Friendly, helpful people in the interesting Visitor Centre and the gift shop was handy for some…read moresmall gifts to take home. We quite liked the cafe too and sat outside to have a snack at the wooden picnic tables, but under cover as it was unfortunately very wet that day. (There's a big enclosed courtyard) Plenty of free parking in the big car park.

Eglinton Country park Centre is a great wee place to visit with the kids. The park itself is vast…read moreand offers great walks and play areas. There is lots of wildlife to see aswell. I am doing the Race for Life here next month and really looking forward to it.

We had a short walk along Loch Lomond and even though it was overcast and misting it was…read moreabsolutely gorgeous. I would have loved more time here l. Parking lot was easy and restrooms were clean.

I took a wonderful boat ride today. The scenery was beautiful. The air was cool and crisp. I was…read moreeven able to meditate. But, I never actually saw the Loch Ness monster.

This shop is found in the main building of the university. I went there recently after I'd visited…read moreone of the museums and bought some beautiful gifts. It's not a large shop by any means but is well stocked and there are lovely things to be found in all price ranges, from Official University of Glasgow pens and stationery to their quality, crested, clothing; to books, jewellery, soap, candles and beautiful greetings cards. The staff were very helpful and friendly. I accidentally knocked something off a shelf (fortunately it didn't break) but the nearby assistant couldn't have been nicer about it. There's an on-line shop too see the website above.

The "Visitor Centre" at the University of Glasgow is really more of a gift shop. It's a good gift…read moreshop and the people who work in it are certainly able to give you some general information if you need it, but calling it a Visitor Centre is a bit of a stretch. I suspect there used to be more here but now so much information is available online that all you're likely to need as a visitor is directions or a branded mug. Still, it's worth a visit. There's plenty to find here in the way of souvenirs, both with University of Glasgow branding and without. You can find mugs, pens, tshirts and hoodies, as well as cute little graduation teddybears and scarves with faculty colours. There are art prints and postcards too. A lot of it is aimed at proud parents attending graduations so this is also the place where you can buy frames that actually fit the degree certificates as well as graduation videos. If you're attending one of the guided tours for the university your tour ticket will get you a 10% discount. Current staff and students can also get a 10% discount by placing their orders online.

OK I must confess that I haven't actually done the whole tour thing here, but having worked inside…read morethe mountain for a few days I can appreciate how awesome a thing it is. Firstly, let's talk about the visitor centre and cafe. A great place (in fact the only place for miles) to grab a snack or a light lunch. Try to get in when there isn't a tour about to happen as they get very busy and the service gets pretty slow. The staff are all very friendly and cheery though, and you usually get a good bit of banter with them. There is free Wi-Fi too, although it can be somewhat variable at times! Not for vegans - there is nothing on the menu suitable for the vegan appetite, the closest veggie option is a cheese toastie. If you're lucky they might have a veggie soup on offer, but make sure you check as even the lentil soup had meat stock in it when I was there. That's the only reason I'm giving the place 4 stars, it should otherwise be 5. There are a number of exhibits and photographs telling the story of the construction of the dam and power station, plus the inevitable gift shop to browse while you are waiting for the next tour bus to depart. If you're the hillwalking sort, they can also advise you on the route to take to walk up to the dam above - but it is pretty steep, be warned! The mountain - Visitors are driven into the heart of Ben Cruachan in wee minibuses. There's a sliding security gate at the mouth of the tunnel, and then a tunnel that's nearly a mile in length descending into the heart of the mountain. You feel like you are entering a super-villain's lair in a Bond movie, a feeling that is reinforced once you get up to the viewing gallery and see the whole expanse of the massive turbine hall. I'm really surprised that it hasn't already featured in a movie as it would be a perfect location for any spy film! There are four massive turbines that can generate 440MW of power on demand. The bits you can see is only the very top of these enormous machines; like icebergs there is much more below the surface (another 3 or 4 levels in fact). Cruachan is a 'black star' station, which means it can be used to re-start the entire national grid if everything else went off for whatever reason. It was the first such hydro scheme to be constructed, and because the turbines can generate electricity almost instantly by simply opening the valves that let the water in from the dam above, it's ideal to provide increased capacity at peak times. During the night, the turbines can be reversed, to pump the water from Loch Awe back up into the reservoir. Check out the wooden mural by Elizabeth Faulkner on the wall - this tells the legend of the sacred well on the mountain that was guarded by the Cailleach, the crone goddess of the mountains. She controlled the flow from the well by rolling a boulder over it, but one night she fell asleep and the well overflowed, causing Loch Awe to fill up and burst its way through the hills, creating the Pass of Brander. The rest of the mural commemorates the 4 engineers who were in charge of the project, the 15 tunnellers who died during the construction of the turbine hall when the roof collapsed (a total of 36 workers died overall), and the switching on of the power by the Queen in 1965. Awesome, amazing, atmospheric, inspiring. Well worth stopping off for.

Ben Cruachan on the shores of Loch Awe awesome, beautiful, stunning but journey deep into the…read moresecret heart of this majestic mountain and you'll discover one of the hidden wonders of the Scottish Highlands Cruachan Power Station. An underground world on a spectacular scale a hollow mountain and a place like no other. Buried almost 1km below the ground a massive cavern, as high as the Tower of London, houses enormous turbines converting the power of water into electricity sent straight to your home with the flick of a switch. A coach will transport you deep into the heart of the mountain, along a massive tunnel cut through solid rock. Experienced guides will lead you through a different world, so warm that sub-tropical plants grow due to the humid conditions inside the mountain and then on to the visitors' viewing gallery. Once there, you'll find the nerve centre of the station the massive turbines so powerful that they can create 100,000 kilowatts of energy in only two minutes. Learn how these massive generators harness the power of the water from Loch Awe to provide a rapid response to the sharp rises in demand from ScottishPower customers for electricity at meal times.

Very nice little cafe at the bottom of the hill leading up to the castle. Here you pay your…read moreadmission, can buy water, get a snack or just rest in the Scottish Sunshine. There is a small educational center attached with dioramas of the castle through out the past centuries, artifacts found on the ground and costumes from the period that the castle represents. I assume this is for school groups, and not recommended for the average traveler to try on. The shops restrooms are clean and acommodating.

Lovely little village, caravan park. Woods, walkway to Troon. Etc. Few, castles too. Resturants,…read moreshops.

Palacerigg Country Park is a lovely place to bring young people! I work with children and have…read morebrought some of them there occasionally! Invarioubly they ask to visit this park again! You take the cut off for Cumbernauld when you are heading out of Airdrie on the Stirling Road. Turn right and then first left down through the little hamlet of Luggiebank (I just love that name!). At 1st roundabout turn right and then right again at the second roundabout where you will see the sign for Palacerigg Country Park (right turn just about 100yds from r.a.). It is not very large but is a pretty setting with lots of lovely trees and foliage and this is home to some georgious animals and birds. Two beautiful black swans with red bills sail about serenely in the little lake. You will see pigs (one giant one), goats proudly showing off enviable (if you're a man that is!) goatees, rabbits, hares, ferrets, peacocks, peahens, Zebedee a sacred Asian cow and Eddie the donkey who sadly has a condition that makes him a bit wobbly on his legs! There are any number of lovely animals who look genuinely happy to be there! I have a bit of a thing about animals being kept in captivity but these little creatures do look at home unlike magnificent cheetas, lions, pumas, elephant, giraffes and others of the mighty animal kingdom who appear to be miserable (understandably) and stagnating in badly run zoos and so called safari parks. There is no charge to enjoy this contact with nature, which is not far from the city of Glasgow. Parking is free with sufficient space and the little park hosts a cafe and toilet facilities, of course. A lovely place, particularly for young children or just to have a bit of space in a pleasant little haven for yourself.

This is the best place to go at Easter as it is full of baby chicks and other animals that you can…read moreget up close to. The kids will love being able to actually interact with the animals rather than just looking at them via a cage, and it will defo bring out the big kid in you

For me, this wasn't a great experience and unless you drive it's pretty difficult to reach and a…read morehard walk but with lovely views of corn fields, rolling hills in the distance and woodlands. There are clear signposts which led me to the visitor centre and a cafe and probably more points of interests but by the time I got there and the time it would take to get back to any public transport in Linlithgow, I didn't have time to go any further which is disappointing and unless it was easier to get to by public transport, it's unlikely I'd return.

The best dog walking! Lots of options from gentle to hilly to paved to off the beaten path. Big…read morereservoir is great for a short loop. If you walk right up to the top park boundary it is much quieter. Also great for families as they have a play park and visitors center with a cafe.