Traquair – A Maze, a Playground and Lunch with the Dog
A few hours.
The route
Traquair, which calls itself Scotland's oldest inhabited house, stands in the Tweed valley by Innerleithen with over 100 acres of woods and lawns round it.
Children get a beech maze, an adventure playground and goats, pigs and peacocks to find, and dogs on leads are welcome all over the grounds and in the café. It's a gentle family day the dog can share from start to finish.
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 The Scullery in Yarrow, 6 miles away. Sleeps 2; next free Fri 13 Nov to Sun 15 Nov.
The day
Traquair
A maze to get lost in, a playground and animals to find, and lunch in the walled garden with the dog at your feet.
About four hours
Traquair House
An attraction
Traquair is signed in brown from Innerleithen, across the Tweed. Follow the signs to the main entrance gate, as some sat navs send cars to the exit gate instead. Grounds tickets are £6 for adults and £5 for children aged 5 to 13 at the time of writing, bought online or at the pay hut, and a family season pass is £28. Dogs are welcome all over the grounds on a lead, but not in the house or the courtyard, so this is a day outdoors. In October the grounds open from 11am to 4pm every day but Friday, and in November from 11am to 3pm at weekends only; they shut from December to March. On event days, such as the Halloween Fun Day on Sunday 25 October, event tickets take the place of grounds tickets. Start at the maze behind the house, planted in beech, where there are no dead ends but four small centres to find before the middle, and parents can call directions from the terrace wall. Close by are a mini adventure playground with equipment for all ages, a toddlers' play area, swings, a play house and willow tunnels, and about the grounds are peacocks, ducks, pygmy goats and kunekune pigs. From 10 to 30 October the Great Traquair Picture Trail runs through the woods. The drives are tarmac and most of the rest is mown grass, and the toilet block by the café has an accessible toilet.
The Old Walled Garden Café
Lunch
Lunch is in the Old Walled Garden Café, a short walk from the house, and your grounds ticket is what lets you in. It opens 11am to 4pm, shut on Fridays, with lunch from noon to 3.30pm: sourdough toasties, soup, Cullen skink and pulled pork in Traquair ale, with pancakes in a children's portion. Dogs are welcome inside, and it's all on one level, with ramps to the patio. If it's full, the Traquair Arms on Traquair Road in Innerleithen, which says it is dog friendly, serves lunch from noon.
If it rains
Apart from the café, the house is the only part under a roof, and dogs can't go in, so on a wet day keep to the café and a short turn round the maze and the playground.
Where to stay
Photographs by Traquair House and C J via Google