AYR

 

 AYR, the centre of the Burns country, is an attractive resort, seaport and industrial Royal Burgh. It has a fine sandy beach, and boat excursions to Arran, the largest of the islands of the Firth of Clyde, are popular with visitors. This is a major center and resort town on the Clyde coast. Formerly an important resort town for traditional beach vacations, Ayr has plenty of pubs and restaurants as well as evening entertainment, including the town's own theater company. The town center offers quite a good choice of stores, with many of the main streets traffic-free. The Kyle Centre is the main covered shopping mall.

Everyone who comes to Ayr inevitably follows the signs for Burns Cottage and Museum, the birthplace of Scotland's national bard. The presentation is of very high quality, with headphones giving individual commentary within the dark little cottage, authentically restored, while the adjacent museum, with its unique  artifacts and papers, gives an insight into the hardships of Burns' early farming career. It is also a center of the Burns Trail and Burns industry.

DUNBAR

 The little  east-coast town of Dunbar boasts Scotland's best sunshine records - as long as the haar (sea mist) stays offshore. A small resort that grew from a port, evidence of its early prosperity can be seen in elegant, handsome Georgian town houses. Dunbar was also a strategic place of defense, overlooking the main coastal route to Edinburgh. The shattered fragments of the town's castle - now home to nesting kittiwakes - still perch above the harbor. With a plenty of atmosphere and historic places of interest, Dunbar also makes a good excursion from Edinburgh, taking in North Berwick, another attractive little coastal resort, along the way.

 The East Beach, off Town Centre, Dunbar

 

A slightly faded but still attractive resort with some fine Georgian architecture, Dunbar shows its layers of history in its fragmentary castle, its two harbors (the first associated with Oliver Cromwell) and its handsome 17th-century town house with steeple.

MELROSE

 Though not a large place, Melrose packs a lot of interest and has a great choice of eating places and accommodations as a bonus. Its most conspicuous feature is its handsome abbey, originally founded in 1136. Amid the ruins, some lavish ornamentation still survives: carved into the walls are fruit and foliage and numerous little figures, even a pig playing the bagpipes high on the walls. It is worth taking the time to have a look around. Melrose Motor Museum and Priorwood Gardens, next door to the abbey, are two other attractions.

VIEW FROM THE EAST * THE SQUARE

GENERAL VIEW * LOWOOD BRIDGE AND RIVER TWEED

The town is overlooked by the three-peaked silhouette of the Eildon Hills. This distinctive landmark was chosen by the Romans as a navigating aid. In the surrounding countryside are other features well worth including on any tour.