Scotland Guide
Southern Scotland
Alloway
ALLOWAY, a small village being absorbed by the outskirts of Ayr, is the birthplace of Robert Burns (1759–96), Scotland's national poet. The first port of call is the Burns Cottage and Museum (daily: April– Sept 9.30am–5.30pm; Oct– March 10am–5pm; £4), the poet's birthplace, a low, whitewashed, thatched cottage where animals and people lived under the same roof. Although much altered over the years, it nevertheless gives a good impression of what the place must have been like when Burns was born in the box bed in the only room in the house. The nearby two-room museum boasts all sorts of Burnsiana.
Ten minutes' walk down the road from the cottage are the plain, roofless ruins of Alloway Kirk, where Robert's father William is buried, and where Burns set much of Tam o' Shanter. Down the road from the church, the Brig o' Doon, the picturesque thirteenth-century humpback bridge over which Tam is forced to flee for his life, still stands, curving gracefully over the river. High above the river and bridge, towers the Burns Monument (daily: April– Sept 9am–5pm; Oct– March 10am–4pm; free), a striking Neoclassical temple in a small, carefully manicured garden. To enter the garden, you need to approach via the nearby Tam o' Shanter Experience (daily: April– Sept 10am–5.30pm; Oct– March 10am–5pm; £2), on the opposite side of the road from Alloway Kirk. Don't bother with the "Experience" itself, however, as its low-budget audiovisual presentation of Tam o' Shanter fails to do justice to Burns' poem.