Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock is in South West Scotland and is the home of "Johnnie Walker", the world famous brand of whisky. It is also associated with the poetry of Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns as his first collection of poems -the famous "First Edition"- was printed in the town. The town's Dean Castle is the home of the "World Burns Federation". Kilmarnock is the only school in Scotland to have produced two Nobel Prize winners. Lord John Boyd Orr and Sir Alexander Fleming both attended Kilmarnock Academy. The only other school in Britain to have achieved this is Eton College.
Get in
It is around 7-8 miles away from the coastal towns of Irvine and Ayr.
Kilmarnock can be accessed via the A77 from the north and south or alternatively, the M77 from the north. The town also has a local rail station from which there are trains to Glasgow, Carlisle, Newcastle, and down the west coast past Prestwick Airport and Stranraer. Trains leave for Glasgow every 30 minutes during weekdays.
Get around
Stagecoach buses run services into most of the town's areas on a regular basis until around 11pm at night. Regular buses also run to Glasgow, Irvine, Ayr, Stewarton and various other outlying villages and towns.
See
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Dean Castle Country Park. 200 acre country park and 14th century castle.
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The Dick Institute, London Road. Museum Tue - Sat 11am - 5pm. Library and Museum, opened in 1901.
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Burns Monument Centre, Kay Park. Tuesday – Saturday 9.15am – 4.30pm. Local History & Archives
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The Palace Theatre, Green Street. Landmark building built in 1863 and converted to a theatre in 1903.
Do
- Galleon Leisure Centre. Titchfield Street
- Rowallan Castle Golf Club. Just outside Kilmarnock
- Watch football ie soccer at Kilmarnock FC. "Killie" play in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish football. Their all-seater home ground, capacity 18,000, is Rugby Park, KA1 2DP. It's half a mile south of the railway station off Dundonald Rd A759.
Buy
King street is the main shopping street and is populated with the usual mix of stores you'd expect to find in a town this size. The town is also host to several retail parks just on the edge of the town centre; Queens Drive Retail Park & Glencairn Retail Park being two of them. These retail parks contain larger versions of the usual chain stores, supermarkets and retailers.
Eat
- The First Edition, 50 Bank Street. serves a delicious meal at reasonable prices. Very nice atmosphere as well!
- Mamitas, 37 Bank Street. serves delicious food and coffee. Great service and a very friendly atmosphere.
- The Longhouse, 130 Titchfield Street.
Drink
Kilmarnock has many pubs and restaurants to choose from. Most pubs screen live football matches and serve basic pub grub until around 8pm.
- Goldberry Arms, 26 Bank Street.
- The Hunting Lodge, Glencairn Square. Former winner of the Tennents "Best Pint in Scotland" competition
- Bellfield Inn, 11 Welbeck Street, KA1 3JN.
- Paris Match, 7-9 Princes Street (just off King Street, behind Tesco).
- Howard Arms, 3 Glencairn Square. where you will get more than a pie and chips for lunch
Sleep
Kilmarnock has a wide mix of accommodation from homely B&Bs/guest houses, to high class hotels.
- The Park Hotel, Rugby Road. (4 Star)
- Fenwick Hotel, Ayr Road. (3 Star)
- Old Rome Farmhouse, Gatehead. (3 Star)
Stay safe
The police station is in the town centre on St Marnock Street.