Fun At The Seaside - Scottish Seaside Towns Adventures in English

At this time of year I’m always thinking about the seaside. There’s nothing better than a day by the sea, especially a summer’s day. In this episode I want to share some of my favourite Scottish seaside towns. So pack up your buckets and spades and let’s head off.Let’s start with Largs on the Clyde Coast.  This town has lots of happy memories for me as I went there often as a child. From Glasgow it’s a lovely drive down the coast which we sometimes jokingly refer to as the Costa Del Clyde. This town has a lovely promenade along the front with amusements and kids rides in summertime. There’s also a Viking museum - Vikingar where you can learn more about the history of the Vikings in Scotland. If you fancy an ice cream you’ll be spoiled for choice but if you want a treat, head over to the Art Deco building, home to the famous Nardinis. This cafe boasts 32 different flavours of Ice cream and I can highly recommend their ice cream sundaes. It’s not cheap but definitely worth the money.  If you’ve got time you can catch the ferry over to the Isle of Cumbrae, which many people cycle around, there are places to hire bikes or you can take your own. If that sounds too energetic then you can relax on the sandy beaches there and kids will love Crocodile Rock, just as it sounds, this is a rock painted to look like a crocodile. For me one of the best things about Largs is that I feel like I’m on holiday when I’m there, it’s got that kind of chilled out vibe. Another wonderful town is St Andrews. It’s got everything going for it. West Sands beach is around 2 miles long where they filmed the opening scenes of the movie, Chariots of Fire, there’s also East Sands beach which is popular for water sports like surfing and kayaking. St Andrews is also home to Scotland’s oldest university dating from 1413 as well as a castle where you can go down into the underground dungeons and a ruined cathedral dating from the 12 century which was the largest building in Scotland for 7 centuries. Add in great shopping and of course it’s a golfer’s paradise. The Old course at St Andrews links is right in town and is where the game of golf was first played 600 years ago. It’s so easy to walk around this town and there really is something for everyone here which is why it attracts visitors from far and wide. I love the fact it’s so cosmopolitan. We’re back on the west coast for my final favourite seaside town, Oban I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love the islands here.  Well, Oban is known as the gateway to the isles with ferries to islands like Mull, Barra etc. The only difficulty is deciding where to go!  More recently it’s become known as the Seafood capital of Scotland and you’ll find a huge variety of top quality fish and shellfish here including oysters, mussels, langoustines, prawns, scallops, mackerel and haddock to name a few. There are some lovely hotels all along the seafront with great sea views and a lovely esplanade which stretches for miles or you can hang out at the harbour watching the ferries coming and going and fishermen bringing home their catch. You can check out Oban whisky distillery in the centre of town or climb up to McCaig’s Tower, this was meant to be an art gallery but was never completed. Some people say it looks a bit like a miniature colosseum. There are amazing views from here over the water to the Isle of Mull. Even if you don’t plan on visiting an island, there’s lots to see and do around Oban so it’s well worth staying a few days. There isn’t much of a beach in town but the panoramic views and lively atmosphere more than make up for it. What about swimming, you may ask?  Well you can swim in the sea and some people do, especially in the summer but the water is usually freezing so I’m usually content with a paddle and a stroll along the sand. we usually finish off a trip to the seaside with a takeaway fish supper best enjoyed while gazing out to sea! Th