For those who have never heard of Paisley, it’s a large town in the Scottish council area of Renfrewshire. It’s 49 miles, or 79 kilometres, east of Scotland’s capital Edinburgh and borders to the east of Scotland’s most populous city Glasgow.
Despite not having official city status, Paisley is known as Scotland’s fifth-largest settlement, with a population of 77,270 (as of 2020). It’s the largest town in Renfrewshire and serves as the administrative centre for the council area.
Though not as big as Edinburgh or Glasgow, Paisley has a ton of history and attractions to give this town some status. From various churches to cinemas, shopping centres, and casinos to play the best new casino slots, here are some activities people can do in Paisley.
Churches
Paisley has many churches people can visit. Some of these churches are:
- Oakshaw Trinity Church
- St Mirin Cathedral
- Thomas Coats Memorial Church
Oakshaw Trinity Church is commonly known as the High Church. Congregations of Paisley High, St Johns, and Orr Square Churches worked with the Paisley Congregational Church in the Wynd Centre.
In 1987, these churches’ Kirk Sessions and Deacon Courts brought representatives together in a Joint Strategy Committee to consider how the churches might better coordinate and serve the community.
It didn’t take long for the benefits of coming together to be recognised, and the Joint Strategy began investigating, discussing, and planning for a church in the centre of Paisley.
The St Mirin Cathedral is located on Incle Street at the junction with Glasgow Road. Construction was completed in 1931 near the original church’s site, which dates back to 1808. The original church was the first Catholic church in post-Reformation Scotland to be built in stone.
The Thomas Coats Memorial Church is over 125 years old and can host up to 600 guests. It hosts grand celebrations like weddings and school proms, corporate events like award ceremonies, and live entertainment like music, dance, and theatre.
Cinemas
Who doesn’t like going to the cinema and watching a film? At Paisley, people can visit two cinemas–the Odeon Cinema Braehead and the Showcase Cinema.
Odeon Cinema Braehead has its own public transportation and accessibility for disabled people. People can host conferences there, and the theatre releases films regarding Scotland’s national curriculum. When watching a film, people can snack on ordinary cinema food like popcorn or eat some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
The Showcase Cinema has a variety of ticketing methods–family, online, and print-at-home. There’s also a 24-hour booking line and Insider Tuesdays. Like Odeon Cinema Braehead, Showcase Cinema also offers accommodations for disabled people. There’s a games area, a party room, guest services, and free parking.
Shopping Centres
People often buy souvenirs when visiting a different place to remember their holidays. That’s no different here in Paisley. This town is known for two centres–the Lagoon Leisure Centre and the Paisley Farmers Market.
The Lagoon Leisure Centre is only 15 minutes from Glasgow via the M8 and offers free parking. There, people can enjoy the following:
- Six-court sports hall hosting up to 360 spectators
- Free-form leisure pool
- Arena Hall
- Changing and showering facilities
- Modern fitness suite
- Coffee shop
- Health and beauty treatment rooms
- Dance and exercise room
The Paisley Farmers Market, though not as fancy as the Lagoon Leisure Centre, is still worth checking out. It’s been popping up twice a month for the past 12 years on the second Thursday and the last Saturday of each month from 10 am to 2 pm.
The Farmers Market offers fresh produce, meat, fish, cheese, and chocolate straight from local farms, so consumers are guaranteed quality food. There’s face painting, stilt walkers, and balloon modelling for children.
Casinos
Sometimes, people want to go out and have fun at the casinos. As long as those people are old enough and gamble responsibly, there should be no problem.
At Paisley, there’s a casino called Mecca where people can play bingo and other fun casino games. The casino has on-site parking, disability accommodation, a licensed bar, food and drinks, and a cash machine.
Conclusion
Paisley has loads of fun activities people can do, like visiting churches, cinemas, shopping centres, and casinos. Those activities are guaranteed to bring fun and joyful memories.