Glasgow why visit

Visit Glasgow at the right time and get involved in one of its many festivals. Glasgow provides a great base from which to explore the Scottish countryside. Nowadays the Clyde is a real focal point for leisure activities, with a string of attractions along its banks, including the spectacular titanium-clad trio of buildings that comprise the Glasgow Science Centre as well as the Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour and a plethora of restaurants and leisure options including a casino at Springfield Quay.

Connect with us. Top 10 reasons to visit Glasgow. Home Destinations Glasgow Top 10 reasons to visit Glasgow. There are many reasons to visit Glasgow, but here are the top Luckily, there are loads of tangible things to do in Glasgow as well.

Kelvingrove is absolutely massive, and deserves a half-day of your attention, more if you love to read the details. The Riverside Museum is as interesting outside as it is in: the building was designed by Iraqi-born star chitect Zaha Hadid.

My favorite spot in the museum is a recreation of an old street in Glasgow, complete with shops you can go into. We also really enjoyed walking around the Glasgow Necropolis , which sits above Glasgow Cathedral a short walk from the centre. The most interesting thing about the Necropolis is reading all the inscriptions and reflecting on the obviously hard times Glasgow has faced throughout its history.

That combo of a population comprised of young creatives and affordable commercial space has resulted in a creative foodie and bar scene that will keep you busy every night in Glasgow. Ashton Lane is a Glasgow classic. The Anchor Line is a cocktail spot with a great story.

In a great, central location right near the Queen Street Train Station, Anchor Line sits in the former first-class ticket office of Anchor Line passenger ships, which cruised across the Atlantic in the 19th and 20th centuries. The owners have done a great job at restoring the building with an elegant and grand shipping vibe, and you can see original memorbilia and artifacts around the space.

We went on a Monday night, and it was full — definitely a positive sign. Need Some Inspiration? Check Out the Best Places to go in Scotland. The benefits of staying the city centre is convenience: arriving in Glasgow by train, you can walk to your hotel. Your stay comes with a free, home-cooked breakfast, optional costs extra dinners at the hotel, and all the cupcakes and homemade ice cream you can eat which in our case was a lot.

Blythswood Square Luxury Boutique. Blythswood Square — One of the best-rated luxury hotels in Glasgow, this place gets rave reviews from past guests. Great location in the city centre, beautiful decor, and nice added touches, like a 10, square-foot spa facility with 2 pools, an on-site movie theatre, and an on-site restaurant and bar. Check availability, prices and reviews of Blythswood Square on Booking. Citizen M Affordable Design Hotel.

What they are not, however, is private: showers have glass doors, so not really the place to stay with a family member or your BFF, unless you get separate rooms. The grandest room in the cathedral, however, is the crypt, which houses the tomb of St.

Mungo, founder of the bishopric, who was buried here in AD Although a visit to the cathedral is regarded as one of the top free things to do in Glasgow, donations are always welcome.

Guided tours are also available free of charge. Next door is the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art , which examines the world religions, their rites, and how their doctrines deal with the issues of life and death. Exhibits include Egyptian mummies, Hindu statues, and a Zen Buddhist garden in the courtyard. Official site: www. Glasgow Cathedral Map Historical.

Glasgow School of Art. Mackintosh's Art Academy is essential viewing for lovers of fine architecture. Completed in , this Art Nouveau building confirmed the reputation of year-old designer Charles Mackintosh, not just as a master of the exterior-the grand west facade is dominated by three foot-high oriel windows, and the smaller windows on the east front are reminiscent of Scottish castles-but also as a superb interior designer.

The most famous rooms include the Principal's Room, one of the first of Mackintosh's "White Rooms"; the Mackintosh Room, where meetings of the Academy of Art are held; and the unique Library and Gallery. Student-led tours explore Mackintosh's work and influence and include galleries of his furniture and other works. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The bustling entertainment and shopping mecca of Sauchiehall Street , now almost entirely given over to pedestrians, is more than 1.

Opened in , the museum has a fine collection of British and continental paintings, including such gems as Van Gogh's portrait of the Glaswegian art collector Alexander Reid, and Salvador Dali's Christ of Saint John of the Cross. An exceptional series of galleries feature the Glasgow School of Art and its best-known figure, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, with complete furnished rooms, pottery, metalwork, furniture, and other works of art.

Scottish archaeological finds include Bronze Age tools and jewelry from Arran, Kintyre, and Glenluce. Other exhibits of interest include weapons and armor, such as helmets, crossbows, and swords from the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as Flemish tapestries, Glasgow-made jewelry, silverware, glassware, and pottery from various periods.

George Square and the Merchant District. At the heart of Glasgow's historic Victorian city center stands the flower-bedecked George Square with its 12 statues of famous people associated with the city, including Robbie Burns, Walter Scott, and Queen Victoria. The east end of the square is dominated by the Town Hall and its foot tower completed in , while the Merchants' House is the headquarters of Britain's oldest Chamber of Commerce, founded in The area is particularly attractive in winter, when families and those here enjoying some Glasgow sightseeing are bedazzled with an impressive display of Christmas lights.

The Necropolis. Neighboring Glasgow Cathedral is the Necropolis, a Victorian Gothic garden cemetery that covers 37 acres that has famously been described as a "city of the dead. Intricately carved Celtic crosses mingle here with weeping angels in atmospheric surroundings of tree-shaded walks that open to views of the cathedral and city. A variety of informative walking tours are available, and recommended.

The University of Glasgow dates from and is the second-oldest school of higher education in Scotland. The university has employed many illustrious teachers over the centuries, including James Watt; Adam Smith; and the "father of antiseptic surgery," Joseph Lister. A permanent exhibition at the Visitor Centre in University Avenue goes into more detail about the important discoveries made by these and other scientists who taught here. Another famous scientist with connections to the university was William Hunter, an 18th-century Glaswegian doctor who bequeathed his collection of anatomical parts, coins, and objets d'art to form the basis of the Hunterian Museum.

The museum now includes collections from the departments of ethnography, zoology, geology, and archaeology, including many finds from Roman sites. Artwork on display includes works by Rubens, Rembrandt and Reynolds. The gallery also houses the reassembled principal interiors from the Glasgow home of architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his artist-wife, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh. Glasgow's ultra-modern, award-winning Riverside Museum includes many of the exhibits from the city's former Transport Museum, including model ships, locomotives, trams, vintage cars, and horse-drawn carriages.

The majority are Glasgow-built. A superb reconstruction of a Glasgow street has been added to the displays, as well as exhibits on immigration and disasters, featuring the sinking of the Lusitania. The Tall Ship at Riverside is docked just outside, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the Glenlee , a Glasgow-built three-masted barque that has been carefully restored by the Clyde Maritime Trust. Interesting guided tours are available, sometimes with costumed guides.

Those interested in museums and antiquities should also plan on paying a visit to the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre. This fascinating facility is where many of the city's museums store their collections when they are not on display. Think of it a little like a visit to a Costco, but nothing's for sale. It's a large place, with its many storage rooms stacked high with everything from artworks and sculptures to armor and weaponry; in fact, more than 1.

Guided tours are provided, along with interesting lectures and workshops, including programs aimed at younger travelers.

Glasgow Science Centre.