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What to do in Glasgow Scotland
Glasgow is a great city for night life and is one of the liveliest destinations in the UK. Airports servicing the city include Glasgow airport and Prestwick airport. Tickets are plentiful and relatively inexpensive.Shopping is very popular, and the city caters for this with shopping hubs such as Princess Square, Buchanan galleries, the Italian centre, and on the outskirts of town, Braehead shopping complex.
Transport around the city is plentiful and reasonably priced. There is the Underground, which is quite small compared to other major cities, but it is fast and clean. There's buses and high and low level trains. You can even go and visit the seaside on a day trip to Helensburgh using the low level train from either Glasgow Queen Street or Glasgow Central Station.
A great place to have a picnic is in Balloch country park on the Banks of Loch Lomond. This is a place visitors in Scotland visitors should not miss, and indeed, REM are playing there this summer. I'm sure it will be a great location for a great concert. You can get there by taking the train to Balloch or taking a hired car, or indeed, like many Glaswegian's would do; steal a car.
The city is stylish and has many Art collections and has many buildings and influences of the famous Architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. You can see some of his work in the House for an Art Lover in Ballahoustoun park in Glasgow.
The West End has many lovely examples of architecture and has many Victorian era properties.
The West End of Glasgow
Take in the West End by getting the underground to Hillhead, or a taxi from Glasgow city centre for around £4. There you can go to Ashton lane and visit many of the drinking establishments and restaurants. The Loft is a huge bar which was part of the old Grosvenor cinema and is worth a visit. I had the cheeseburger and chips and the homemade burger was one I can recommend.I must mention this though. The clubs (not the pubs) in the West End are pretty bad. (there's only two now, Cleopatras and Oran Mor). Do not go to Cleopatra's unless you want extended drinking hours with a load of guys. Intead, go back into the main centre of Glasgow to something like Arta (I'm in my thirties. OK!). Oran Mor is better, but they pack in a lot of people. And to get served at the bar reminds me of waiting very long in London queues.
Not to be missed Ashton Lane.
Inside the Loft; a classy and big venue in the west end.
Grosvenor Cinema.
There are two churches converted into bars and are well worth a visit. One is Oran Mor, at the top of Byres Road, on the corner of Great Western Road, opposite the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel. Further down Great Western road is the famous, One Devonshire Gardens where pop stars and the famous and rich often stay when they come to town, including Justin Timberlake and Britney Speirs, though, not at the same time.
Ashton Lane, just off Byres Road near Hillhead Underground
Oran Mor
Oran Mor
Cottiers
The Hilton on Great Western Road at the corner of Byres Road
In the West End, during the day, there are also many cafes and interesting shops on and off Byres Road. One shop that I recommended to the girls is Nancy Smilie at De Courseys arcade. It has some very nice home furnishings, Jewellery and other knick knacks including Lamps. Although, not cheap, it does have a nice range.
Glasgow Facts
Glasgow was named the International City of Culture in the 90's and indeed hosted the Glasgow Garden Festival in 1998.
There are some great Glasgow museums including the Transport Museum (which adjoins the Kelvin hall), Glasgow Art Galleries, the Burrell Collection on the South side of the city,
There are many theatres, cinemas and restaurants throughout Glasgow and some of my personal favorites include, Mosquito on Bath Street, Corinthians in the Merchant city, and just off Byres Road many great places can be found on the quaint Ashton Lane. A great famous one to try is the horseshoe bar near Central Station. It has the longest bar in Glasgow, and is a true drinking bar with pints for £1.50. That's cheap. They also have serious Karaoke upstairs for budding pop stars. Across the road is Truffles, one of the cities lap dancing clubs.
Where tourists don't go!
There are many other parts of Glasgow where tourists don't often venture such as Govan, home of Sir Alex Ferguson and Rangers Football Clubs ground, Ibrox Stadium. Other areas include Bridgeton, Partick and Kelvinbridge as well as the local authority housing scheme of Drumchapel.Glasgow places to visit
Glasgow Science Centre is located on the River Clyde in Govan, the centre is great for kids and can keep them entertained for a while. The Glasgow Science Centre opened in Spring 2001 with a huge array of interactive exhibits and the Glasgow Tower with its flashing light on top is 340 feet high and has views across Glasgow and down the Clyde.Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC )is Scotland's national venue for public events. Its also the UKs largest exhibition and conference centre.
The relics of St Valentine are supposedly stored in a Gorbals Church, the John Duns Scotus.
There are walking tours based in the very heart of Glasgow providing an introduction to this award winning city. You can get a Walkman, map and audio cassette from the tourist office on George Square.
Best in the West of Glasgow is a weekly look at whets on, accommodation, restaurants, buildings, history and cinemas.
The West End of Glasgow is great to see, and the West End Trust publishes conservation information, co ordinates grants for projects and advertises functions and gatherings to enhance appreciation of the historic location of the West End.
Walking in Mugdock Country Park near Milingavie is a good outdoor pursuit and Carbeth Loch and Ben Lomond, Queens View, Conic Hill and Cort Ma Law and Lecket Hill are also nice walking locations.
Good glasgow website
The List has Eating and Drinking information and there is a Web version of the printed magazine concentrates on restaurants, cafes, nights out, bands and bars in Glasgow and Edinburgh .
Harry Ramsdens Restaurant is also in Glasgow at Springfield Quay and there is also an Odeon cinema there. Its just off Kingston Bridge and is quite easy to get to from town in a Taxi.
The Glasgow Conservation Trust was formed in the 1990's to focus on amenity and conservation in Glasgow West, and to support the Glasgow West Conservation Trust
Items of interest in the area include Kibble Palace in the Botanic Gardens and the former Dowanhill Church, now Cottiers.
The Waverley Paddle Steamer is the last sea going paddle steamer in the world sailing round the coasts of the United Kingdom, including the Firth of Clyde, from its berth in the centre of Glasgow. It also sometimes hosts events and concerts.
The Glasgow Story tells the story of Glasgow using some of Scotland's writers and also has images from collections of the cities famous libraries and museums.
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