Arran – Soft Play at Auchrannie and Lamlash Sea Life
A day.
The route
Arran has a day for small children that works whatever the weather does.
The Playbarn at Auchrannie, just outside Brodick, is three tiers of soft play with a toddler corner, and lunch is a few steps away in the resort's brasserie. Down the coast in Lamlash, the free COAST Discovery Centre has a tank of the sea creatures that live in the bay. It suits families with babies and children under eight.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Tables at Cruize Bar Brasserie can be booked through the Auchrannie Resort's website or on 01770 302234.
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The day
Brodick
A morning climbing, sliding and tumbling in the Playbarn, lunch with a children's menu next door, then a tank of Arran's sea creatures by Lamlash Bay in the afternoon.
About five hours
The Playbarn at Auchrannie
The Playbarn is at the Auchrannie Resort on Auchrannie Road, on the edge of Brodick, and non-residents are welcome. It's three tiers of indoor soft play, with a toddler's area for the littlest and an outdoor play area and picnic tables for dry days. It opens from 10am to 6pm at weekends, and on weekdays from 10am to noon and from 3pm to 6pm, so come in the morning. Ring the resort on 01770 302234 for prices before you go, and ask about the way in with a buggy too. The resort has accessible toilets and changing throughout, and The Trough in the Playbarn sells snacks and drinks.
Cruize Bar Brasserie
Lunch
Lunch is at Cruize Bar Brasserie, a minute or two away across the resort, which serves food every day from 7.30am to 9.30pm. Its menu runs from light lunches to hearty classics, and there's a children's menu, a mini soft play corner for the little ones and arcade games for older children. Tables can be booked through the resort's website. It's said to be step-free; ring 01770 302234 to check. If it's full, Brambles Seafood Grill in the resort serves food for the same hours, with a children's menu too.
11 min by car
COAST Discovery Centre
An attraction
Drive about 11 minutes south to the COAST Discovery Centre, in the Old Pavilion on Lamlash's shore road; it has no car park of its own, but there's public parking nearby in the village. It's open every day from 10am to 4pm, and it's free, with a donation welcome, as the charity COAST runs it. Children can peer into a tank of sea creatures from Arran's own waters, and the counter does hot drinks and Arran ice cream. You go in through the roadside gate next to the Coastguard entrance and up a ramp, and there's a fully accessible toilet. In winter, ring 01770 600656 before going.
If it rains
All three are under a roof but for the outdoor play area at the Playbarn.
Make it a weekend
More days out on Arran.
Photographs by Phil MacDonald and Michael Gunn via Google