Museums, galleries and other attractions in Scotland are set to be reopened from 26 April. The months ahead will provide an opportunity to reintroduce yourself to Glasgow and visit some of the places that represent local culture and heritage. It’s time to have some fun and explore.
This is a list of the 20 best things to do in the city that featured in The Best of Glasgow. You can order a copy of the book here or pick up from the shops when they reopen later this month.
Consider it an invitation to see more of Glasgow this summer.
20. Botanic Gardens
730 Great Western Road, G12 0UE
Sitting at the junction of Great Western Road and Byres Road, overlooked by Oran Mor, the Botanics are a much loved bit of West End greenery. The gardens features several glasshouses, the biggest of which is the Kibble Palace – a wrought-iron framed glasshouse designed for John Kibble and moved here in 1873 – which houses the UK’s national collection of tree ferns. In recent years the gardens have hosted itison’s GlasGLOW Halloween festival and a regular book market. There’s an old Tardis-style police box outside the gates that’s home to a tiny coffee takeaway.
BUY THE BOOK: THE BEST OF GLASGOW CITY GUIDE & COOKBOOK
19. GoMA
Royal Exchange Square, G1 3AF
One of the most photographed buildings in the city, mostly because of the statue of the Duke of Wellington in front of it that acquired a traffic cone in the early 80s. Offer your own interpretation of this community art installation to passing tourists. Exhibits in GoMA include works by David Hockney and Andy Warhol. Glasgow has produced five Turner Prize artists since the gallery opened in 1996.
18. Britannia Panopticon
113-117 Trongate, G1 5HD, 0141 553 0840
The world’s oldest surviving music hall. At one time a boisterous crowd of up to 1500 would gather to watch the singers, dancers and comedians. Eccentric showman AE Pickard installed a carnival in the attic and a zoo in the basement. Now, a charitable group promotes the legacy of building and continues to organise events, including silent movie screenings. Stan Laurel made his debut on this stage in 1906.
17. Central Station
Gordon Street, G1 3SL
Glasgow Central Station was opened by the Caledonian Railway in 1879 on the north bank of the Clyde. As well as being the busiest train station in the city it is a landmark in its own right, including the Heilanman’s Umbrella canopy over Argyle Street, so named because displaced highlanders would arrange to meet up there at weekends. The first long distance television pictures transmitted in the UK were sent to Central Station in 1927. The station tour takes you through subterranean passageways beneath the streets to visit railway vaults connected to Glasgow’s industrial expansion.
16. The Tenement House
145 Buccleuch Street, G3 6QN, 0141 333 0183
A snapshot of early 20th Century life, captured in a four room flat. The Tenement House was the home of Miss Agnes Toward, a shorthand typist, and her mother, from 1911 until 1965. The fixtures and fittings remained unchanged in over half a century and the tenement now lives on as a time capsule exhibition of domestic life from a different era.
15. Crookston Castle
170 Brockburn Road, G53 5RY
Glasgow’s only surviving medieval castle which retains some distinctive features including its north east tower. Its origins date back to a fortification built by Sir Robert de Croc in the late 1100s. The property passed to the Stewart family and was besieged during the struggle to establish control over the future of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots. Two decades later it is thought that Mary agreed to marry Lord Darnley here. The castle recently featured in Frankie Boyle’s Tour of Scotland.
14. Drygate and Tennent’s Brewery
85 Drygate, G4 0UT, 0141 212 8815
A microbrewery, bar and kitchen sitting alongside a brewery, bar and visitor centre. Drygate and Tennent’s Brewery stand together as two very different experiences that together tell the story of local beer. The Heritage Centre at Tennent’s Brewery introduces the history of Scotland’s most popular lager through the ages, bringing in elements of Glasgow folk history and the story of the city’s pubs. It all ends up with a pint of Big Juicy at the end. Follow the mural wall round the corner and meet Drygate with their brewhouse in a stripped-back industrial setting. Ask for a beer flight selection to get to know the place, order a pie and make yourself comfortable. Cheers to a great day out.
13. The Lighthouse
11 Mitchell Lane, G1 3NU
The Lighthouse is Scotland’s Centre for Design and Architecture, placed in the former offices of the Glasgow Herald newspaper, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The imposing, vast edifice is hidden in plain sight on Mitchell Lane. Today, it is home to permanent and temporary exhibitions. One of its best features are the uninterrupted views over Glasgow’s cityscape from the Mackintosh Tower at the north of the building and its helical staircase.
12. The Govan Stones
866 Govan Road, G51 3DL
A fascinating collection of early medieval stones carved in the 9th-11th Centuries is housed in the atmospheric surroundings of Govan Old Parish Church. The Govan Sarcophagus is the only one of its kind carved from solid stone originating in pre-Norman northern Britain. The churchyard is not done giving up its secrets. Last year, a community archaeology dig uncovered long-lost gravestones from the Middle Ages featuring Celtic interlace designs to commemorate the Kings of Strathclyde.
11. Scottish Football Museum
Hampden Park, G42 9BA, 0141 616 6139
Discover the Hampden Roar and get to the heart of Glasgow’s football soul. The stadium tour let’s you experience the ground the way players do on match day. The museum has one of the old turnstiles and the original dressing room from old Hampden. There’s also the original Scottish Cup on display. The Scottish Football Hall of Fame features memorabilia relating to players like Denis Law, Jim Baxter and Kenny Dalglish.
10. Pollok House
Pollok Country Park, G43 1AT
The ancestral home of the Maxwell family, the present house dates from 1752 and contains one of the finest collections of Spanish art in the country, alongside ornate Edwardian furnishings. The discussions for the founding of the National Trust for Scotland took place inside Pollok House’s cedar-panelled smoking room. It’s elegant gardens add to the country park setting.
9. Scotland Street Museum
225 Scotland Street, G5 8QB, 0141 287 0500
Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh between 1903-1906 for the School Board of Glasgow, it arrived over budget and was considered an extravagance with a pair of windowed Scottish baronial style towers and design cues from Rowallan Castle and Falkland Palace. Now, it is one of the city’s greatest architectural attractions, particularly after the fire at the Art School. As a museum of education, visitors can interact with actors telling stories from the Victorian era through to the late 20th Century.
8. Glasgow Science Centre
50 Pacific Quay, G51 1EA, 0141 420 5000
Part of the redeveloped Glasgow Garden Festival site on the south bank of the Clyde. The Glasgow Tower at the complex is the tallest tower in Scotland. Its observation deck operates between April and October. The Science Centre regularly features in broadcasts by near neighbours at Pacific Quay BBC Scotland and STV. There’s interactive exhibits to discover including a planetarium and a workshop space.
7. Theatre Royal
282 Hope Street, G2 3QA
The oldest theatre in Glasgow – opened in 1867 – and the longest running in Scotland. In 1957 it became the Scottish Television Theatre and served as studios for the newly formed STV. It is now the home of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet. A modern refurbishment created a stylish foyer and curved extension but the venue retains its Victorian auditorium and sense of history.
6. The People’s Palace and Glasgow Green
Templeton Street, G40 1AT, 0141 276 0788
A cultural centre for the East End and a repository of folk memory. At the opening ceremony, Lord Rosebery introduced: “A palace of pleasure and imagination around which the people may place their affections and which may give them a home on which their memory may rest” which is pretty much how things have worked out. The Winter Gardens are currently closed which is a matter of much consternation. The museum collection includes pictures and depictions of working class Glasgow life through the ages, particularly in the 20th Century, with a one-room tenement home and memorabilia from the Barrowland Ballroom. Billy Connolly’s banana boots are one of the most popular exhibits. The Doulton Fountain outside is the biggest terracotta fountain in the world. It sits on the border of Glasgow Green, the oldest park in the city.
5. City Chambers
George Square, G2 1DU
The headquarters of successive councils since 1889, City Chambers looms large over the eastern side of George Square. Public tours are conducted twice a day. Its marble staircase is reputed to be the biggest of its kind in the world and has featured in films as a stand in for the Kremlin and the Vatican. The Banqueting Hall is where figures including President Ulysses S Grant, Marie Curie, Nelson Mandela and Sir Alex Ferguson were given the Freedom of the City. The walls are decorated with murals showing some of the history of the city. The artists were from the Glasgow School including Sir John Lavery, Alexander Roche and George Henry.
4. The Mitchell Library
North Street, G3 7DN, 0141 287 2999
The foundation stone was laid by Andrew Carnegie in 1907. A collection of over a million books and photographs is housed across a majestic building with a distinctive copper dome and a 1970s extension with wonderfully kitsch carpets. There’s a comfy cafe on the ground floor. The Mitchell holds the Glasgow City Archives and Special Collections including Robert Burns hand-written manuscripts. The theatre here hosts events during the Aye Write! literary festival.
3. Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis
Castle St, G4 0QZ
The oldest building in the city marks the site where St Mungo is thought to have been buried in 612 AD. Its soaring Scottish Gothic architecture took shape between the 13th and 15th Centuries. Sir Walter Scott references the High Kirk in his novel, Rob Roy. More recently the cathedral has found new fame as a backdrop in the television show Outlander. It will also feature in the forthcoming Batman movie starring Robert Pattinson, alongside the nearby Necropolis, that can be reached by crossing the Bridge of Sighs, part of the traditional funeral procession route. Glasgow’s city of the dead, the Necropolis cemetery is a remarkable Victorian display “dedicated to the genius of memory”.
BUY THE BOOK: THE BEST OF GLASGOW CITY GUIDE & COOKBOOK
2. Riverside Museum
100 Pointhouse Road, G3 8RS, 0141 287 2720
Get a sense of where the city is coming from, and where it’s going. The transport museum started when someone had the foresight to decide some of Glasgow’s trams should be preserved after they stopped running. In an odd moment of synchronicity, the collection opening coincided with a wave of closures at shipyards on the Clyde with some 250 ship models soon finding a new home, then came hulking locomotives representing the city’s railway heritage. You’ll find the oldest surviving pedal cycle and a collection of Scottish-built cars and trucks. Look out for the Star Wars figures cabinet. A meticulously assembled street scene allows you to step into Glasgow of the past. The purpose-built museum, designed by Zaha Hadid, replaced the previous home for the collection at the Kelvin Hall.
1. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
Argyle Street, G3 8AG, 0141 276 9599
Generations of Glasgow kids have slid across the marble floor of the Centre Hall on their knees, beneath the grand pipe organ that is still used for lunchtime recitals. Built in a Spanish Baroque style, there’s a sense of magic to the place, beyond the collection of exhibits that includes outstanding artworks by Monet, Renoir and van Gogh. It opened in 1901, for the Glasgow International Exhibition held in Kelvingrove Park – taxi drivers will tell you the building is the wrong way round but that’s an urban myth. Visit to see a Spitfire suspended from the ceiling above a stuffed elephant, furniture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, collections of armour and the enigmatic presence of Salvador Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross. There’s no doubt Glaswegians have a tangible sense of connection to the Kelvingrove. It belongs to them. Included in the latest Lonely Planet Ultimate Travel List.