Airdrie - Located on the eastern outskirts of Glasgow, the town became a coal mining centre during the 19th century having specialised in cotton.

Biggar - Situated 14 miles south-east of Lanark, Biggar is a long-standing burgh (1451) which was the site of the Battle of Biggar (1297) when William Wallace and Sir Walter Newbigging defeated Edward I.

The Church of St Mary (1546) is one of the last pre-Reformation churches in Scotland and stands on the site of the earlier church of St Nicholas; the graveyard includes the ancestors of the politician William Gladstone.

Notable attractions include the Gladstone Court Museum, the Greenhill Covenanters' House (17th-century), the Moat Park Heritage Centre, and the Gasworks Museum, while the Victorian Puppet Theatre provides many performances. The town was also the home of the Albion Motor Car Company.

The author Hugh MacDiarmid lived nearby at Brownsbank Cottage.

Coatbridge - A former industrial town, Coatbridge is famous for Lord Reith first head of the BBC who was born here. The steelworks, which moved to Corby around 1934, forced their main industry to decline. The local museum explains the history of this industry and how it affected the town.