Kilmarnock

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AlasdairW

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

Dean Castle Country Park200 acre country park and 14th century castle.
The Dick Institute

address: London Road
Library and Museum, opened in 1901.
Burns Monument Centre

address: Kay Park
Local History & Archives
The Palace Theatre

address: Green Street
Landmark building built in 1863 and converted to a theatre in 1903.

Do

Galleon Leisure CentreTitchfield Street
Rowallan Castle Golf ClubJust 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

address: 50 Bank Street
serves a delicious meal at reasonable prices. Very nice atmosphere as well!
Mamitas

address: 37 Bank Street
serves delicious food and coffee. Great service and a very friendly atmosphere.
The Longhouse

address: 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

address: 26 Bank Street
The Hunting Lodge

address: Glencairn Square
Former winner of the Tennents "Best Pint in Scotland" competition
Bellfield Inn

address: 11 Welbeck Street, KA1 3JN
Paris Match

address: 7-9 Princes Street
Howard Arms

address: 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

address: Rugby Road
(4 Star)
Fenwick Hotel

address: Ayr Road
(3 Star)
Old Rome Farmhouse

address: Gatehead
(3 Star)

Stay safe

The police station is in the town centre on St Marnock Street.

Go next

Largs to reach Great Cumbrae island, or Ardrossan to reach Arran.
Ayr has the Robert Burns Heritage Area and Culzean Castle.