Tour Alloway
Map of this area

Alloway is famed worldwide as the birthplace of Scotland's bard. Robert Burns (1759-96).

Burns Cottage and Museum

Roadside cottage built by William Burns is where his eldest son Robert was born on 25 January 1759. The but, ben and byre evoke the spartan living conditions of the 18C. The museum has a most extensive collection of Burns' manuscripts, letters, documents and other relics.

Tam o'Shanter Experience

This visitor centre makes a good starting point for any excursion into Burns country. A short audio-visual presentation shows the poet in the context of his life, work and travels in Ayrshire and beyond. A longer spectacle, the Tam o'Shanter Experience itself, is an almost too vivid evocation of Tam's carousing and nightmare ride. A footpath leads from the visitor centre to highly manicured gardens overlooking the 13C Brig o'Doon, to which Tam was chased by the "hellish legion" and where his poor Meg lost her tail. A tiny pavilion contains jolly 19C statues of Tam, Souter Johnnie and Nanse and here too is the imposing neo-Classical Burns Monument Beyond, on the far side of the main road, stands Alloway Kirk. where William Burns is buried and where the hapless Tam. emboldened by "bold John Barleycorn", saw an "unco Sight! Warlocks and witches in a dance".

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