Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park

Brodick Castle sits under Goatfell on the Isle of Arran, two miles north of the ferry pier, a red sandstone seat of the Dukes of Hamilton that was remade in the Scottish Baronial style by James Gillespie Graham in 1844. The National Trust for Scotland has turned the rooms into an interactive visit, with a Victorian arcade of games alongside the family's silver, porcelain, paintings and sporting trophies. Outside is Britain's only island country park, running from the shore to the mountain: formal gardens on the Silver Garden Trail and Plant Collectors' Walk, a Bavarian summerhouse lined with pine cones, ponds and waterfalls, woodland trails with red squirrels, and the Isle Be Wild adventure play area. Reviewers praise the volunteers and say the gardens alone fill two or three hours. Tips from visitors: the castle closes from late October to March while the park stays open; it is a 30-minute walk from the village if you arrive without a car; and ScotRail's two-for-one offer applies with a rail ticket.