Families love Lanarkshire. Within easy reach of Glasgow and Edinburgh Lanarkshire is a great place to visit with attractions, activities and country parks which will appeal to all the family.

NORTH LANARKSHIRE
Once Scotland's industrial powerhouse, North Lanarkshire's heavy industries are now consigned to history and the area boasts a range of attractions and activity centres well worth exploring. 

At Summerlee Heritage Park in Coatbridge, eight miles east of Glasgow, you can go down a coal mine, ride on a tram or go inside a reconstructed miners cottage. It also has a hall of working machinery, which clanks and turns all day. 

More of the area's history can be discovered at Motherwell Heritage Centre, which tells the story of North Lanarkshire. The centre's use of hands-on technology, with talking figures, recreated streets and foundry scenes really brings the industrial hey-day of the area to life.

The Forth and Clyde Canal - the region's main transport artery during the Industrial Revolution - has recently been re-opened to small vessels and you can book day-trips in a covered and heated passenger cruiser, the MV 'Voyager'.

If your preference is for enjoying the fresh air, you can choose from a number of parks and estates to explore. The largest in the area is Strathclyde Park which offers a range of land- and water-based activities together with plenty of scenic walks. It's also home to M&D's theme park, a huge fairground with indoor and outdoor rides and games for the whole family, not to mention the worlds first spinning roller coaster!

SOUTH LANARKSHIRE
South Lanarkshire is a rich mixture of urban and rural, stretching from Glasgows suburbs south to the open moorland of the Leadhills, via one of Scotlands best-kept secrets, the lush Clyde Valley.
This is an area steeped in history and many of the towns in the regions have a range of excellent attractions allowing you to explore their past. The jewel in South Lanarkshires historical crown is undoubtedly New Lanark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This 18th-century cotton mill village first built by pioneering social reformer Robert Owen, has been beautifully restored and features an award-winning visitor centre whose interactive displays and rides really brings history to life.

Other popular historical attractions include the Bothwell Castle, Scotlands finest 13th-century fortification, Museum of Scottish Country Life at Kittochside, near to the new town of East Kilbride, Hamiltons Chatelherault Country Park which has as its centrepiece the magnificent early 18th-century hunting lodge of the Dukes of Hamilton, and the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Steam Railway where visitors can ride on the narrow gauge trains. In fact, the old market town of Biggar is known as Scotlands Museum Town, boasting as it does no fewer than seven rather unusual museums.

Unlike the northern part of the old county of Lanarkshire, the south was never industrialised and the area is liberally dotted with scenic walks and nature trails amidst some of the most dramatic scenery in Lowland Scotland.

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