Just a little over an hour’s drive from Glasgow is the magnificent Culzean Castle sitting on the edge of Ayrshire, with glimpses of Arran in the distance.

At Easter time, I enjoy visiting the castle as it’s usually a gloriously sunny day and the castle is one place where no matter how busy it seems to get, you can always find a quiet spot to have a picnic in peace.

The castle and country park are run by the National Trust for Scotland, I bought a joint adult membership for £8.50 a month which meant we got into the castle and park for free and we got to beat the queue!

Culzean Castle and the park surrounding it are huge. There are 600 acres of it to explore and lots of lovely walks to do with good paths (no muddy shoes!). There’s a caravan site, a hotel, a few coffee shops, a gift shop, a second-hand bookshop, a swan pond, a walled garden, orangery, and play parks. There’s also a beach! There’s so much to see that this is my third visit and I still haven’t seen it all. We ate our picnic sitting on a bench overlooking the main entrance to the castle, it was lovely to just bask in the sun.

The castle has a huge collection of military weapons. David Kennedy, 10th Earl of Cassillis hired an architect to build a grand castle that would impress. American President Eisenhower visited the castle and as a thank you, he was offered part of the castle. Today, people can have weddings at the castle and stay in the rooms Eisenhower and his guests would have used – oooh!

There are different walks you can go on, it has taken me quite a few trips to Culzean to have ticked it all off.