While often passed over in favor of more traditionally-appealing Edinburgh, it’s a massive mistake to visit Scotland and skip Glasgow.
Spanning both sides of the beautiful River Clyde in Scotland’s West Lowlands, Glasgow is just a short train ride from both Edinburgh and serene Loch Lomond. The city has definitely experienced a “glow-up” in the past few years.
Home to a thriving food, music, museum, and higher-ed scene, walking around Glasgow will show you a reinvention– housed in a mix of Victorian, Art Nouveau, and modern buildings from shabby to chic and everything in between.
Once known as the “Second City of the British Empire” for its prowess in shipbuilding and maritime expertise, Glasgow’s history stretches way back to pre-Roman times, due to a riverfront location prime for fishing.
The city itself is thought to have been founded by Saint Mungo (AKA Kentigern) in the 6th century, at the site of today’s Glasgow Cathedral. He remains the city’s patron saint to this day, and the 4 miracles he is said to have performed during his lifetime form the city’s coat of arms:
“Here’s the bird that never flew
Here’s the tree that never grew
Here’s the bell that never rang
Here’s the fish that never swam”
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The absolutely splendid University of Glasgow (more on that later) was founded in 1451– the 4th-oldest English-speaking university in the world and a key player in the Scottish Enlightenment.
As time passed, Glasgow continued to be a hub of trading, particularly after the Acts of Union effectively merged the kingdoms of England and Scotland in 1707 (despite the fact that they’d both had the same monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603… a bit confusing.)
From there, Glasgow became a hub for tobacco, sugar, and cotton from the Americas, and unfortunately was quite intimately linked with the trafficking of enslaved persons.
As the industrial era dawned, coal and shipbuilding became the city’s major industries, leading to huge booms and equally huge busts in the post-World War I and Great Depression era. By the 1960s, the city was in decline, with unemployment and poverty rampant as industry left Scotland.
However, decades of efforts to revitalize Glasgow have led to a sort of “renaissance,” transforming the city from a hub of shipbuilding to a hub of culture– one that is far, far too often skipped or criticized.
While perhaps a bit gritty, Glasgow has so much to offer– the challenge is just to squeeze it all into a weekend trip!
Glasgow’s international airport is located about 10 miles from the city center, and is an easy place to fly into from the rest of Europe or other destinations. While Edinburgh’s airport is Scotland’s busiest, we found the fares to Glasgow to be significantly cheaper, with better timetables for our schedules.
From the airport, there’s a bus called the Glasgow Airport Express that takes you to a few different places in the city center. While not particularly cheap, this is the cheapest way to get into the city, and there’s a discount for purchasing a round-trip ticket. The buses are bright purple and double-decker– impossible to miss as you come out of the arrivals area and look to your left.
Once in the city, there’s a variety of buses and subway lines that you can take to get around. Glasgow is also surprisingly walkable for such a large city, with ample sidewalk space and several large squares and parks bisecting busier roads. It’s only about an hour by train to both Edinburgh and Loch Lomond, with lots of connections to the Highlands and other places by train from the Queen Street Station hub.
Top Things to Do on a Weekend in Glasgow
We found it easiest to split our time in Glasgow between the western and eastern parts of the city, spending about a day exploring the West End and about a day in the city center, East End, and Merchant City.
Day 1: West End
We adored the West End. We stayed in a fabulous Airbnb here in Finnieston, and really enjoyed exploring the area and walking around. We can’t wait to go back!
Here are a few can’t-miss highlights:
- University of Glasgow and Hunterian Museum: The real-life inspiration for Hogwarts, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a (deeply scholastic) time capsule. What an absolute treat to get to wander around this campus! Take your time exploring and soaking up the Gothic study hall vibes, and don’t miss the views of the rest of the city from the entrance. The Hunterian Museum is Scotland’s oldest museum, and even has a piece of the Roman-era Antonine Wall.
- Riverside Museum of Transport and Travel: Home to over 3,000 transport-related options (from skateboards to strollers to… a Stormtrooper?), this free museum is an absolute gem.
- Kelvingrove Park and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum: A leafy escape, Kelvingrove Park is a huge oasis with lots of walking paths and scenic views. The gallery is an absolute must-see, housed in a gorgeous building and (best of all) free to enter. There’s a cool organ recital at 1 PM each day.
- Glasgow Botanic Garden: If you follow the Kelvin Walkway, it will take you to another gem, boasting a rose garden, ample strolling space, and the Victorian-era Kibble Palace, made from glass.
- Victoria Park: A bit more landscaped than other West End parks, Victoria Park is also serene and lovely.
- Great Western Road: One of the city’s longest roads, home to vintage shops galore and ranking #3 on TimeOut’s 2022 ranking of the “coolest streets in the world,” in the equally-cool Kelvinbridge neighborhood. If you’re in the mood for pizza, check out Glasgow’s best at Paesano, and pop into Caledonia Books next door. For live music, check out Òran Mór.
- Byres Road: Another busy thoroughfare, Byres Road is one of Glasgow’s most well-known streets, full of shopping, restaurants, and people-watching opportunities, accompanying Great Western Road as the West End’s two “high streets.”
- Ashton Lane: While a bit touristy, the revitalized cobblestone street is cute (and eminently Instagrammable.) There’s the vintage Grosvenor movie theater, as well as thrift stores and a variety of bars and restaurants to check out.
- Finnieston: Considered Glasgow’s “foodie hub” and one of the most hip neighborhoods in the whole UK, Finnieston is a great place to check out for trendsetting cuisine and lifestyle comparable to Shoreditch in London. For coffee, check out Ottoman Coffee House, in a 19th century army drill hall; Ox and Finch for small plates; and U Jarka for potentially the best Polish food outside of Poland (a bit hidden away in the downstairs area of Glasgow’s Polish Social Club.)
- Otago Lane: For a bit of contrast to ultra-manicured Ashton Lane, check out winding Otago Lane for record shops, antique books, and hip Tchai-Ovna House of Tea.
- Hidden Lane: Home to Glasgow’s finest artists and musicians, Hidden Lane is a great area to shop for souvenirs and support local artisans.
Day 2: City Center, East End, and Merchant City
For an altogether-different feel to the leafy, scholarly West End, check out the other side of the city. While not as instantly dear to our hearts as the West End, the other parts of Glasgow also have a lot of things to do.
In the city center (or city centre, we suppose 😉):
- George Square: For people-watching while sitting your coffee or a jumping-off point for the rest of the city, George Square is your place. The beautiful City Chambers are nearby, also worth a visit.
- Royal Exchange Square: Home to the Gallery of Modern Art and the Mitchell Library– Europe’s largest public library and home to one of the largest collections of adored native son Robert Burns’ works.
- Street art: Whether via the City Centre Mural Trail or just via wandering around, you’ll certainly see jaw-dropping street art scattered all around here, as well as 14 outdoor art installations via the City Centre Contemporary Art Trail.
- The Tenement House Museum: The National Scottish Trust runs an amazing time capsule showcasing tenement life in the 20th century in one of the last remaining buildings like it, definitely worth a visit.
- Glasgow Green: Glasgow’s oldest park, home to the People’s Palace (documenting the social history of the city) and Templeton on the Green, inspired by the Doge’s Palace in Venice (and sticking out rather like a sore thumb, but in a quirky way!)
- Theaters (oops, again, theatres): Where to begin? From The Theatre Royal, The King’s Theatre, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and the Glasgow Film Theatre, there is something for everyone in this hub of performing arts.
In ultra-trendy Merchant City, check out:
- Buchanan Street: Pedestrian-only and impressively wide, with lots of shopping opportunities (but mainly big-box stores and chains.)
- Medieval history: One of the oldest parts of the city, Merchant City’s Saltmarket and Trongate areas date back to medieval times. The Tolbooth Steeple dates back to the 17th century.
- Nightlife: from cabarets to comedy bars and some of the world’s top LGBTQ spaces, Merchant City is the place to be for a night out on the town. City Halls and the Old Fruitmarket are both super-famous concert venues, too.
In the East End, take a bit of a breather from the hustle-and-bustle of the city center and Merchant City:
- Glasgow Cathedral: A medieval masterpiece and burial place of patron saint Mungo, definitely worth a visit to see the stained glass.
- Glasgow Necropolis: Overlooking the Cathedral, this Victorian-era cemetery is a serene and lovely place to walk around with great views of the city and cathedral. Don’t miss the Celtic Cross, thought to be the first recorded work by Glasgow’s most famous architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
- Barrowland Ballroom: Glasgow’s premier music venue with a super-cool (and massive) neon sign. Considered one of the world’s best venues, it’s said that most bands strive to play here at least once.
- Glasgow Women’s Library: A celebration of Glasgow’s women through the ages, the library has really great archival and historical materials to check out.
- Barras Market: Known for gregarious traders, the century-old market is a great place for a taste of “real” Glasgow. The Barras Art and Design Centre (BAaD) has a lot of dining options as well.
All in all, we loved Glasgow, and we’re really eager to go back. Not only is it a quick hop to both Loch Lomond and Edinburgh, but in terms of culture, few places have it beat.
Truly, we can’t wait to go back to Scotland in general. We were blown away by its beauty, the friendliness and kindness of Scottish people, and the sense of home you get there, even on a short visit.
For more Scotland content, check out our guides to Loch Lomond and Edinburgh. You can pin this guide for later here or by clicking on the images below. As always, any tips or reactions? Let us know in the comments.
