Experience the best of Ayr

Ayr lies on the Ayrshire coast of the Firth of Clyde, looking across the water to the hills of Arran. The town has a long sandy beach and a harbour at the mouth of the River Ayr, and its Auld Brig, a medieval stone bridge, still carries foot traffic. The High Street is marked by the Wallace Tower, a Gothic tower of the nineteenth century with a statue of William Wallace in a niche.

Robert Burns was born in 1759 in the village of Alloway, just south of Ayr, and Burns Cottage, the Burns Monument and the Brig o' Doon, the bridge in Tam o' Shanter, are all there. Culzean Castle, an eighteenth-century clifftop mansion, lies farther south along the coast. Golf courses such as Royal Troon and Turnberry, both hosts of the Open Championship, are a short drive away.

Haggis, neeps and tatties are the dish of Burns Night, and Ayrshire is famous for its early new potatoes, bacon and dairy produce, including Dunlop cheese. The beach is bracing and breezy, and Ailsa Craig, a granite island, can be seen out to sea on clear days. Summer evenings are long and light.