Family Days Out In Lanarkshire

Lanarkshire (South) is our home territory so we know it pretty well! There’s lots of history in Lanarkshire to discover, including two of the six UNESCO world heritage sites in Scotland. The famous Scottish explorer David Livingstone was born in Blantyre and other famous historic events such as The Battles of Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge happened in Lanarkshire too.

In all honesty, we haven’t been to every attraction in Lanarkshire – sometimes you just don’t realise (or appreciate) what is on your own doorstep. This is something we will be remedying!

Below is a list of family days out in Lanarkshire you could enjoy together. We will update this list regularly so you can discover more places to visit.

Read more: The Best Family Hotels In Lanarkshire

1. National Museum of Rural Life

The National Museum of Rural Life is located in East Kilbride and makes a fun day out. We go here regularly as it is fairly local to us. Once you pay in, you receive an annual pass! Which is great, if you live not too far away and get a use out of it. Otherwise, it is still a great entry price for a great day out.

Enjoy learning about Scotland’s rural history with kids interactive learning area, tractor ride up to the farm to meet the animals and visit the farm house. There is also an outdoor play area to enjoy while you wait for your tractor ride!

2. James Hamilton Heritage Park

The James Hamilton Heritage Park is located in East Kilbride just a few minutes along the road from the National Museum of Rural Life. There is a lovely loch you can walk around that is around 3/4 mile. You can also hire fun boats to pedal around the loch at your leisure and bumper boats too! They also offer other water activities such as kayaking, canoeing etc. If water sports are not your thing, they have play areas for all ages, including a zip wire.

3. Calderglen Country Park

Calderglen Country Park makes a great day out for the family. The play park and adventure parks are fabulous for all ages. Look out for meerkats in the children’s zoo and monkeys in the tropical glasshouse! There are usually children’s activities on throughout the year too if you check their website before you go to see what’s on. For walks, there’s plenty of nature trails where you can also discover waterfalls.

4. Chatelherault Country Park

Chatelherault Country Park is located in Hamilton. This beautiful park has lots to do for a great family day out. Enjoy the adventure play ground, the visitor centre with museum and the many pathways for woodland walks. The views are spectacular too.

There is a walk/run/cycle route from Chatelherault that takes you to Strathclyde Country Park. We love this walk and have cycled many times too.

5. Low Parks Museum

Low Parks Museum is another place we have been to many times! They have lots of children’s activities on throughout the year too, which our kids have enjoyed. There is a cafe there too. On one of our visits, a member of staff there gave us lots of history on Hamilton Palace. The most amazing thing we heard was that the stair case from the palace was used in the film Gone with the Wind! A classic film that was a favourite of my mum, so we couldn’t wait to share the news with her.

6. Hamilton Mausoleum

The Hamilton Mausoleum is less than a half mile walk from Low Parks Museum. You need to book through Low Parks Museum and tours are only available on the first and third Sunday of each month from February to November. From the mausoleum, you can follow the path and end up at Strathclyde Park (water sports centre side). Tip for parking, If you also planning on a visit to Strathclyde Park, you could park there and walk across to the Mausoleum – it is a very short walk.

7. David Livingstone Centre

The David Livingstone Centre is a museum located in Blantyre. Learn all about the fascinating story of Scotland’s famous explorer David Livingstone. The centre includes his listed building of birth and 2,000 piece collection.

The centre reopened in 2021 after a full refurbishment.

Enjoy a walk around the museum, the ship-inspired playground or explore the trails and grounds. There is also a cafe on site to stop for coffee or a spot of lunch.

8. Strathaven Park

Strathaven Park is located in the lovely town of Strathaven. It’s actually made up of 2 parks that are connected; John Hastie Park where you will find the John Hastie Museum and George Allan Park which has a pond where you can hire boats. There is also a miniature railway to enjoy too (seasonal).

The play parks here are very good for kids of all ages. There’s also a putting green, bowling green and tennis courts too.

9. Castles & ruins

Bothwell Castle is a 13th century castle in Uddingston. Entry is via ticket and is free for Historic Scotland members.

Craignethan Castle is a 16th century castle in Lesmahagow. Entry is via ticket and is free for Historic Scotland members.

To visit castle ruins in South Lanarkshire, look for the remains of Douglas Castle in Lanark and Crawford Castle in Crawford. In the grounds of Chatelherault Country Park you’ll also find Cadzow Castle where you can only see the exterior of the castle because of its ruined state.

10. Scottish Equestrian Centre

If you enjoy or would like to try horse riding, check out the Scottish Equestrian Centre, the largest horse riding holiday centre in the UK. From pony rides to lessons to riding holidays, they have something for the whole family to enjoy.

The riding holidays range from weekends to week long holidays and they have a 4 star, luxury B&B on site too.

11. New Lanark (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

For a fun and educational day out, visit the New Lanark Visitor Centre, a former 18th century cotton spinning mill village. It is one of six UNESCO world heritage sites in Scotland!

With many attractions to visit here including the Roof Garden, Annie McLeod Experience Ride, Millworkers’ House and more – you may need more than a day to get round it all. There’s daily guided tours available too. The kids will also love the adventure play areas, Interactive Gallery and discovering the beautiful waterfalls on the River Clyde.

If you plan to visit regularly, we would recommend getting the New Lanark Unlimited card where you pay once and can visit all year round!

12. Lanark Loch

Visit Lanark Loch for an enjoyable family walk around the Loch, see the ducks and swans and have fun at the play parks.

13. The Carmichael Visitor Centre, Biggar

The Carmichael Visitor Centre in Biggar is free entry and features Scotland’s only wax model collection. There’s also an adventure playground for the kids, history walks and chickens and deer to see.

14. Valley View Adventure Park, Rosebank

For a fun day outdoors with the kids, Valley View Adventure Park is great for kids of all ages. There’s so much to do including trampolines, pedal go karts, bouncy pillows and foot golf!

We enjoyed a great day here when the weather was sunny and warm. Our favourites were the pedal go karts where we raced each other, the trampolines, the zip-slide and foot golf. If you’ve never played foot golf before, it is so much fun and tiring too! Afterwards, we enjoyed some food and ice cream in the restaurant but they have picnic tables too if you want to bring your own food.

15. Strathclyde Country Park

Strathclyde Country Park is in North Lanarkshire and is a popular choice for families with the range of activities and water sports that are there.

The path around Strathclyde Loch is about 4 miles. Enjoy a walk or hire bikes from the sports centre. You’ll even find a little beach!

From the watersports centre, you can take the cycle route to Chatelherault park too. I’ve walked, jogged and cycled this many times! It is a beautiful scenic route, you’ll find that you stop many times to go down by the water.

Strathclyde Park is also home to M&D’s Scotland’s Theme Park.

16. Drumpellier Country Park

Enjoy a family walk around the Loch seeing the ducks and swans and woodlands walks at Drumpellier Country Park in Coatbridge.

The adventure play park there is wonderful. We have taken our kids there many times!

17. Summerlee Museum

For a fun day out with free admission, visit Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life which is in Coatbridge.

Enjoy the exhibitions and interactive displays learning all about Scotland’s industrial history. There’s tram rides, a mine tour and play park too so there is plenty of fun for the whole family.

18. The Time Capsule Waterpark

Fancy some fun in the water? The Time Capsule in Coatbridge is an indoor waterpark that makes a great family day out.

There’s plenty for all ages – flumes, water ride, tsunami wave pool, lazy river and there’s an area (Cove Island) for little ones to enjoy too. We love the tipping bucket – a huge bucket that holds 2,000 litres of water and empties out when it’s full! If you love water rides, we recommend Tornado Tantrum, where four people can ride together. It is so much fun!

There is a 25m swimming pool there if mum and dad are looking for a swim but note it is separate from the waterpark area.