Alloway is located just 3 kilometres south of Ayr, and 63 kilometres south of Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland in the Region of Strathclyde. It is a small village that stands on the River Doon, made famous by Scotland’s national bard, Robbie Burns and the Burns National Heritage Park.
Alloway is recorded principally as the birthplace, and home for the first 7 years of his life, of Robert Burns. He was born on 25th January, 1759 in a thatched, whitewashed gardener’s cottage. The adjoining cottage is now the Burn’s Museum, and holds many relics, letters and manuscripts. It is here that the Burn’s Heritage Trail begins. The ‘Land of Burns Centre’ is also in the village and holds more information about the poet’s life and times. The Burns Monument is nearby. Dating from 1823, it is in the classical style thought appropriate in the 19th century. Burns took a lot of his inspiration from the Ayrshire countryside and many of the places mentioned in his poems may be visited. Brig O’Doon, the single arched bridge over the River Doon, and the ruined Auld Kirk, which are both mentioned in ‘Tam O’Shanter’ are but two. Apart from the Burns interest, Alloway is a good centre for exploring this part of Scotland.
Other places of interest within 30 kilometres:
Ayr, the main town in the area is an attractive resort with excellent beaches and many connections with Burns. A Burns museum is housed in the ‘Tam O’Shanter Inn’ in the High Street and nearby is the ‘Auld Kirk’ where he was baptised.
Culzean Castle, is one of the best Adam houses in Scotland. Built in 1777 for the 10th Earl of Cassillis in mock-gothic style, it overlooks the Firth of Clyde.
Irvine, a Royal Burgh and home to the Burns Club. The Club was founded in 1826 and is now a museum.
The Bachelor’s club at Mauchline, a 17th century thatched cottage in which the poet and his friends founded a literary and debating society, is now a museum in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.
Kirkoswald, the village where the cobbler Souther Johnnie, a burn’s character, lived. His thatched cottage is another burns museum containing contemporary tools of the cobblers’ trade and is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.
Did you know that – Kilmarnock, within the Burn’s Heritage Trail, was home to Johnnie Walker, a grocer, who started to blend whisky in 1820, and his empire grew into the largest whisky bottling concern in the world.
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