Hairdressers and garden centres will reopen on April 5 as the stay at home message is lifted across Renfrewshire.
But the biggest changes are scheduled for April 26 when bars and restaurants will reopen alongside shops, gyms, libraries and hotels.
People should also be able to travel across mainland Scotland from that date, while the possibility of travel across the UK is also being considered for late next month.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday the move to a more normal way of life would come into force two weeks after Scotland’s most vulnerable have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
It means that from late April six people from three households will be able to meet outdoors when bars, restaurants and cafes will be able to serve people food and alcohol outdoors until 10pm.
And four people from two households may be able to have a meal indoors without alcohol up until 8pm.
People on the shielding list will also be permitted to attend work, school, nursery and college from April 26.
Announcing the proposed route map out of lockdown at Holyrood, the First Minister said the vaccine rollout and continued suppression of the virus were crucial to the timetable.
She said: “It is not just the scale of the vaccination programme that is positive.
“What we are learning about its impact is also hugely encouraging.
“There are now positive indications from research, including a study last week from Public Health Scotland, that the vaccines also reduce transmission of the virus.
“That is really significant.
“This provides us with greater confidence than we had previously about the impact of vaccination on suppression of the
virus.
“And that in turn gives us more confidence about mapping a path out of lockdown, with a firmer indicative timeline for lifting restrictions.”
The First Minister also announced that from May 17 people should finally be able to welcome pals back into their homes, with four folk from two households permitted in residential properties.
With most of Scotland expected to enter Level 2 restrictions on this date, hospitality is due to return to more normal operating hours with alcohol to be permitted indoors.
Larger venues such as cinemas, bingo halls and some indoor events may also be allowed to resume on this date.
Other things such as normal family gatherings, sporting events, gigs and nightclubs are expected to open this summer but the First Minister would not outline a date for this.
But she said Scotland could be in Level 1 safety measures from early June and Level 0 by late June.
She added: “As we move into the summer an even greater degree of normality - hopefully something much closer to actual normality, with the ability to hug those we love - will become possible.
“All of that should fill us with optimism.
“This is certainly the most hopeful I have felt about the situation for a long time.”
