Burns Monument Gardens – Yews, Roses and the Brig o' Doon
A few hours.
The route
The Burns Monument stands in its own small garden above the River Doon in Alloway, a Grecian temple of columns among clipped yews, flower beds and benches, looking down on the old humpbacked Brig o' Doon.
The gardens are free and only a few minutes' walk from a free car park, and afternoon tea is served right at the garden gate, in the Brig o' Doon House, with a view of the bridge.
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 Talli House, 23 miles away. Sleeps 4; next free Fri 30 Oct to Sun 1 Nov.
Book Tales at the Brig o' Doon House
Book afternoon tea at Tales in the Brig o' Doon House by phone on 01292 442466, for about 2.30pm after the gardens: it's served every day from 2.30pm to 4.45pm, and the price is given when you book.
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The day
Alloway
An unhurried afternoon in Alloway, with very little walking. An hour among the flower beds and the yews round the Burns Monument, a look at the old bridge below, then afternoon tea a minute from the garden gate.
About two and a half hoursAbout 0.5 miles on foot
Burns Monument
An attraction
In Alloway, park in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum's free car park on Murdoch's Lone, which has Blue Badge spaces and toilets in the museum beside it. From there it's 4 minutes' walk down to the gardens of the Burns Monument, built between 1820 and 1823 as a Grecian temple of nine columns on a three-sided base. The gardens are free and open every day, with the gates shut at 4pm, so come after lunch and give them an hour. Gravel paths wind between clipped yews, lawns, flower beds and benches, with a rose bed inspired by A Red, Red Rose, and the little Statue House holds carved figures of Souter Johnnie and Nance Tinnock from Burns's poems. There are steps and slopes between the terraces, so take the paths slowly. From the lower garden you look straight down on the Brig o' Doon, the old cobbled bridge where, in Burns's poem, Tam o' Shanter's mare lost her tail.
3 min on foot
Tales at the Brig o' Doon House
Afternoon tea
Leave by the lower gate for afternoon tea at Tales in the Brig o' Doon House, a minute away, in a restaurant looking onto the bridge and the gardens. It's served every day from 2.30pm to 4.45pm, with homemade savouries and sweet things. Book it by phone on 01292 442466, and ask the price then. It has a step-free entrance and accessible toilets. Afterwards it's 3 minutes' walk back up to the car.
If it rains
In rain, keep the gardens short and shelter in the little Statue House, then go straight to Tales: afternoon tea is indoors, with the view of the bridge from the window.
The Coo Shed, a restaurant in Ayr.