Kelso's headline sights cluster around the town itself and the river meadows just beyond it. The ruined abbey stands at the edge of the market square and is free to enter — an easy first stop. From there it's a short walk to Kelso Bridge and the riverside path leading towards Roxburgh Castle, whose earthen mound rises across the water in the grounds of Floors Castle.
Floors Castle itself sits a mile west of town and is the principal excursion: the largest inhabited house in Scotland, stuffed with European tapestries and paintings acquired by a Gilded Age American duchess. The racecourse north of town hosts National Hunt meetings throughout the year and on a race day the atmosphere is unusually friendly for such a modest circuit.