Pollock Country Park

Without a doubt, a common theme of our traveling with kids is to find the nearest park and let them loose to just burn off the extra energy so we can survive the time on the roads. Since we rarely drive anywhere, neither child is used to sitting in a car for long stretches, so long road trips are out of the question these days. Fortunately for us, Britain is blessed with some incredible parks and green spaces.

Pollock Country Park is the largest park in Glasgow, and its extensive grounds have plenty to do for a day out. The house itself is lovely, but I wouldn’t recommend it for younger kids, just because it’s very much adult oriented. The library is stunning though. We breezed through the house pretty quickly and let the kids roam through the gardens for hours afterwards.

In the lower level of the house is a lovely shop and cafe, which you can access without paying to see the rest of the house. The cafe is housed in the old kitchen and it’s straight out of Downton Abbey. I mean, those copper pans are heavenly!

The gardens are beautiful year round. The ornately trimmed hedges are a perfect toddler maze. I think G comes here only for the hedges. ;) In early spring, each interior section of the hedge had a different colored flower in them. Really amazing eye for detail in these gardens!

We came just after the stunning season of rhododendrons had passed this year. I can only image the bursts of color though! Outside of the walled garden, there is another section of the garden that is more wild and mostly a variety of various non-flowering plants and some little ponds and trails circling around. There is also a garden specially for fruit and veggie production!

We’re still working on teaching the toddler how to pose. But isn’t that pretty wall of purple blooms?

Greenhouse goals.

There’s a fold of Highland cattle on the estate and I made everyone go for a nice long trek just to find them. I really love Highland cattle.

Best of all though, there is a fairy garden behind the regular garden. This was a perfect little spot for my toddler to run around, and knock on doors and windows to see if the fairies would come out. Again, there were so many little bits of detail that made this really special!

Pollock Country Park is a wonderful place to spend the day. Admission is free, although it does cost to see the house. It’s a great place for both adults and kids to enjoy the outdoors!