Glasgow tempts visitors from all over the world with relaxed pub culture, interesting architecture and interesting museums. The seamless combination of Victorian style with modern architecture creates an irresistible mixture, which is a true feast for all architecture buffs out there. The Victorian charm can be admired all over the city, but that doesn’t mean Glasgow is stuck in the past – the famous Riverside Museum is the best proof that Glasgow is as modern as it is traditional. Talking about modern entertainment, no party animal will be disappointed by the crazy nightlife of Glasgow, when the pubs take over the favour of tourists and locals alike. Big bands can be seen playing on iconic venues of Glasgow, and music can be heard literally everywhere. Finally, Glasgow is the go-to city when one wants to shop; it has a huge selection of malls and shopping centres. All this diversity ensures that those who choose Glasgow as the destination for their city break never regret it.
Many bigger shops in the centre of the city, like Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsbury's, offer worse prices than the smaller ones for the same products. If you're not looking for something rare or expensive, make sure to get your groceries at Lidl and Aldi, which do not have such a variety of products but are generally inexpensive.
Many restaurants in Glasgow offer pre-theatre menus from 5:30 PM to 7 PM, depending on the restaurant you choose. These kinds of dinners usually offer a good saving over prices a la carte but are only available for a short amount of time, so make sure you plan your day accordingly so that you do not arrive too late.
Another good way of saving money on food in Glasgow is to try one of the many buffets in the city. These kinds of establishments usually do not have such a broad variety of menu items, but after you pay the entry fee you are welcome to eat as much as you wish, and you can try anything that is displayed on the table.
Just as restaurants, most of the pubs are doing pre-theatre deals on snacks and drinks during the same period of time. If you would rather have a pint of beer with something light to eat, try visiting one of the many pubs in Glasgow instead of a restaurant, where you can also overhear some of the local chit-chats.
If you’re looking for a place to spend a night out, you should definitely try Wetherspoons if you are on a tight budget. The Wetherspoons chain has theme nights almost every day, and attending one will allow you to grab something to drink for a discounted price, and it often comes with some kind of meal for around seven quid.
You can save a great deal of money when you plan and book ahead. Many apartment chains and hotels provide discounts for people who book their rooms a month or two ahead of time when most of the rooms are still vacant. Try Premier Inn or Travelodge, as these are generally cheaper than the most alternatives.
It is not only much easier to get around the city of Glasgow by public transport than it is in your own car or a taxi, but it is also quite a bit cheaper. If you are staying in the city for a couple of days, make sure to get yourself a ticket for the appropriate number of days, as those are cheaper than single tickets.
Though this may seem unlikely, rural Scotland is generally much more expensive than cities, due to the longer distances that goods have to travel to their destination, as well as a relative lack of demand. Because of this – make sure to stock up on supplies before you travel out of the city of Glasgow to save some money.
Have your own car to move around the city or borrowed one from one of the many establishments around the city of Glasgow? Make sure to save as much cash as possible by refuelling your car at supermarket filling stations, as the gasoline there is much cheaper while it retains a high level of quality.
5pm is a great website to visit if you’re looking for discount products and services. Ranging from food, beauty, alcohol to even hairdressers, the site presents a wide assortment of deals which are updated every day, making it a great way to save not only money but also the time that would be wasted on looking for promotions.
Between March and August is when Glasgow is the most attractive, mainly due to the good weather, but also through events and festivals. Winter, on the other hand, is characterised by harsh colds and short days, and that’s when the city is pretty empty – if you want to avoid the crowds, and don’t mind the low temperature, aim for the period between November and March.
Temperatures in Glasgow never really hit any impressive highs, with around 19 °C between June to August high. Winter lasts from late October to early April, with around 2°C lows.
From late October to April, the city of Glasgow gets pretty empty, with the exception being Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Even then, the crowds are nothing spectacular, and therefore that’s when you can scoop the best discounts, mainly on accommodation and food.
Celtic Connections (January)
Burns Night (January)
Glasgow Art Fair (Early April)
Scottish Open (July)
Piping Live! (August)
Glasgay! (September-October)
Hogmanay (December)
Those travelling to Glasgow with a bunch of friends, or larger families, should consider renting an apartment as an alternative to staying in a hotel. Not only does an apartment offer more privacy, but also comes with handy functionality, like a kitchen annex, for example. Prices for serviced apartments in Glasgow start around €40-60 per night.
Budget hotels in Glasgow are perfect for backpackers and those travelling on a tight budget. If you’d like to explore Glasgow without spending too much money, consider staying in a 1-2 star hotel. These hotels charge between €20 and €30 per night and offer a satisfactory degree of comfort.
Standard hotels in Glasgow, those with 3 or 4 stars, offer a higher degree of comfort and are usually located in convenient spots throughout the city, providing easy access to the attractions and sights of Glasgow. Price per night starts around €45 and can reach even €300 per night.
Luxury hotels in Glasgow, such as The Principal Blythswood Square Hotel or Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow, offer impeccable service and the best possible location. With the diverse facilities and amenities, these upscale hotels will satisfy even the most demanding guests. The nightly rate of luxury hotels in Glasgow starts around €300 per night.
Not only is a taxi a very reasonable choice of transportation in Glasgow, but you can also get to know a lot about the city by talking to the driver. The fares in Glasgow are exceptionally cheap, allowing you to easily get around the centre of the city for five pounds or so.
Most of the taxis accept payment by credit card, and a good number of them is wheelchair accessible.
A lot of streets in Glasgow are only one-way, which might be quite frustrating for first-timers and tourists. Driving around the city takes a lot of skill, and you need to keep a watchful eye on the signs, or you can easily get fined.
The traffic, however, is not that bad, and you will be able to reach your destination without much delay most of the time.
There are also plenty of places to park next to the street, where you need to get a ticket from a meter, which cost up to four pounds per hour, but there are also many underground and aboveground parking lots.
You can also rent a car at one of many local companies if you do not have your own vehicle with you on the trip.
A cheap and easy way to travel from one point to another in Glasgow is buses. The buses take off frequently for the whole day, and there are plenty of stops to begin your journey.
You can buy tickets either at kiosks or inside of the buses, but you will need to have exact change for that. There are day tickets available, which cost £4.5, and weekly tickets which go for £17 – these are way better value than timed tickets.
It’s a good idea to get around the city centre or the outskirts by a bicycle, as the cycling route network is quite well-developed in the city.
There are also a couple of rentals and bike-sharing services in the city, where you can get a bike if you do not have your own with you.
Explore the music scene of Glasgow during this two-hour tour with a professional guide who will tell you the history of the music of the city. The tour takes small groups, which allows the guide to give a lot of attention to every person while visiting such places as the Barrowland Ballroom or the Britannia Panopticon.
This tour gives the freedom to hop off at any of the multiple stops and gets you fast to the many attractions of the city. There is also a recorded commentary on the bus, which informs you about the city and its history.
Having both three-day and seven-day options, this explorer pass provides free entry to as many as seventy-eight different heritage attractions in Scotland. Many of the attractions are placed in the vicinity or near the city of Glasgow, and you also get a 20% discount on various audio tours, maps, and souvenirs.
A sixty-minute-long guided tour of the Celtic Park Stadium in Glasgow, which is a must-see for football enthusiasts who decided to choose Glasgow for their vacations. You get to see the dressing rooms, dugout, as well as behind-the-scenes, all the while learning about the legacy of famous football players of Scotland.
This comprehensive tour starts daily at 10 a.m., outside the main door of Glasgow Cathedral. Make sure to dress appropriately, as the tour takes place almost entirely outside. The tour will take you for a walk that takes two hours, and a guide will tell you the history of the highlights of Glasgow’s Old Town.
Taking a full day of your time, this exclusive tour will take you aboard a climate-controlled bus to see the most famous sights of Scotland. The trip will take you along Oban, Glen Coe, Loch Lomond and a few historical castles, where you can fully admire the marvellous landscape of the West Highlands while learning their history.
Visit all of the most notorious sights to see in Glasgow in only half a day with this unique tour, which will take you along the downtown of Glasgow with a local guide. You can customise the tour, which comes with a private guide, to suit your needs and make sure to visit everything that you want to.
Take a four-hour bus tour which will take you to the Kelpies and the Falkirk Wheel, starting from the city of Glasgow. The two gigantic horse head statues are a sight worth seeing and are located by the Forth and Clyde canals. The tour also takes you along the Helix Park and the Falkirk Wheel, which links the two canals.
A must-visit tour for soccer fans all over the globe. This tour will take you through the Hampden Park Stadium and allow you to experience it to the fullest, just as the players do on their match day. This two-hour tour will also show you the museum, underground roadway, and you even get to strike a ball in the Hotshots gallery.
The city of Glasgow is widely known for its exquisite whiskey, as is Scotland in general. Join the owners of the most famous distilleries in Glasgow, who will take you to the most prominent bars and restaurants in Glasgow city centre, where you can hear the history of whiskey, as well as taste some free samples.
If you’re looking for a point to start your sightseeing in Glasgow, this is surely the one to try. The George Square features a bunch of statues of great Scottish personas, such as Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, James Watt, and even Queen Victoria. The square also features the City Chambers, which have free tours too.
The cathedral is placed near the city centre, just a little to the east, and is one of the oldest buildings in Glasgow. The building is said to stand where Saint Kentigern, who is the patron saint of the city, built his first church. A free tour is provided to everyone in the cathedral, and donations are welcome but not required.
This Victorian cemetery might sound like a grim place to visit but is actually quite picturesque. There are plenty of different tombstones and graves, adorned with statues sculpted by famous artists, as well as a great view of the cityscape of Glasgow from its hills. There are even free tours which take place several times a month.
Being one of the few pre-Victorian buildings in the city of Glasgow, the Tolbooth Steeple is placed at the entrance of the Merchant City, a district of the merchants who built their wealth by trading tobacco, sugar, and tea. The building today is a marvellous site to see, and there are plenty of restaurants and cafés placed near.
Being probably the most beautiful of the universities in Glasgow, and maybe even in all of Scotland, the University of Glasgow is a must-see when visiting the city. The university is free to visit by everyone all year, and you may even attend a free lecture or two that are held each month, or take a free guide on the site.
Visit the hidden streets and alleys of Glasgow on the street of Byres Road, which is located close to the University of Glasgow. There are plenty of small-time pubs and bars which provide a cosy atmosphere and low prices, and during nighttime, you may walk through the streets which are adorned with fairy lights.
The riverside of the eight longest river in the United Kingdom is an important historical place, as it is the spot where merchant ships moored from their visits to the British colonies, and where hundreds upon hundreds of ships were built in shipyards. Though most of those are now closed, some are still held as heritage sights and are free to visit.
This disused giant crane is placed in the centre of Glasgow, near the River Clyde. While no longer operational, the crane is still retained as a symbol of the city’s history. It was used to load and unload cargo containers from merchant ships, and now can be admired from afar or up close in all of its glory.
Opened in 1790, the canal was built as a way to quickly cross central Scotland by ship. It provides a route between the Firth of Forth, placed in the north of Edinburgh, and the Firth of Clyde, which resides in the west of Glasgow. Although it does not lead right through Glasgow, it has a basin just north of it.
The gallery is open all week to every customer, and there is no admission fee so you can come in for free. In front of the gallery resides the well-known statue of the Duke of Wellington, which you might recognise from having a traffic cone on its head, which is an additional attraction.
While there is no actual lighthouse in Glasgow, the Lighthouse is a centre for architecture and designs, with rotating exhibitions featuring the most prominent architects of Scotland. There are many contemporary projects and artworks, some of them created by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Being one of the many cultural hubs in the city, the Centre of Contemporary Art, or just CCA, provides hefty exhibition space to many aspiring modern artists. Not only do they have a wide collection of art, but there is also a renowned bookshop, a cafe bar, a cinema and a theatre on the premises of the building.
This one is a must-see for any archeology lover, so come in if you liked the Indiana Jones movies. The museum and art gallery has a huge collection of fossils, dinosaur bones, minerals, furniture and curiosities, all brought from across the world. There is even an original Salvador Dali painting.
If you’re looking for something more eclectic, the Hunterian is a good place to visit during your stay in Glasgow. The museum is located inside of the University of Glasgow and can be visited for free. It holds a vast collection of rare gemstones, scientific instruments, ancient artifacts, and minerals for you to see.
The museum is a marvel even from the outside, as the building itself was designed by the famous architect Zaha Hadid, and resembles a sailing ship with its unique shape. On the inside of the museum, there is a wide variety of old-fashioned, antique trains, trams, cars, motorcycles, and even a replica of the Glasgow subway.
Take a trip to the home of shipbuilding in Glasgow, which has been a huge part of the city’s history in the past. The Centre produced some of the best liners, steamships, and other naval vessels, and to this day holds a few reminders of its glorious past. It is also one of the most admired buildings in the city.
Being quite a unique and unusual museum, the Scotland Street School Museum tells the history of education in Scotland from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. With various reconstructions of old-fashioned classrooms, the museum shows what it was like to attend school in Victorian times and during the war.
Located at the edge of Glasgow Green Park, the museum retells the social history of the inhabitants of Glasgow and showcases their personal experience and memories inside of their households through vivid exhibits. There is also a glasshouse with a café inside of it, with lots of lush greenery.
This museum is dedicated to showcasing the teaching and dogmas of different religions around the world. Almost every religion has been covered in this museum, with the major ones having huge exhibitions. There is even a Britain’s first Zen garden on the premises of the museum, so make sure to stop by.
Make sure to visit the oldest building on all of Glasgow, dating as far back as 1471. The Provand’s Lordship lies just next to the Glasgow Cathedral and is thought to have been the house of clergy and staff of it. Nowadays, the building is decorated with 17th-century furniture, but the walls of the building are still original.
Our list of the best hotels in Glasgow are: Grand Central Hotel Glasgow, Citizenm Glasgow, Radisson Blu Hotel Glasgow, The Z Hotel Glasgow and Crowne Plaza Glasgow. Discover the full list of best hotels in Glasgow.
The finest examples of luxury hotels in Glasgow include Hilton Garden Inn Glasgow City Centre, DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central, Hallmark Hotel Glasgow, Glasgow Marriott Hotel, Village Hotel Glasgow, Kimpton Blythswood Square Hotel and Carlton George Hotel. Discover the full list of luxury hotels in Glasgow.
Those trying to visit Glasgow on a tight budget will find everything they need in hotels such as Jurys Inn Glasgow, Ibis Styles Glasgow Centre George Square, Holiday Inn Express Glasgow City Ctr Riverside, Argyll Hotel Glasgow, Hampton by Hilton Glasgow Central, GoGlasgow Urban Hotel and Point A Hotel Glasgow. Discover the full list of Cheap hotels in Glasgow.
Taking factors such as weather, crowds and prices, the best months to visit Glasgow for a city break are November, December, February and March.
Glasgow offers plenty of exciting attractions and things to do. Must-sees in Glasgow include: Merchant City Music Walking Tour, City Sightseeing Glasgow Hop-On Hop-Off Tour, Historic Scotland Explorer Pass, Celtic Park Stadium Tour and Tennent’s Heritage Walking Trail.
A city pass in Glasgow costs around €37.
24-hour ticket for public transport in Glasgow costs around €4.50.
The best night clubs in Glasgow include: The Sanctuary, The Garage, SWG3, Sub Club and La Cheetah Club.
Judging on the reviews and customer opinions, the best bars in Glasgow are: Nice’n’Sleazy, The Old Hairdresser’s, Stravaigin, Mono and Chinaski's.
Your choice of the best restaurants in Glasgow may vary depending on your taste, however, Alchemilla, Julie’s Kopitiam, Ox and Finch and Cail Bruich are some of the most popular choices.
Top 5 restaurants in Glasgow include: The Hanoi Bike Shop, Brel, Ubiquitous Chip, The Dhabba and Number Sixteen.
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