Vote Now for Scotland’s best Great Day Out at the Scottish Thistle Awards

THE SCOTTISH Sun has teamed up with the Scottish Thistle Awards to give our readers the chance to vote on the country’s best Great Day Out.

The five regional winners of Best Visitor Attraction have now been shortlisted for a national Scottish Thistle Award – which celebrates the best of Scotland’s tourism and events industry – and you can have your say on which one should be crowned the best in Scotland.

All you have to do is click on your top Great Day Out in our readers’ poll below.

Voting opens on Saturday, November 19 and closes at midnight on Saturday, December 3.

The winner of the Great Day Out Award will then be announced at the Scottish Thistle Awards National Final on February 9, 2023.

Great Day Out Award nominees

Camera Obscura & World of Illusions

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Camera Obscura & World of Illusions is Edinburgh’s oldest visitor attraction, established 1853. Across five floors, visitors enjoy over 100 mind-boggling illusions and interactive exhibits, many unique, designed in-house. There’s a rooftop terrace with breath-taking panoramic views and a live demonstration of the Victorian Camera Obscura. Above all there’s wonder, fun and laughter for all ages. An indoor attraction, in an historic building, full of hands-on exhibits, with high footfall (50% overseas visitors), was a poor prospect at the start of Covid. However, with creativity, ingenuity and sheer hard work it adapted to meet visitors’ changing needs – and thrived.

The Devil’s Porridge Museum

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The Devil’s Porridge Museum tells the amazing story of the greatest munitions factory on earth in WW1. The five-star visitor attraction in Eastriggs, Dumfries & Galloway, has an intriguing rags-to-riches story. Twenty-five years ago the founders were told that the Museum would never succeed. But those volunteers put their shoulders to the wheel and now the Devil’s Porridge is one of the best museums in Scotland working with professional staff to ensure high quality standards are met and to provide a great welcome for visitors, a brilliant resource for schools and to include the local community.

The Helix, Home of the Kelpies

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The Helix, Home of the Kelpies, is an outdoor recreational 5-star attraction with Green Flag accreditation, situated between Falkirk and Grangemouth. It connects and engages with 17 communities through an extensive path network, stretching over 27km, with facilities including a lagoon, splash-play, adventure play zone, and visitor centre featuring a gift shop, café, and exhibition. The Helix opened in 2013 and is operated by Falkirk Council. The Helix is also home to The Kelpies, designed by Andy Scott, which are the world’s largest equine sculptures, standing at 30 metres tall and weighing over 300 tonnes each, were constructed in 2014.

Macduff Marine Aquarium

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The Moray Firth is a haven for wildlife and at Macduff Marine Aquarium visitors will come face to face with all kinds of sea creatures that live beneath the steely blue Moray Firth waters.

The aquarium’s exhibits lead from the coast, where the estuaries and the rocky shores can be explored, to the underwater world of the kelp reef. The unique kelp reef exhibit is only one of its kind in the UK. At the sea lab, visitors can see hardy seashore critters up close and observe baby sharks in the shark hatchery, before heading out to the deep reef and the seafloor.

Shetland Seabird Tours

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Shetland Seabird Tours – The Noss Boat is one of Shetland’s top visitor attractions offering unrivalled marine wildlife and seabird sightings, wildlife photography opportunities and excellent customer service to thousands of passengers each year. The tour boat visits one of Europe’s finest wildlife spectacles, the seabird city of Noss Noss National Nature Reserve, home to over 25,000 gannets and thousands of other seabirds two to three times daily between April and October from Lerwick Harbour. 

Enjoy the beautiful scenic views and iconic landmarks of Lerwick Harbour, Bressay Lighthouse, Orkneyman’s Cave, the striking natural arch of the Giant’s Leg and the breathtaking geology around the coastline of Noss & Bressay.

It is the longest running active Noss Boat tour company having started Shetland Seabird Tours in 2016 and the only carbon-neutral, multi-award winning tour operator.