Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Various buses (including 58) operate regularly between Alloway and Ayr (10 minutes).
Otherwise, walk or rent a bike and cycle here.
TROON
POP 14,766
Troon, a major sailing centre on the coast 7 miles north of Ayr, has excellent sandy
beaches and six golf courses. The demanding championship Old Course at
Royal Troon
(
01292-311555;
www.royaltroon.com
; Craigend Rd)
is a classic of links golf. There are
offers on its website; the standard green fee is £175, which includes a complimentary
round at the Portland course.
Four miles northeast of Troon,
Dundonald Castle
(HS;
www.historic-scotland.gov.uk
;
adult/child £3.50/1.50; 10am-5pm Apr-Oct)
commands impressive views and, in its
main hall, has one of the finest preserved barrel-vaulted ceilings in Scotland. It was the
first home of the Stuart kings, built by Robert II in 1371, and reckoned to be the third
most important castle in Scotland in its time, after Edinburgh and Stirling. The visitor
centre below the castle has good information on prior settlements, and scale models of the
castle and its predecessors. Buses running between Troon and Kilmarnock stop in Dun-
donald village.
Getting There & Away
There are half-hourly trains to Ayr (10 minutes) and Glasgow (£6.90, 40 minutes).
P&O
(
0871 66 44 777;
www.poirishsea.com
)
sails twice daily to Larne in Northern
Ireland (£33 for passengers, up to £142 for a car and driver; two hours).
IRVINE
Boat lovers should check out the
Scottish Maritime Museum
(
01294-278283;
www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org
;
Gottries Rd; adult/child £3.50/2.50; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat)
in Irvine. In the
massive
Linthouse Engine Shop
- an old hangar with a cast-iron framework - is an absorbing collection of boats
and machinery. Your ticket also gives admission to the
boat shop
, with its wonderful works of art and huge kids
activity area. Free guided tours leave from the boat shop - you'll go down to the pontoons where you can clamber
over various ships, and visitors can also see a shipyard worker's restored flat. Ring to check opening hours, as it was
being refurbished at time of last visit.
