Auld Broadlie Aire

If you enjoy walking, you can be out on Fairlie Moor in 10 minutes’ stroll from the pitches, or hike up to the stunning Lynn Falls (half an hour on foot) for a looped walk through the glen that’s well-suited to kids too. The Velvet Path Walk starts and finishes at Dalry Public Park (20 minutes) and leads you past relics of the area’s mining and textile-manufacturing heritage. Learn more about North Ayrshire’s industrial past at the intriguing The Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume (10 minutes’ drive), sited in a Victorian watermill and laid out with elaborate costumes in period rooms. If your interest stretches to nautical history too, the Scottish Maritime Museum (20 minutes) has a fine collection of wooden boats at the former Linthouse shipyard. When a day in the big city comes calling, you can be in Glasgow in 40 minutes by car; two of its star attractions are Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for its peerless works by Salvador Dalí and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and the Riverside Museum, which has interactive displays on transport history.