So, this is another fond memory from our last year in Europe. In our last school holidays in the Netherlands, we took a trip over to Scotland to visit a family member who was living in Glasgow. We ended up staying in a pretty nice part of Glasgow in an AirBNB and had a really great time exploring Gasgow and also a day in Scotland.
When you are travelling with children though, you have to find things to do that are also interesting for them... and not mind-numbingly boring for the parents. Plus, it should be ideally something that is unique and important to the places that you are visiting... otherwise, you may as well just stay at home! It is a tricky combination of interests and demands to balance... but after a while, you start to get the hang of it. Of course, there are going to be relaxing days as well where you just head out to a park and do something a little bit low key.
The Riverside Museum is a transport museum that was a short walk from where we were staying. Well, short walk for adults... and endless winding path of torture and whining for the kids.. punctuated by little break stops of bribes (the food kind, not the money kind...) to keep them moving just that little bit further!
Of course, once you get to where you are going... they love it. But the act of getting there is... tedious.
What you first notice upon arriving on the Riverside Museum site is the quite iconic and unique design of the building.
I should also mention that it is a little bit out of the way compared to other tourist sites, it is sticking out on the end of a little piece of land into the River Clyde... so, expect to walk a little bit or drive to get there. We preferred the walk.... after all, we were going to see more than a few cars and vehicles inside!
Every kids museum will have a dinosaur... I'm not entirely sure why, but they seem to be everywhere. I should look up my Scottish history, I'm pretty sure that World War 2 was won when the Scots entered the war on the Allied side, riding T-Rexes that chomped down on the flimsy steel of the Axis tanks whilst flying Pterodactyls flew wings around the cumbersome Messerschmitt fighter planes. Pretty sure that that is how it happened... anyway, it is now written on the internet... and so it must be true!
The Riverside Museum is a strange sort of place... it is nominally devoted to transport, cars, motorbikes, and that sort of thing... but there are also interesting little forays into other bits of the recent past that existed alongside the motor vehicles. It is a nice way of providing some context, and giving a touch more interest to those who aren't completely obsessed by wheeled and railed transport.
Our younger daughter loves cars and trains... but our older daughter is much less keen on that sort of thing. So, to have the balance was really quite useful!
I'm afraid that this is going to be another photo heavy taster of the museum, as I'm not going to go through and talk about every single photo. I will just let the shots speak for the experience itself.
What I will say is that we all enjoyed the little walk through time. from the beginnings of the first motorised transports (exactly like horse drawn cars, but just without the horses!) through to the modern age (there is even a Tesla there!).... and everything in-between (there were some pretty cool cars from the hippy era, all decked out in their unique paint schemes!).
Also, quite a few strange experimental machines as well... after all, those early days were still days of getting used to a new technology, and no one had any idea of how to make a car!
So, definitely a great place for families to visit! As you will see from the photos, a little bit of everything for everyone... and if you find that you need a bit of fresh air later... well, there is a pretty cool Tall Ship (the sail ship, Glenlee) out the back that is included in the price of admission.
