Glasgow Sights

  1. Barras on Gallowgate

    Glasgow's flea market, the Barras on Gallowgate, is the living, breathing heart of this city in many respects. It has almost a thousand stalls and people come here just for a wander as much as for shopping, which gives the place a holiday air. The Barras is notorious for designer frauds, so be cautious. Watch your wallet, too.

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  2. Botanic Gardens

    The best thing about walking into these beautiful Botanic Gardens is the noise of Great Western Rd quickly receding into the background. Amazingly the lush grounds don't seem that popular with locals (except on sunny weekends) and away from the entrance you may just about have the place to yourself. The wooded gardens follow the riverbank of the River Kelvin and there's plenty of tropical species to discover.

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  3. Burrell Collection

    Amassed by wealthy industrialist Sir William Burrell before being donated to the city, it is housed in an outstanding museum, 3 miles south of the city centre. This idiosyncratic collection of treasure includes everything from Chinese porcelain and medieval furniture to paintings by Renoir and Cézanne. It's not so big as to be overwhelming, and the stamp of the collector lends an intriguing coherence.

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  4. City Chambers

    The grand City Chambers, the seat of local government, were built in the 1880s at the high point of the city's wealth. Its interior is even more extravagant than the exterior. Guided tours are held at and Monday to Friday.

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  5. Clydebuilt

    If immersing yourself in a city's heritage floats your boat, a visit to Clydebuilt will get you paddlin'. It's a superb collection of model ships, industrial displays and narrative, vividly painting the history of the Clyde, the fate of which has been inextricably linked with Glasgow and its people. It's a cleverly designed museum, with twists and turns that offer something new around every corner. Getting here via the Pride o' the Clyde is half the fun.

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  7. Fossil Grove

    With sections of 350-million-year-old fossilised trees lying as they were found, Fossil Grove is an intriguing site. This Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) feels quite spooky and makes you realise you're but a blip on the earth's timeline.

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  8. Gallery of Modern Art

    Scotland's most popular contemporary art gallery, the Gallery of Modern Art features modern works from artists worldwide, in a graceful neo-classical building. The original interior is used to make a daring, inventive art display.

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  9. Glasgow Cathedral

    An landmark that shouldn't be missed, Glasgow Cathedral has a rare timelessness. The dark and imposing interior conjures up medieval might and can send a shiver down the spine. A shining example of pre-Reformation Gothic architecture, it's the only mainland Scottish cathedral to have survived the Reformation.

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  10. Glasgow School of Art

    Mackintosh's greatest building, the Glasgow School of Art, still houses the educational institution. It's hard not to be impressed by the precision of the design; the architect's pencil seems to have shaped everything inside and outside the building. The interior design is strikingly austere, and the library, designed as an addition in 1907, is a masterpiece.

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  11. Glasgow Science Centre

    Scotland's flagship millennium project, the ultra-modern Glasgow Science Centre will keep kids entertained for hours (middle-aged kids too!). Four floors' worth of interactive exhibits bring science and technology alive. Check out the illusions (like rearranging your features via a 3D head scan) and the cloud chamber, showing tracks of natural radiation.

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  13. Holmwood House

    An interesting building designed by Alexander 'Greek' Thomson, Holmwood House dates from 1857. Despite constant ongoing renovations, it's well worth a visit. Look for sun symbols downstairs and stars upstairs in this attractive house with its adaptation of classical Greek architecture.

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  14. House for an Art Lover

    Although designed in 1901 as an entry to a competition run by a German magazine, the House for an Art Lover was not completed until 1996. Mackintosh worked closely with his wife on the design and her influence is evident, especially in the rose motif. The overall result of this brilliant architect's design is one of space and light.

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  15. Hunterian Art Gallery

    Across the road from the Hunterian Museum, the Scottish Colourists (Samuel Peploe, Francis Cadell, JD Fergusson) are well represented in the Hunterian Art Gallery. There are also Sir William MacTaggart's impressionistic Scottish landscapes, and a gem by Thomas Millie Dow. There's a special collection of James McNeill Whistler's limpid prints, drawings and paintings.

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  16. Hunterian Museum

    This museum houses the collection of William Hunter (1718-83), once a student at Glasgow University, and later a physician and medical teacher. It comprises a disparate range of artefacts: a notable coin collection, fossils and minerals, dinosaur eggs, Romano-British stone slabs and carvings, and some of Captain Cook's curios from his voyages to the South Seas.

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  17. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

    In a magnificent Edwardian building this grand Victorian cathedral of culture is one of Glasgow's best, particularly its collection of Scottish and European art, and is the most visited museum in the UK outside of London. The Kelvingrove recently reopened after an enormous refurbishment programme. You could spend days in here...literally. The museum is provocative because it poses many questions of relevance in relation to daily life.

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  19. Lighthouse

    If you've been admiring Glasgow's architecture, make sure you check out the Lighthouse, one of Glasgow's hidden treasures. Tucked away in a small lane, in the former Glasgow Herald building, it serves as Scotland's Centre for Architecture & Design, giving an insight into modern architectural feats. It was designed by Mackintosh in 1893, and also features the Mackintosh Interpretation Centre.

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  20. Mackintosh Church

    Now the headquarters of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, the Mackintosh Church is the only one of Mackintosh's church designs to be built. It has excellent stained glass and relief carvings, and the wonderful simplicity and grace of the barrel-shaped design is particularly inspiring.

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  21. Mackintosh House

    The Mackintosh House is the final section in the gallery. Set up as a reconstruction of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow home (which had to be demolished), the Mackintosh House is startling even today. You ascend from the gallery's sombre ground floor into the cool, white, austere drawing-room. There's something otherworldly about the very mannered style of the beaten silver panels, the long-backed chairs and the surface decorations echoing Celtic manuscript illuminations.

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  22. Museum of Transport

    Across Argyle St from the Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery is the surprisingly interesting and very comprehensive, but badly signposted, Museum of Transport. Not convinced? It's actually a very fine museum with exhibits including a reproduction of a 1938 Glasgow street scene, a display of cars made in Scotland, plus assorted railway locos, trams, bikes (including the world's first pedal-powered bicycle from 1847) and model ships. There's a room dedicated to the Clyde shipyards.

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  23. People's Palace

    The city's oldest park, on Glasgow Green, is the People's Palace. It is an impressive museum of social history, telling the story of the city from 1750 to the present. It has creative, inventive displays, which are great for families - the kids will love the re-creation of a WWII air raid. The Palace was built in the late 19th century as a cultural centre for Glasgow's East End. Drop into the Winter Gardens next door for a coffee.

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  25. Provand's Lordship

    Across the road from St Mungo's Museum is Provand's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow. A rare example of 15th-century domestic Scottish architecture, it was built in 1471 as a manse for the chaplain of St Nicholas hospital. The ceilings and doorways are low, and the rooms are sparsely furnished with period artefacts, except for an upstairs room, which has been furnished to reflect the living space of an early-16th-century chaplain. The building's best feature is its authentic feel - if you ignore the tacky imitation-stone linoleum covering the ground floor.

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  26. Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum

    Visitors with an interest in Scotland's proud military history should duck into the commendable Royal Highland Fusiliers Museum. It charts the history of this and previous regiments from 1678 to the present. The walls are dripping with exhibits, including uniforms, medals, pictures and other militaria. Wrought ironwork in the museum was designed by Mackintosh.

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  27. Scotland Street School Museum

    An impressive Mackintosh building, the Scotland Street School Museum is dominated by two glass towers. It's a fascinating museum of education, with reconstructions of classrooms from Victorian times and the 1940s to the 1960s. The place evokes childhood memories for just about everyone - don't be surprised if you hear a few titters from elderly visitors as they pass the headmaster's office.

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  28. Scottish Football Museum

    Football fans will just love the Scottish Football Museum, which features exhibits on the history of the game in Scotland and the influence of Scots on the world game. Football inspires an incredible passion in Scotland and the museum is crammed full of impressive memorabilia, including a cap and match ticket from the very first international football game (which took place in 1872 between Scotland and England, and ended with a score of 0-0).

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  29. St Mungo's Museum of Religious Life & Art

    A startling achievement, St Mungo's Museum is an audacious attempt to capture the world's major religions in an artistic nutshell. The attraction is twofold: firstly, impressive art that blurs the lines between religion and culture; and secondly the opportunity to delve into different faiths, an experience that can be as deep or shallow as you wish.

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