Kaz_76

Hi there!

I really must go to bed too, am marking exams zzzzz

Thanks for your post, very kind of you.

I actually noticed yday or the other day you mentioned living there but there is another hitcher on Flickr who messaged me about H'burgh as she also loves there and didn't want to make a prat of myself in case you were the same person! Even though your names are totally different, I just thought it was strange to be 2 hitchers from there when it seems to be a small place!

I've found out there is a zoo close by and also a children's soft play within distance...I'm now doubting the zoo, did I make that up?!

We are spending the weekend in the area as my whole family are going to scatter my late grandpa's ashes there as he was from Glasgow but used to go there a lot and loved the place

After much searching for hotels (seemingly non-existant apart from De Vere's Cameron House (out of budget), I found lots of B&Bs but finally found a cheap hotel in H'burgh and figured there might be more to do there for the 3 days than somewhere a bit more remote.

I'm open to all suggestions you might have - anything goes really. Not seriously in to walking - ie I don't have boots etc but I don't mind a good walk but no hiking! I like art, photography, local sites of interest, markets, restaurants but must be baby-friendly (11 month old) - more likely to go at tea-time, nothing too fancy or expensive and particularly like Tapas style places. Love good coffee and quite partial to cake!

Also like farms and be would be good to know scenic picnic areas, boats rides...

Is that enough to go on? hehe

Thanks!

oh, and swimming - but I think there is a public pool/leisure centre in H'burgh?

*bump*

Hello! Sorry, I came to reply on a few occasions today, but Charlotte has been clingy and so I've abandoned my reply each time.

I'm not the Hitcher on Flickr who you're thinking of (although I am on there!) - there are 4 Hitchers in Helensburgh who I know and it is a fairly small place, as you say!

The Zoo...there's not a zoo close by (I believe the closest proper zoo is Edinburgh Zoo), but there is Blair Drummond Safari Park (www.blairdrummond.com) which is about 40 minutes drive from Helensburgh. It's good for children, there is a large play area in a huge sandpit near the cafe, which is good entertainment whilst the adults are eating! You can also take your own food to BBQ in their BBQ areas.

There are a few children's soft play areas around, the closest one is called Gogglebox and is in Helensburgh itself. It is fairly good (we usually end up there at least one a week as it rains so much!), they do some nice food and it's relatively cheap (£2.50 per child over 1, free for under 1's). It's not as good as some of the bigger ones (Sox and Slides- Milton, Kidzworld - Alexandria) but it is handy to have on our doorstep.

There is a pool in Helensburgh too, it has a main pool and a baby pool, which is heated. We go each week and it's fine, sometimes not the cleanest, but not dirty iykwim.

Are you staying at the Commodore? It's probably the biggest hotel in town, it was refurbished within the last 2 years and I've known a few people who have stayed there and have had no complaints. We go there quite often for food, it's a chain.

There are some really lovely places around Helensburgh, I could go on for ages, but I'll list the places that I think are really worth a visit!

Luss (https://loch-lomond.net/villages/luss/luss.html) - this is a really lovely village on the west banks of Loch Lomond. It has a really nice cafe, the Coach House Coffee Shop that does fab lunches, has high chairs and a very good baby changing room. They will give you hot water to heat baby milk/food. Luss is nice for picnics on the beach and has some nice walks. It's too small for a whole day trip, but it's definitely worth a visit.

Loch Lomond Shores/Balloch (https://lochlomondshores.com/) - this is a tourist spot, but it's not tacky. It was developed in the last 5 years (can't remember when exactly!) and has some shops (Jenners is worth visiting), cafes, a visitor centre, lovely walks to Balloch and a Sea Life Centre. The Sea Life Centre is good, but much smaller than some of them in the chain - it's nice for the children though. Loch Lomond Shores is right near a village called Balloch, which is lovely. It's just at the bottom of Loch Lomond, where it goes into the River Leven and has a few pubs, shops and a really nice country park around Balloch Castle - this is definitely worth visiting. The Balloch House Hotel is a sister of the Commodore in Helensburgh and is family friendly - highchairs and baby changing which are all fine.

Aberfoyle - there is a visitor centre here, called the David Marshall Lodge - just above the town of Aberfoyle. This is also family friendly - they have a nice cafe (Bluebell) and it's worth visiting here for the walks - the waterfall is fab.

Right, I'm just off to put madam to bed and will be back with some more soon...don't want to leave it open as my computer keeps crashing so will post and be back in 10!

x

Hi Kat/ Kaz

I'm the Flickr nutter (Kat - have you stopped posting?) and strangely enough I was about to Flickrmail you!

Community farm in Dumbarton: http://www.knowetopcommunityfarm.co.uk/home.html (not sure if it's still going, but it appears to be)

There is also a local farm shop with a fab cafe and woodland walk: https://ardardan.co.uk/

Googlebox is the soft play centre - pretty good and fab coffee!

As Kat says, the pool is not the most modern but is clean. there is a bigger one in Clydebank although it does get a bit rowdy

There are some lovely and gentle walks - Duchess Woods, the skating pond (great for ducks, but not skating...) and my fave - Ardmore Point (check my Flick page for pics)

If you're looking for boat trips, there is the Waverley https://waverleyexcursions.co.uk/, or a cheaper option is the wee ferry that goes to Gourock http://spt.co.uk/ferry/kilcreggan.html From there, it's a few minutes on the train into Greenock which has a big leisure centre (just check the ferry times back and don't get stranded like my numpty son...)

There are also lots of lovely Gardens to visit - Geilston in Cardross, Glenarn in Rhu and Linn near Garelochhead

If I think of anything else I'll mail you. I am still putting together some photos for my friend, so when I've organised them I'll give you a shout. Off to iron school shirts now. Apologies if I haven't set up the hyperlinks properly, my brain is fried!

Jeannie xx

Oh wow, this is awesome!

Thanks both of you.

Wow, perhaps we shoud stay a whole week?? Yes, that's the hotel

Ok, am back!

Another place worth visiting is Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - we've been there with Charlotte and they've always been child-friendly, they have baby changing etc. https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums?venueid=4. If you're in Glasgow, Pollock House and the park are great too, http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Parks_Outdoors/Parks_gardens/pollokcountrypark.htm.

If you have time, the shopping in Glasgow is excellent. The west end is great, lots and lots of good places to eat, plus the city centre has all the usual shops. Braehead is the closest decent shopping centre to Helensburgh www.braehead.co.uk, it's not huge but it's indoors and can use some time on a rainy day. It's about 40 minutes drive from H'burgh.

The Science Centre https://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org/ is fab - we've been going regularly since C was a few months and once she was cruising and crawling she was enjoying it even more! It's very family-oriented.

If you fancy travelling a bit further afield, Oban is nice, as is Fort William, Callander and Stirling. The latter has a lot of history and is a good day out.

Ok, almost there!

Farms: Ardardan https://ardardan.co.uk/ is lovely, not huge, but you can while a couple of hours away, including a visit for some gorgeous food and cake! I'd give Knowetop Community Farm in Dumbarton a miss, it always seems a bit dirty to me and it's small.

Picnic Areas: Luss is fab for picnics. Helensburgh sea front is nice, if you take a blanket, you could picnic there - the ice cream from Dino's is worth trying mm! Firkin Point, up the loch a bit from Luss is another nice picnic area. There's more along the eastern side of the Loch - Balmaha, Rowardennan etc.

Boat rides: Sweeney's in Balloch do boat rides on the loch http://www.sweeney.uk.com/, we use them with work and they've always been good. http://www.cruiselochlomondltd.com/groups.htm here is meant to be fine too.

I think I've reached the end.. if you're still awake! I'm sure I'll think of more that I've not said, but there's lots of ideas here. I'm going swimming tomorrow and there's an information centre next to the pool - I'd be happy to raid their leaflets and send them to you if you like. We've got a huge box file full of leaflets for when we have visitors. If you do, send me an email.

xx

Jeannie - hello!! I hadn't read your message before I posted my second one so I've just repeated some of what you said ?. I stopped HPADing, I got bogged down at work and with some things going on at home and I've just not got back into it. I enjoyed what I did and it was becoming a chore, so I decided to stop. How are you? Whenever I see anyone (female!) with a camera in town, I wonder if it is you.

xx

Wow! thanks again. Am seriously considering staying longer now as will be our only holiday this year.

Fab!

Hello yourself!

If you see a wee woman accompanied by a very tall bored looking man then it's me! We should meet up at some point to stop so that we both stop staring at strangers...The comments about Loch Lomond were spot on - we were at Firkin Point yesterday and it was so lovely, although the water was freezing (Kaz, it was my PAD for yesterday). Interesting about Knowtop - I think the last time I was there was 10 years ago, so I'd trust Kat's judgement on this (my baby activity knowledge is sadly very out of date!).