R&A World Golf Museum – Old Clubs, The Open and Lunch
A few hours, from St Andrews bus station and back.
The route
The R&A World Golf Museum sits opposite the famous clubhouse at the foot of The Scores, and you don't need to play golf to enjoy it.
Its galleries cover more than 400 years of the game, from some of the oldest clubs ever made to the champions of The Open, and there's a putting green where you can dress up and try your luck. Lunch is a short walk back into town at Forgan's, in the old works where Robert Forgan's firm made golf clubs. It's a good morning out on a wet day.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book tickets for the R&A World Golf Museum
Book museum tickets online for the exact day you visit, before you set off, and check that day's opening times on the museum's website; the museum asks visitors to buy in advance.
Book a table on Forgan's website for about noon.
The day
St Andrews
A morning on foot in the town and mostly under a roof: the story of golf by the Old Course first, then a short walk back into the old streets for a warm lunch.
About three hours
The R&A World Golf Museum
An attraction
It's a 7-minute walk from the bus station down to Bruce Embankment and the museum, which faces the R&A clubhouse across the road. Buy your tickets online for the day you want, and check the day's opening times before you go. Inside, galleries take you through more than 400 years of the game, with over 100 historic clubs on show, golf's changing fashions and the story of The Open. Children have a Learning Room to play in, and anyone can dress up and hole a putt on the museum's own green. Allow an hour or two.
11 min on foot
Forgan's
Lunch
From the museum it's an 11-minute walk back up into town to Forgan's on Market Street, in the old cleek factory where Robert Forgan's firm once made golf clubs. It serves from 11.30am every day, until 10.30pm Sunday to Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday. Book a table online for about noon. If it's full, the Seafood Ristorante on Bruce Embankment, beside the museum, serves lunch from Thursday to Saturday. From Forgan's it's 5 minutes back to the bus station.
If it rains
All of it is under a roof except the 7-minute walk down from the bus station and the 11 minutes back up to Forgan's, so it's a good one for a wet morning.
Photographs by Dick Kruse and Forgan's St Andrews via Google