New Lanark – A Ride, Soft Play and the Clearburn Play Park
A few hours.
The route
New Lanark is an 18th-century mill village in the gorge of the Clyde below Lanark, and it's a lovely place for a family morning, wet or dry.
Children ride through the village's story in little moving pods, see the school of Robert Owen, who ran the mills, and burn off energy in the soft play or the Clearburn play area. Inside, the mills have ramps and lifts, and the café is part of the visit.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
New Lanark
A morning in the mill village, from the ride and the school to the soft play, with lunch at the Mill Café in Mill 3.
About four hoursAbout 1 mile on foot
New Lanark
Park in New Lanark's main visitor car park at the top of the hill, following the brown signs, or ML11 9BY for a satnav. It's £3 for the day at the time of writing, and coins are safest, as card and app payments can fail where the phone signal is weak. It's a 5 to 10 minute walk down the footpath into the village, and from Friday to Monday a shuttle bus runs down from the car park between 10am and 4.15pm. Anyone who'd struggle on the path can be dropped off in the village: ring 01555 661345 first. The visitor centre, the Mill Café and the shop open every day from 10am to 5pm. The New Lanark Experience ticket covers the Annie McLeod ride in its little moving pods, Robert Owen's School for Children and the millworkers' houses. It's £15.50 for adults and £7.50 for children aged 3 to 16 at the time of writing, under-3s free, or £39 for two adults and two children. The indoor soft play, for children up to eight, opens daily from 10am to 4.30pm at £4.50 a child. Up a footpath from the top of the village, above Caithness Row, the Clearburn picnic and play area has an adventure play park, a willow storytelling dome and a tree house. Inside, the mills are linked by ramps and lifts; outside, the village sits in a steep-sided valley. Lunch is at the Mill Café in Mill 3, reached by a ramp. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.
If it rains
The ride, the school, the mills, the soft play and the café are all indoors; only the walk down from the car park and the play area are out in it.
Duke’s Deli, a restaurant in Lanark.
Photograph by alastair brown via Google