Must-see attractions in Glasgow

  • UK, Scotland, Glasgow, ceiling in St Mungo cathedral

    Glasgow Cathedral

    Glasgow

    Glasgow Cathedral has a rare timelessness. The dark, imposing interior conjures up medieval might and can send a shiver down the spine. It's a shining…

  • Glasgow Riverside Museum, Zaha Hadid Architects, 2011, Exterior wide view of riverside facade

    Riverside Museum

    Glasgow

    This visually impressive modern museum at Glasgow Harbour owes its striking curved forms to late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. A transport museum…

  • Mackintosh House Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland.

    Mackintosh House

    Glasgow

    Attached to the Hunterian Art Gallery, this is a reconstruction of the first home that Charles Rennie Mackintosh bought with his wife, noted designer…

  • Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

    Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

    Glasgow

    A magnificent sandstone building, this grand Victorian cathedral of culture is a fascinating and unusual museum, with a bewildering variety of exhibits…

  • UK, Scotland, Glasgow, Glasgow Science Centre and Glasgow Tower on River Clyde

    Glasgow Science Centre

    Glasgow

    This brilliant science museum will keep the kids entertained for hours (that's middle-aged kids, too!). It brings science and technology alive through…

  • Glasgow School of Art

    Glasgow School of Art

    Glasgow

    In 2018, Charles Rennie Mackintosh's greatest building was gearing up for reopening after a devastating 2014 fire when, unbelievably, another blaze…

  • Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre

    Glasgow

    This extraordinary mechanical theatre is located at the Trongate 103 arts centre. Russian sculptor and mechanic Eduard Bersudsky, now resident in Scotland…

  • St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life & Art

    Glasgow

    Set in a reconstruction of the bishop's palace that once stood in the cathedral forecourt, this museum audaciously attempts to capture the world's major…

  • Glasgow Necropolis

    Glasgow

    Behind Glasgow Cathedral, this sizeable 19th-century necropolis stretches picturesquely up and over a green hill. The elaborate Victorian tombs of the…

  • City Chambers

    Glasgow

    The grand seat of local government was built in the 1880s at the high point of Glasgow's wealth. The interior is even more extravagant than the exterior,…

  • Burrell collection, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland.

    Burrell Collection

    Glasgow

    One of Glasgow's top attractions, this outstanding museum 3 miles out of town houses everything from Chinese porcelain and medieval furniture to paintings…

  • Mackintosh at the Willow

    Glasgow

    Opened in 2018, this reconstruction of the original Willow tearoom that Mackintosh designed and furnished in the early 20th century for restaurateur Kate…

  • Hunterian Art Gallery

    Glasgow

    Across the road from the Hunterian Museum, and part of the same bequest, this art gallery incorporates Mackintosh House as well as a good selection of…

  • Glasgow Botanic Gardens and Kibble Palace, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. (Photo by: UIG via Getty Images)

    Botanic Gardens

    Glasgow

    A marvellous thing about walking in here is the way the noise of Great Western Rd suddenly recedes into the background. The wooded gardens follow the…

  • 2CJ08KR Queen's Cross Church, Glasgow, Scotland.

Mackintosh Queen's Cross

    Mackintosh Queen's Cross

    Glasgow

    Now headquarters of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, this is the only one of Mackintosh's church designs to be built. It has an excellent stained…

  • Hunterian Museum

    Glasgow

    Housed in the glorious sandstone university building, which is in itself reason enough to pay a visit, this quirky museum contains the collection of…

  • Provand's Lordship

    Glasgow

    Near the cathedral is Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow. This rare example of 15th-century domestic Scottish architecture was built in 1471…

  • Scottish Football Museum

    Glasgow

    At Hampden Park, the national stadium, this museum covers the history of the game in Scotland and the considerable influence of Scots on the world game…

  • House for an Art Lover

    Glasgow

    Although designed in 1901 as an entry in a competition run by a German magazine, this house in Bellahouston Park was not built until the 1990s. Mackintosh…

  • Gallery of Modern Art

    Glasgow

    This contemporary art gallery features modern works from local and international artists, housed in a graceful neoclassical building. The original…

  • Scotland Street School Museum

    Glasgow

    Mackintosh's Scotland Street School seems a bit forlorn these days, on a windswept industrial street with no babble of young voices filling its corridors…

  • Kelvin Hall

    Glasgow

    Opened in the 1920s as an exhibition centre, this enormous sandstone palace, renovated and reopened in 2016, is a mixed leisure-and-arts space. In…

  • The Lighthouse

    Glasgow

    Mackintosh’s first building, designed in 1893, was a striking new headquarters for the Glasgow Herald. Tucked up a narrow lane off Buchanan St, it now…

  • Clydeside Distillery

    Glasgow

    It's great to see this old pumphouse by the Clyde being put to good use as a new malt whisky distillery run by proper whisky folk. It's an impressive set…

  • Tall Ship

    Glasgow

    The magnificent Tall Ship Glenlee, a beautiful three-master launched in 1896, is berthed alongside the Riverside Museum. On board are family-friendly…

  • People's Palace

    Glasgow

    Set in the city's oldest park, Glasgow Green, is the solid orange stone People's Palace. It is an impressive museum of social history, telling the story…

  • Museum of Piping

    Glasgow

    This museum in the national centre for bagpipes covers the history of this Celtic instrument, with several fine historic pieces on display. It's worth…

  • George Square

    Glasgow

    Stately George Sq is the civic centre of Glasgow, dominated by the town hall – City Chambers – on the eastern side. The large open space is dignified by…

  • University of Glasgow

    Glasgow

    Though founded in 1451, the city's first university has only been located here in the West End since the 1870s. Its imposing sandstone neo-Gothic main…

  • Glasgow Cross

    Glasgow

    This junction of five roads is a major Glasgow landmark and indicates the end of Merchant City and beginning of the East End. Standing tall is the…

  • Kelvingrove Park

    Glasgow

    On both banks of the meandering River Kelvin, a tributary of the Clyde, this West End park is popular with dog walkers, foot commuters and canoodling…

  • Tennent's Visitor Centre

    Glasgow

    Despite these days of crafty beers and boutique microbreweries, one in every three pints drunk in Scotland is still Tennent's, and that's a lot of pints…

  • Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum

    Glasgow

    Charts the history of the Royal Highland Fusiliers, as well as previous regiments, from 1678 to the present. The walls are dripping with exhibits,…

  • St Andrew's in the Square

    Glasgow

    This neo-classical Georgian church is quite a sight with its facade of Corinthian columns, tall slender tower and brick-edged windows. The design was…

  • National Library of Scotland

    Glasgow

    In Kelvin Hall, this outpost of Edinburgh's National Library of Scotland hosts a small exhibition and a digital archive of maps and audiovisual material…

  • Trades Hall

    Glasgow

    Designed by Robert Adam in 1791 to house the trades guild, this is one of Merchant City's most notable buildings, with its dignified neoclassical facade…

  • Daily Record Building

    Glasgow

    This narrow lane seems no showcase for a Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, but here it is. The former headquarters of the Daily Record tabloid now…

  • Glasgow Green

    Glasgow

    Established by the Bishop of Glasgow in the mid-15th century, this likeable flat green space draped along the Clyde is Glasgow's oldest park. It's a venue…

  • Queens Park

    Glasgow

    This Southside landmark was laid out in Victorian times as the city expanded; it's still a major community focus. Kids attempt to feed the ducks, who try…

  • Hutcheson's Hall

    Glasgow

    This noble Merchant City edifice was built in 1805 as a hospital and a school for the poor with a bequest from the brothers whose statues stand in the…