The Best Family Experiences
- Exploring spooky underground Edinburgh: Buried deep beneath the Royal Mile is the Real Mary King’s Close, a warren of narrow, tenement-lined streets that was closed off long ago but in the 16th century bustled with hawkers and huskers. Costumed actors don’t miss a trick in telling colorful, highly entertaining, and largely imaginative tales of ghosts and murderers and the sorry plights of plague victims.
- Having a fun history lesson in Culloden: The ins and outs of Jacobite history can be a tough slog for all of us, but snazzy timeline exhibits and 360-degree film projections at Culloden Battlefield will keep you and the kids riveted. Best part of all, a guide takes you out to the heather-clad moors to describe the battle on April 16, 1746 that brought a quick end to Bonnie Prince Charlie’s campaign to regain the British throne for the Stuart dynasty.
- Jumping on and off trams and buses on the banks of the Clyde: Seeing all the vintage buses and streetcars at the Riverside Museum provides a walk down memory lane for older visitors and a few hours of fun for their young companions. In this age of driverless cars, you’ll all be impressed by just how far motorized transport has come in just a few decades.
- Indulging in monster madness at Loch Ness: Is Nessie an elaborate hoax? Grainy film footage and photos of optical illusions in the kid-friendly galleries of the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition in Drumnadrochit leave that question unanswered and don’t debunk the myth. One thing for sure, monster hunting is serious business, judging by the mini-submarines, research vessels, and underwater cameras engaged in the search.
- Discovering the Glasgow Science Centre: A titanium-clad pod on the banks of the River Clyde (the resemblance to the hull of a boat is no accident) is filled with family-oriented attractions that enlighten us all on everything from ship engineering to the complex systems of the human body. Topping it all off is a trip up 100m (328-ft.) tall, rotating Glasgow Tower.
- Taking a train ride: Just about any rail journey in Scotland is packed with scenery, but the West Highland line, from Glasgow to Oban or Fort William, comes with a big bonus—this is the route, past Highland lochs and mountains, that Harry Potter took from Platform 9 3/4 to Hogwarts. Among other rides sure to have everyone clamoring for a window seat: the Borders Railway between Edinburgh and Tweedbank and the crossing over the Firth of Forth on the Forth Rail Bridge between Edinburgh and Fife.
