Accompanying Persons Programme

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A number of guided tours and coach trips for accompanying persons can be arranged, in addition to the excursions on the afternoon of the mid-conference break.  Details of these will be sent to all registering Accompanying Persons.

With award winning museums, fabulous shopping and restaurants that allow you to eat in a different country every night, Glasgow has become the number one tourist destination in Scotland. Here you will find a mixture of the Great Indoors and the Great Outdoors to suit every taste. Live theatre, a packed concert programme, international sporting events, pop festivals, arts festivals, shopping festivals - from international designer houses to souvenir shops.

In order to allow you to orientate to the city, we recommend that you take the open-top tour bus that visits all the main sites of interest. This hop-on-hop-off bus passes the conference venue every 20 minutes, so is most convenient.

In addition, the historic cities of Edinburgh and Stirling are easily accessible.

Possible Tours

Architectural / Cultural Tour of Glasgow (full day tour)
Glasgow Cathedral built in 1283. The only Scottish Cathedral to survive the Reformation.
St. Vincent Street Church, a mid 19^th Century Temple by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson said to be one of the 100 most endangered buildings in the world.
House for an Art Lover, designed in 1901 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald for a design competition and recreated in Bellahouston Park 96 years later.
Gallery of Modern Art recently housed in a restored early 19^th Century classical building.
Princes Square, one of Glasgow's best examples of city centre regeneration, and a hub for speciality shopping.

Ayrshire and Burns Country (full day tour)
The journey passes through the golfing town of Troon with views of the championship links course. At the small village of Alloway the tour will visit Robert Burns cottage, where the famous poet was born in 1759. There will also be an opportunity to visit the Burns National Heritage Park which explains the life and times of Burns. After lunch the tour travels southwards to Culzean Castle, the ancestral home of the Kennedy family. The castle was built between 1772 and 1792 by Robert Adam and stands within a substantial country park.

Loch Lomond (half day tour)
From Glasgow the tour travels along the banks of the River Clyde to Helensburgh and then by way of the Gare Loch to Arrochar and on to Tarbet at Loch Lomond. A cruise on the Loch,in the shadow of Ben Lomond with coffee and shortbread takes place before the final drive back along the banks of the Loch, with magnificent views to the islands.

Oban and the West Highlands (full day tour)
Ferry from Gourock to Dunoon and then across the Cowal peninsula to Inverary, home of the Dukes of Argyll (Clan Campbell) with their fine castle and old town jail. Through Lochgilphead to Kilmartin with its sights from pre-history, before stopping at Oban for lunch. Return via Loch Awe (and a short visit to St. Conans Kirk) and the bonny banks of Loch Lomond.