Bothwell Castle – A Walk over the Clyde from Blantyre
About 2.4 miles on foot.
Bothwell Castle's red sandstone walls stand high above a bend of the Clyde, just across the river from Blantyre.
This walk starts at the David Livingstone Birthplace, crosses the Clyde on a footbridge to the castle, and comes back for lunch at Livingstone's Café.
- The path
- The castle has a level path of about 160 metres from its own car park, a step-free ticket office and shop, and a paved path along two sides of the courtyard; the towers and hall are up stairs. The Birthplace has level paths from its car park to the café, shop and museum, with a lift in the museum.
- Where to start
- The free car park at the David Livingstone Birthplace, at the end of Station Road in Blantyre, open 24 hours. The castle has its own small car park at the end of Castle Avenue, about 160 metres from the entrance.
- When to go
- Any day the castle is open, with lunch to follow.
- Dogs
- Dogs are welcome in the castle's outdoor areas and the Birthplace's grounds, and on a lead inside the café and shop; only assistance dogs go into the roofed parts of the castle, and guide dogs into the museum.
- Toilets
- Toilets and baby changing at the Birthplace, in the pavilion by the shop and at the museum entrance.
The walk
The walk starts at the David Livingstone Birthplace, at the end of Station Road in Blantyre. Beside the museum, a footbridge crosses the Clyde, and the way leads on to the castle, about 1.9 km each way. Bothwell Castle was built in the 1200s, and its great round tower is almost 20 metres across, with walls more than four and a half metres thick.
England's King Edward took it in 1301, after hauling a huge siege tower all the way from Glasgow. While conservation work goes on, the great tower, the south-east tower and the great hall are closed, but the grassy courtyard, the walls and the grounds are open. Back over the bridge, Livingstone's Café, in the pavilion beside the Birthplace's shop, does breakfasts, brunches, light lunches and cakes, and is open daily until 4pm, with hot food until 3pm.
The museum, in the mill tenement where Livingstone was born in 1813, opens daily from 10am to 4.30pm, with last admission at 3.30pm.
If it rains
Most of the walk and the castle are out of doors. On a wet day, keep the castle short and spend longer in the Birthplace's museum, which is all under a roof, before lunch in the café.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is Crossbasket Castle, 2 miles away.
Make it a weekend
More days out near Glasgow.
For further reading, before you go.