Things to do in Glasgow
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Glasgow
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter, Celtic Connections season, darkest and cheapest, with about seven hours of daylight in December.
Spring, the smart value window, longer days and parks at their best, with May among the drier months.
Summer, festival peak and long light, book everything early for TRNSMT and the event stack.
Autumn, locals favourite, gig season restarts, prices ease and September is often most settled.
Best months overall for weather, value and breathing room.
What's on
- Celtic Connections mid-January to early February
The world largest winter Celtic music festival, with hundreds of gigs across city venues.
- TRNSMT Usually three days in late June or early July
The city biggest popular music weekend on Glasgow Green, about 150,000 fans over three days.
- Glasgow Mela early July
Scotland largest South Asian festival in Kelvingrove Park, free.
- Merchant City Festival late July
Street performance and food festival in Merchant City, free.
- World Pipe Band Championships mid-August
More than 200 bands on Glasgow Green, a spectacle even for piping sceptics.
- Doors Open Days September
Normally closed buildings open free, including City Chambers interiors and industrial gems.
- Glasgow Film Festival late February to early March
Premieres and director events centred on the Glasgow Film Theatre.
Best things to do in Glasgow
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The best free start in Glasgow, with Dali, floating heads, Sir Roger the elephant and a daily organ recital.
The Burrell Collection
A one man collection of tapestries, porcelain and Degas in a light filled building inside Pollok Country Park.
Barrowland Ballroom
The 1934 neon signed ballroom with a sprung floor, where a Glasgow crowd in full voice is the experience.
Glasgow Cathedral
A dark, vertical medieval cathedral that survived the Reformation intact, at the heart of old Glasgow.
Glasgow Necropolis
Victorian city of the dead on the hill behind the cathedral, with the best free skyline view in the east end.
St Mungo Museum
Small museum of religious life opposite the cathedral, worth 30 minutes on the medieval heart walk.
Riverside Museum
Zaha Hadid transport museum with trams, locomotives and a recreated Edwardian street on the Clyde.
Tall Ship Glenlee
The 1896 tall ship moored outside the Riverside Museum, boarding both makes the full visit.
Where to stay in Glasgow
West End
best overall base, 3 plus nights, food led and repeat trips
Byres Road cafes, Kelvingrove and the Botanic Gardens on foot, with Finnieston restaurants ten minutes south.
City Centre
first timers and short stays
Both stations and the walkable grid, with Blythswood Square quieter and Merchant City the handsome warehouse district.
Southside
families and a quieter, greener stay
Sandstone villas, Queens Park and Pollok Country Park, with Shawlands cafes and trains to Central in ten minutes.
Merchant City
food, bars, weekend buzz
The densest cluster of good restaurants and bars, five minutes from both stations, lively at weekends.
Finnieston
Hydro events, restaurant row
Glasgow's restaurant strip under the Finnieston Crane, beside the SEC and Hydro, quieter than the centre.
Think twice about
- Sauchiehall Street and its immediate lanes
Derelict gap sites after two fires, long streetworks, closures and an unsettled late night feel. Pass through, do not base here.
- Immediate Central Station and Argyle Street underpass blocks
Rough sleeping and street drinking are most visible around the station entrances and the Hielanmans Umbrella, with persistent panhandling.
- Govanhill as a first time base
Exciting food and pubs, but one of Scotland most deprived areas with fly tipping and refuse problems in back courts. Visit for dinner, base in Shawlands.
- Far East End and northern housing estates beyond Dennistoun and Maryhill
Almost no visitor accommodation or evening infrastructure, and higher recorded crime in some estates tourists have no reason to enter.
Best restaurants in Glasgow
Cail Bruich
Glasgow flagship one star, Scottish tasting menus of west coast seafood and game in a relaxed open kitchen.
Unalome by Graeme Cheevers
The other Glasgow star, a small calm room for modern British tasting menus with French technique.
The Gannet
The Finnieston pioneer, seasonal Scottish plates and natural leaning wine at a level above its prices.
Ox and Finch
The most useful restaurant in Glasgow, great-value sharing plates that work for dates, groups or solo.
Ka Pao
Southeast Asian sharing plates from the Ox and Finch team, great value and loud in the good way.
Mother India
The curry name Glaswegians give for their favourite, decades old, family run and tapas style alongside classics.
Ranjit's Kitchen
Tiny, joyful Punjabi vegetarian canteen in the Southside, bring your own with queues at peak and old prices.
Chaakoo
Iranian Indian cafe cooking in the centre, the accessible group version and good for pre gig dinners.
Best bars in Glasgow
The Pot Still
The whisky pub pick on Hope Street, with rarities reaching the top tier.
Ben Nevis
Finnieston pub for folk sessions and drams on the Argyle Street strip.
Scotia Bar
Historic pub dating to 1792, one of Glasgow's best for a traditional night.
Babbity Bowster
Historic Merchant City pub for a traditional Glasgow night.
Outdoor things to do in Glasgow
Loch Lomond
The essential day out by train to Balloch and Luss, with shore walks, a pier and an optional loch cruise.
Conic Hill
A 361 metre, two to three hour climb on the Highland Boundary Fault, with the loch island chain below.
Ben Lomond
A 974 metre Munro on a clear tourist path, the full day version of a Loch Lomond east shore hike.
Stirling Castle
Scotland best castle day by train, a Renaissance palace and great hall on a volcanic rock.
The National Wallace Monument
Climb 246 steps for views over Stirling and the fields where Scotland battles were fought below.
Pollok Golf Club
Alister MacKenzie remodelled parkland course in Pollok Park, immaculate and clubby at the top tier.
Haggs Castle Golf Club
Former European Tour venue in the Pollok estate, the sweet spot for a visitor round with club hire.
Linn Park Golf Course
Glasgow Life municipal golf, basic and friendly at a fraction of private club prices.
Best hotels in Glasgow
Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel
The city benchmark luxury stay, a Georgian terrace on a private garden square with a spa and cocktail bar.
Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens
Five Victorian townhouses on a tree lined terrace, Glasgow most romantic and hushed luxury address.
Dakota Glasgow
The design hotel version of luxury, dark and sleek with a grill restaurant and champagne terrace.
voco Grand Central
The grand railway hotel attached to Central Station, the best location if arriving and leaving by train.
citizenM Glasgow
Small, clever self check in rooms with XL beds and a living room lobby people actually use.
Courtyard by Marriott Glasgow SEC
The events workhorse done well, with river views up top and a walk to the Hydro location.
Glasgow Youth Hostel
The best cheap bed in the city, a grand Victorian building overlooking Kelvingrove Park with private rooms.
Moxy Glasgow Merchant City
Marriott youth brand at the cheap end, small rooms and a big social lobby in Merchant City.
Is Glasgow expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | £70 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | £150 a person |
| Splurge | £300 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Barrowland Ballroom: weeks ahead
- King Tut's Wah Wah Hut: a few days ahead
- Sub Club: a few days ahead
- Celtic Park: weeks ahead
- Ibrox Stadium: weeks ahead
- Scottish Football Museum: a few days ahead
- Loch Lomond: a few days ahead
- Stirling Castle: a few days ahead
- Cail Bruich, Unalome and Fallachan need three to six weeks for weekends.
- Barrowland, King Tuts and Hydro gig tickets can go in days, use official sellers and Twickets for sold out shows.
- Football stadium tours on match weekends and Old Firm hospitality need months, not weeks.
- Book West End and Blythswood hotels early for TRNSMT, Celtic Connections and Commonwealth Games periods.
- Book Glengoyne tours and Loch Lomond cruises ahead in school holidays.
- Finnieston restaurants at mid tier and above need booking on Fridays and Saturdays.
Is Glasgow safe?
- Use main streets, not lanes, after midnight, and licensed taxis or night buses from the centre.
- Watch drunken crowds around Central Station and Sauchiehall taxi ranks between midnight and 3am.
- Avoid unlit parks after dark, including Kelvingrove Park.
- Never display rival football colours near either ground and leave derby day pub arguments to locals.
- Pickpocketing in crowded bars and station areas is the main visitor risk. Emergency 999, police non emergency 101.
Glasgow travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall axis sold as sightseeing, it is diminished retail for an hour, not a day.
- The hop on hop off bus as transport, the grid is walkable and the Subway is faster.
- Marked up whisky in Buchanan Street souvenir shops, buy at a distillery or The Good Spirits Co on Bath Street.
- Chain clustered George Square tourist edge for food, Merchant City five minutes east is better at every price.
- Trusting a sunny morning, carry a waterproof in July and build each day around an indoor pick.
Getting around Glasgow: public transport and more
- Walk the grid, centre to Merchant City is ten minutes and centre to Finnieston is 25 minutes.
- The Subway, called the Clockwork Orange, is one circular line with 15 stations linking centre, West End and Southside.
- Central and Queen Street stations are a ten minute walk apart and not connected by rail.
- Use buses or the train to Pollokshaws West for Pollok Park and the Burrell.
- Do not hire a car for the city itself, hire one only for a Loch Lomond or Glencoe self drive day.
- Glasgow Airport is 15 to 25 minutes by the 500 bus or taxi, with no train link.
Who Glasgow suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make Glasgow your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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