Ardrossan is a Firth of Clyde town having ferry services to the Isle of Arran.
Built in the 19th century as a coal port and seaside resort, the harbour is
now a marina filled with pleasure craft.
Within easy reach are Crosbie, Dundonald and Kelburn Castles.
The town has a good shopping centre and gardens along the seafront.
Transport links throughout the area are good, the city of Glasgow being
some 30 miles distant.
Ardrossan has large sandy beaches, the South Beach, stretching to the
nearby Clyde resort of Saltcoats and North Shore, which extends from
the harbour to Seamill.

The largest town in south-west Scotland, Dumfries is known as the “Queen of
the South” for its old red sandstone buildings and spacious parks.
An important administrative centre, it also has several interesting museums
connected with Robert Burns.
The poet moved to Dumfries in 1791 and the house in which he died is now
the Burns House Museum.
Burns, his wife, and five of his children are buried in the Burns Mausoleum in
St Michael's churchyard.

Close to the village of Duns is Manderston Mansion who's first owner Sir James
Millar flouted his wealth by including in it the world's only silver staircase.
Within easy reach is Paxton House with its pillared portico and projecting wings.
Paxton House, completed in 1763, has receipts from cabinetmakers Thomas
Chippendale and William Trotter match Scotland's finest collection of 18th- and
early 19th-century furniture, still in its original position in Paxton's exquisitely
plastered interiors.
The 19th-century picture gallery is furnished in the grandest Regency manner,
and today displays paintings from the National Galleries of Scotland.

Hawick is the largest of the border towns (and also the largest town in Scotland
to be without a rail link).
The area's important textile industry began more than 200 years ago when a
stocking frame was introduced to the town. Mills were built in the 19th century,
and Hawick's knitted goods became known all over the world.
Today the shops in Hawick are well worth visiting for woollen bargains.
The story of the knitwear industry is told in Winton Lodge, the town's museum.
The history of the border struggles is traced in the museum in Drumlanrig's
Tower on the main street.

Kelso is an attractive Borders town on the River Tweed..
Its abbey is a ruined fragment, destroyed by invading English forces in 1545.
To the west is Floors Castle, sometimes described as the largest inhabited
house in Scotland, is the home of the Duke of Roxburgh.
An impressive collection of furniture and other treasures can be viewed, while
there are also attractive gardens and walks.
There is a fine view of Floors from the handsome five-arched Kelso Bridge
(1803) across the River Tweed in Kelso.
The town has a local museum, Kelso Museum and The Turret Gallery.