National Museum of Rural Life
NORTHERN ISLES
Step back into the late 19th century in a typical Orkney farmhouse and steading at CORRIGALL FARM MUSEUM at Harray, right in the centre of the Orkney Mainland. It’s a fascinating place to visit for all the family, where you’ll see friendly farm animals, horse-drawn machinery and a working barn. the traditional peat fire adds to the atmosphere and entry is free.
HIGHLANDS
NOT far from the Moray Firth coast near Nairn is WESTER HARDMUIR FRUIT FARM. the farm is rightly renowned for its busy shop, which opens in early June and sells a wide variety of in-season produce straight from its own fields and locally produced foods from nearby partners. During the summer months it is also possible to pick your own fruit as things ripen and there is a play area and picnic area here, too.
ABERDEENSHIRE
THE TIN COO, FARM SHOP AND CAFÉ at the Devenick Dairy near Banchory is a great place to stop off for the very best cream scones and a selection of tempting homemade food and produce fresh from the farm. You can see the cows getting milked every evening from 4pm and there’s a soft play area for sixyear-olds and under.
Boasting Aberdeen’s biggest indoor play barn, WYNFORD FARM at Westhill is awesome when it comes to family fun on the farm. Outside, there’s a new animal barn where you can meet your farmyard favourites, a farm park filled with familiar and less common animals and an adventure playground which includes a twisty river, which is ideal for a spot of paddling – just remember to bring wellies! there are old tractors, a combine harvester and a digger to play on and a zip line to zoom down. there’s also a lovely café serving delicious food and a shop selling its own produce.
ADEN COUNTRY PARK in Mintlaw is one of the country’s most impressive green spaces and is a great option for a family day out. Stroll along one of the well maintained woodland trails, learn about the area’s farming heritage in the ABERDEENSHIRE FARMING MUSEUM and visit Hareshowe – a working farm which is set in the 1950s. there’s a great play area for the kids, picnic and barbecue sites and you can even stay in a glamping pod or static caravan at Aden Caravan and Camping park and explore the area further.
ANGUS
IF you’re not sure what to do for your next short break, why not enjoy a real farm experience with a farm holiday at Newton of Fotheringham near Forfar? On site you can stay in their B&B or threebedroom self-catering cottage.
then let the Nicoll family take you on one of their pre-booked NEWTON FARM TOURS, where you’ll meet some friendly two and fourlegged friends, learn what life on the farm is like and where your food comes from, and see some of Farmer Graeme’s big boys’ toys up close! You can also enjoy a relaxing walk with an alpaca.
CHARLETON FARM, near Montrose, is a working farm that has been a family-run business since 1946. It’s another great place to pick your own produce, relax with a coffee and a cake or sit at one of the many picnic tables and watch the kids running wild in the enclosed play area, which features trampolines, a sand pit, go-karts, a big fort, small summer houses and lots more, and all set in the beautiful Angus countryside.
PERTHSHIRE
AUCHINGARRICH WILDLIFE CENTRE in Comrie is a long-established visitor attraction where you’ll find 50 different animals, including farmyard favourites – horses, sheep, chickens, pigs, goats and cows – and more exotic species such as meerkats, Scottish wildcats, lemurs, porcupines, otters and more.
there’s an indoor play barn for ages five to 11, hatching and handling sessions depending on the time of year, mini-golf challenges and a farmyard circuit for ride-on pedal tractors. Don’t miss feeding time for the lambs, meerkats, Scottish wildcats and otters, too.
Deep in rural perthshire, on the outskirts of the little village of Stanley, lies ACTIVE KIDS ADVENTURE PARK. Here you’ll find an indoor soft play area that’s ideal for kids aged seven and under, with a great wee café adjacent – you can keep an eye on the wee ones while you enjoy a coffee! Outside in the adventure park there’s so much to choose from. play in the big timber fort, bounce about on the trampolines, excavate away with a mini digger or scoot down the giant slides. You can even meet some of the farm animals.
For many parents it is important that kids know where their food comes from and one of the best ways to do this is to take them to a local farm, where they can see things growing and actually pick their own.
FARMER JAMIE WATSON has been growing strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and gooseberries at his fruit farm by Balbeggie near perth for 25 years and you can go and pick your own, which is great fun for all the family.
STIRLING & FALKIRK
BRIARLANDS FARM near Blair Drummond Safari park is ideal for a fun family day out. You’ll have a great time picking (and no doubt eating!) your own juicy strawberries. there’s loads to do outdoors, from jumping pillows and tractor go-karts, to mini-diggers, a sheep pen maze and zip wires.
You can also feed the animals and after that feed yourselves in the Farmer’s Den tearoom or have a picnic in the picnic areas.
With two cracking family attractions so close together, why not stay overnight in the area and make a weekend of it?
WELLSFIELD FARM ACTIVITY CENTRE is easily reached from the M9/M80 and you’ll find it just outside Denny, between Falkirk and Stirling. there’s an indoor fun barn and fun shack suitable for younger and older kids. there’s an outdoors assault course with loads of fun features for older children and there’s a mind-boggling array of
other outdoors fun to keep the kids entertained within the farm park for hours. You can stay in selfcatering holiday lodges on the farm and there’s an equestrian centre, a health club, a trout fishery and a coffee shop on site, too.
FIFE
Each year CAIRNIE FRUIT FARM by cupar creates a maize mega maze in one of its fields. Last year they created a massive Darth Vader and in 2016 the Big Friendly Giant – it’s great fun trying to find your way out! as well as the mega maize maze, you can see off your foes from the straw fortress, scoot down the wave slides or the cairnie cresta run, bounce about on the trampolines or the massive jumping pillow, take a trip on the barrel bug ride, have fun on the go-kart circuit or pick your own fruit. There’s also a café and farm shop on-site and the mega maze will be open from July 16.
MUDDY BOOTS FARM SHOP, also by cupar, is family-run for family fun! There’s tons to do here, from the slides, ball pits, soft ball cannons and splat zone of the indoor play barn to pig racing, grass sledging, zorbing, pottery painting and outdoor play in the muddy meadows. and that’s just some of what’s on offer.
There’s a café and shop on site, it’s a great place for a kids’ party and they also run events at hallowe’en and christmas. CRAIGIE’S FARM DELI & CAFE near Dalmeny and South Queensferry is a rural sanctuary, just a stone’s throw from Edinburgh. It’s a popular place with families, where you can pick your own fruit and veg, meet the animals and have lots of fun in the play area, which is an enclosed space just outside the café. There are a number of walking routes on the farm and nearby craigie hill and the kids can enjoy the nature detectives trail. The café serves tasty breakfasts, hearty lunches and simple snacks, where the focus is on using the best local and Scottish produce, and there’s a well-stocked farm shop full of Scottish produce and gifts.
One of the most popular attractions in south-east Scotland is
EAST LINKS FAMILY PARK, near Dunbar. There’s an amazing range of things to do here, both indoors and outside, and it’s all on a grand scale. Tour the park and animal paddocks aboard the narrowgauge railway, the kids can run riot in the four-storey fortress, test your skills on the crazy golf course or have a go on the family go-karts. These are just some of the options – there are loads more to discover.
GORGIE CITY FARM has been a firm family favourite in the heart of the capital for more than 30 years, where the focus is on traditional farming methods and husbandry.
There are plenty of opportunities to get hands-on with the animals and learn how to care for them. Pre-booked tours and workshops also include opportunities to feed and sometimes cuddle the animals and there’s a café and shop here, too. The farm is open seven days a week and is a registered charity. While entry is free, donations really help to sustain this fabulous and fun family attraction.
LAMONT FARM in Erskine, west of Glasgow, is a bit of a hidden gem. There are loads of small mammals and reptiles for the kids to hold, stroke and touch and lots of larger animals to see, too. This great farm project is entirely run by volunteers and is open seven days a week, so get along, support them and meet the friendly animals here.
Learn about farming in Scotland at the fascinating NATIONAL
MUSEUM OF RURAL LIFE near East Kilbride. Find out what life on the farm was like in the 1950s in their historic working farm and try milking clover the cow by hand! The kids will love the display of tractors, learning about plants and flowers and finding out about the new Plan Bee project and the importance of bees in pollinating crops.
around 20 miles north-east of the National Museum of Rural Life is
PALACERIGG COUNTRY PARK, a free visitor attraction near cumbernauld which includes a children’s farm where you’ll find lots of rare animal breeds. There’s also an adventure playground, a tree-top walkway, mini ride-on tractors, a sensory garden and a family badger trail – how many badger carvings can you find? VISIT DUNLOP DAIRY at clerkland Farm near the ayrshire village of Dunlop and sample some fine Dunlop cheeses, made using milk from their herds of ayrshire cows and goats. You’ll see some of the cheese-making process, enjoy a walk through the surrounding farmland and of course try some delicious cheeses, homemade cakes and a coffee in their welcoming tearoom. Their on-site shop is also well stocked with the finest artisan cheeses.
EDINBURGH & LOTHIANS GREATER GLASGOW & THE CLYDE VALLEY AYRSHIRE & ARRAN
There’s so much to do at HEADS
OF AYR FARM PARK, just outside Alloway, you won’t know where to start. Wonderfully situated on the Ayrshire coast, see mischievous meerkats, cool camels, farmyard favourites, cheeky monkeys and playful parrots in the animal zone. Then it’s time to explore the activity zone, which includes an adventure playbarn, gigantic slides, soft play for toddlers, jumping pillows, quad bikes and bumper boats, plus lots more. The kids won’t want to leave this great family attraction and if that wasn’t enough, they also run a full programme of events.
SCOTTISH BORDERS
HARESTANES COUNTRYSIDE
VISITOR CENTRE near Jedburgh is a lovely place to visit for all the family. The wee ones will enjoy the large playpark and there are benches nearby which are perfect for a picnic and for keeping an eye on the kids.
Lots of lovely country walks start from the centre, whether you want to climb Peniel Heugh and enjoy the magnificent vista or prefer a more relaxing route such as the Cricket Park walk through mature woodlands. Try their delicious home baking and browse the well-stocked shop, too.
THE HOLMES – an 80-acre estate at St Boswells, near Melrose – is home to the brilliant SCOTTISH BORDERS DONKEY SANCTUARY, where you’ll find more than 50 of these wonderful creatures. Alongside the donkeys you’ll also see ponies, goats, pigs, sheep, llamas and more. The sanctuary is open each weekend until January 2019 from 2-4.30pm and is well worth a visit.
There’s nothing quite so satisfying as picking (and then eating!) your own juicy Scottish berries and BORDER BERRIES at Kelso is a great place to visit for the finest strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, Tayberries and red and blackcurrants, which ripen in the open air – no polytunnels here! The views from the farm over to the Eildon Hills are amazing and remember to call into the café for a fresh scone, Tayberry brownie or a slice of Victoria sponge.
For an unusual and relaxing farm visit experience head for
VELVET HALL ALPACA TREKS near Walkerburn in the Tweed Valley, or BEIRHOPE ALPACA TREKS near Kelso. Walking with these adorable and cuddly creatures is a fabulous way to unwind and see some of the finest scenery in the Scottish Borders. Treks can last from one hour to a half-day and it’s an amazing experience for all the family.
DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY
A FArM full of friendly animals,
FINLAY’S FARM TOUR offers a massive Go Boing! trampoline, a pedal kart track, a 3D maze and viewing tower, a drop slide, crazy golf, zip lines, indoor and outdoor play areas, yummy ice cream tasting experiences and delicious cheese – CREAM O’
GALLOWAY, near Gatehouse of Fleet has to be one of the best places in Scotland for a fun-filled family day out! Tuck into tasty treats in the restaurant or tearoom, or bring a picnic to top up those energy levels. Not far from Dumfries, MABIE
FARM PARK is another cracking place for family fun. Feed the animals, see Shetland ponies, Belted Galloway cows, pigs, goats and even llamas in the animal paddocks or enjoy a donkey ride. Let the kids burn off some energy in the straw barn and play barn indoor play areas. Outdoors, slide down the hill on a four lane Astroslide, embark on a paddle boat adventure, try thrilling pedal karts or quad biking on a purpose-built track or see the farm park from the Choo Choo Express. Join May the pig, Bea the duck and all their friends for fun on the farm.
Also in Dumfries, five-star graded DALSCONE FARM FUN is another fantastic place for the wee ones. There’s a large indoor soft play area with ball cannon, climbing frames, slides and more. Outside, the kids can go wild on the trampolines, enjoy the pedal carts and go-carts, play crazy golf, whizz down the Alpine slide or have great fun in the bumper boats. And no trip to the farm would be complete without saying ‘hello’ to the friendly animals. On site there’s also the Dalscone Diner and a tempting toy shop.