looking café, and some toilets. But it is walk able from the town centre- so not too bad. A daily free bus goes from Craig Tara and Ayr into a local theme park called ‘Loudon castle’. As said the bus is free, and entry into the park is around normal, but wheelchair pushers/disabled helper get in free.
Ayr can also boast of a popular racecourse. In addition the racecourse is used as a massive market/car boot sale every Sunday. This market is extremely busy and fairly big, although if you go expecting some great bargains you might be disappointed. Of course the best claim to fame it has is probably the poet Robert Burns. Burns was born in nearby Alloway, and has he’s own museum in Ayr. Edinburgh is around 2 hours by coach, and well worth paying a visit (see my opinion on Edinburgh). One thing that I was a little worried about was the difference in money (a silly worry maybe-but a lot of English shops won’t take Scottish money). However, there is no worry on that score, we managed to spend ALL our English money-with no problem! It is a well-known fact that the Scottish people and English people are not the best of friends. We did come across a little hostility, nothing that spoilt our holiday. One taxi driver did actually say to me “Where you from?” Upon hearing my English/London accent, he spoke the words “You know we hate you don’t you?” A little taken aback, I shrugged it off until a few more words were spoken from his mouth, trying to smooth his first words out, by joking about it. Still I stress not all people are like this, as my mother says, “there are good and bad in all”.
Being disabled I was in a wheelchair for my visit. Which was a feat in itself. The parts of Scotland that we have seen were not wheelchair friendly at all. A few lowered kerbs here and there (not regular though), and the odd disabled toilet thrown in for good measure. All in all Ayr was a nice place to visit, but for scenery and lochs you need to travel to other parts. If any disabled visitors were intending to go, then I would strongly recommend you take someone with you, as some parts may be difficult.
Give Scotland a go if you fancy it, while we probably wouldn’t go back – you never know Nessie may well decide to go public and that would certainly mean another visit!