Location: Glasgow
Top Things to do in Glasgow
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What to do and see in Glasgow, Scotland: The Best Free Things to do
As Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow is famed for its culture, shopping and people. Spend your day exploring a wide range of fascinating free museums and galleries, enjoying the UK’s best shopping outside of London, and taking advantage of tips from friendly local people on the city’s hidden gems — then choose from 130+ weekly musical events for a special night out. Glasgow is also the perfect base for exploring more of Scotland, with great connections to the Highlands and the islands.
Restaurants in Glasgow
1. Kelvingrove Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,075 reviews
The River Kelvin runs through the West End's large and attractive park which hosts festivals and events throughout the year.
Reviewed By paullegate - St Ives, United Kingdom
Kelvingrove Park is a 85 acre park located in the West End of Glasgow and was created in 1852, it was originally known as the West End Park. The River Kelvin flows through the park before it joins the River Clyde. There are many attractions to be seen in the Park including The Stewart Memorial Fountain, the Lord Frederick Sleigh Roberts Monument as well as other statues, a bandstand, and bowling and croquet greens. I have been to Kelvingrove Park a number of times in the past. On my most recent visit I got the Subway train to Kelvinbridge station and walked from there into the park. It is a beautifully landscaped space and extremely well maintained and is somewhere that should be explored on a visit to Glasgow.
2. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15,301 reviews
Free Entry. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Scotland's most visited free attraction. With 22 themed, state-of-the-art galleries displaying an astonishing 8000 objects, the collections are extensive, wide-ranging and internationally-significant.
Reviewed By mkoperabuff
Great museum fabulous art deco MacIntosh exhibits, natural history, social and Scottish history, furniture, decorations and marvelous paintings of Scottish, French, Dutch, English and other masterpieces, e.g. Rossetti, Turner, Monet, Cezanne. Beautiful high Victorian opulent building, organ concert, nice cafe and shops and free, please shop or leave a donation well worth it. Great for children too especially the natural history exhibits.
3. Pollok Country Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,019 reviews
Over 360 acres of green, this lovely park is best known for its well-kept scenic running and walking trails.
Reviewed By dennissU1613AA - Glasgow, United Kingdom
This is Glasgow's biggest park. It is still beautiful but is currently suffering from neglect.The stables area leading to the River Cart weir and mill is closed off by serious fencing. The area is in a bad state of decay and has been for some time This is disgraceful. Post covid, this will once again be visited by many people from overseas who through tourism, generate much needed money for our beleaguered city. Please get it sorted. There is so much to see. Sir John Stirling Maxwell's amazing mansion built 1752 The rustic bridge over the River Cart, the river weir, the extensive gardens and endless walking paths and the famous Highland cattle which were hiding( I hope) on this visit.. Unfortunately the house is closed for visits under current covid restrictions..
4. Merchant City
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 761 reviews
Self-guided walking tour maps are available from George Square Tourist Office of Merchant City, now a vibrant historic cafe quarter and designer-shopping mecca. Highlights of this tour, which dates back to medieval times, include the grand neo-classical halls and Georgian townhouses built for Glasgow's rich tobacco barons and shipping merchants.
Reviewed By ian_dempster - Wigan, United Kingdom
Merchant city is a great area full of splendid buildings restaurants bars and as a great vibe. Love the converted fruit market.
5. Glasgow Green
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 471 reviews
One of the oldest and most historic parks in Scotland stretches from the Saltmarket at the High Court across to the Calton and Bridgeton districts, and was used mainly for sheep and cattle grazing until the nineteenth century.
Reviewed By johnhouston2 - Knaresborough, United Kingdom
Not only is Glasgow Green the oldest public park in Glasgow – it is the oldest in Britain. In 1450 James II gave the land at Glasgow Green to the Bishop of Glasgow for public grazing. Eventually it became a public space protected by the city fathers, and over many centuries it provided a welcome escape from the crowded tenements of the old town. The park has been used as a washing, bleaching and drying area by local people, as a rallying point for Jacobite troops in 1745, a site of public executions until 1865, and for political rallies and public festivals. The current layout of Glasgow Green dates back between 1816 and 1826 when major landscape works were completed reinforcing the Green’s status as Glasgow’s people’s park. This splendid 55 hectares/136 acres green space truly deserves to be called the lungs of the city and is situated within walking distance of the city centre, just to the east of the Saltmarket. My visit today was the first in many years and brought back lovely childhood memories from the 1950s when I was brought to the Green by my Grannie and Aunties when I stayed with them across the river in Oatlands during my school holidays. As a much older visitor, I thoroughly enjoyed our stroll and admired the splendid architecture of the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens, the stunning Doulton Fountain and the views of the nearby Templeton Carpet Factory (see separate reviews re these places). We also went down to the riverside where we stood on a lovely footbridge and watched rowers from the local rowing clubs glide smoothly underneath. The Clyde here is rather lovely and the variety of birdlife we saw is testament to the work that must have been done over the years to clean the river up.
6. City Chambers
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 983 reviews
Inaugurated by Queen Victoria in 1888, Glasgow City Chambers dominates George Square and is currently home to Glasgow City Council. The grand marble staircase and banqueting hall are among the building's many highlights. Free guided tours are conducted at 10:30am and 2:30pm on weekdays except public holidays and special events.
Reviewed By cindyb1973
Although we did not get to actually tour this building, we were able to walk around the lobby/reception area, Absolutely gorgeous place, gorgeous marble and stairways, I believe guided tours are also available, we were just there after hours but there was a staff person at the reception desk and he was very helpful. And the United States Statue of Liberty stands on top of this building!!! Across the street from this building is George Square that boasts several statues and memorial sites, easy walk around and informative as well.
7. Glasgow Botanic Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,177 reviews
This unique glasshouse located in the Botanic Gardens is a familiar landmark in Glasgow.
Reviewed By Travel322932
Glasgow Botanic Garden is an eight-acre area in the West End of Glasgow with beautiful parkland, wooded areas and a number of vast glasshouses with a huge selection of plants from all over the world. The largest of these is the Kibble Palace, a magnificent circular structure with regularly spaced seating benches. Honestly, the ambiance inside is incredibly peaceful and a stunning and huge variety of plants fill the high ceilinged space with an awesome display of nature. The other very large glasshouses contain specimens of plants you couldn't experience without visiting a tropical rain forest and it really does give an appreciation of the value of the natural plant world. The exterior grounds are immaculately maintained and include a historical section of roses introduced to Britain from the 15th century to the present day all easily accessed via a network of pathways. I'm a wheelchair user and there was virtually no area of the gardens that I could not easily access and disabled parking, although not specifically marked, is available. Vehicles displaying valid disabled badge are allowed to park on the main roadway within the park adjacent to the glasshouses There is an exquisite cafeteria in the grounds serving a selection of excellent hot and cold foods and every member of staff throughout the gardens are very friendly and are all very knowledgeable, approachable and helpful. To conclude, I would highly recommend Glasgow Botanic Gardens for a relaxed and very interesting day out.
8. Govan Old Parish Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 137 reviews
Reviewed By Sandyd264 - Kincardine, Canada
This small church houses the Govan stones. They are Viking rune and early Celtic. The church itself is fantastic. The church is 4 minutes walk from Govan subway station. I would do this, then the Fairfield shipping museum (another 5 mins walk) too. Please, don’t miss this. It is a hidden gem in Glasgow. Definitely recommend
9. Duke of Wellington Statue
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 691 reviews
An iron statue of the Duke of Wellington.
Reviewed By johnhouston2 - Knaresborough, United Kingdom
Arguably, in a country festooned with thousands of historic grand and artistic statues, this one of the Duke of Wellington in Glasgow city centre is the most iconic. I read an article by a Glasgow journalist and her opening lines seemed to explain it all. “Edinburgh has the Castle. London has Big Ben. And Glasgow? Well, Glasgow has a statue with a traffic cone on its head.” But before further comment re the traffic cone, here’s the official bit: The equestrian Wellington Statue is a statue of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. It is located on Royal Exchange Square, outside the Gallery of Modern Art near the end of Ingram Street and was sculpted by Italian artist Carlo Marochetti and erected in 1844. For the best part of 140 years, the statue stood on its plinth without much fanfare, but that all changed in the early 1980s, when a traffic cone mysteriously started appearing on top of the Duke of Wellington’s head. Nobody knows how the practice began and most theories suggest that a drunk reveller in the city centre scaled the statue after a night out in order to adorn the Duke with his new accessory. In Glasgow? Surely not! At various stages, the city council has removed the cones and tried to come up with schemes to halt the practice altogether. Despite such attempts however, the cone has remained for over 30 years, and whenever a cone is removed, it is only a matter of days before a new one appears in its place. In 2013, the council proposed a scheme to double the height of the plinth in order to deter intrepid cone fans, but the immediate and emphatic backlash from the Glaswegian public showed that the practice was not widely considered an act of vandalism, but rather a representation of local culture, and within 24 hours, a ‘Keep the Cone’ Facebook page had accumulated over 72,000 fans who united in opposition of the council’s plans. It is clear that the statue with the cone on its heid has become one of Glasgow’s most iconic images and in 2011 the ‘Coneheid’ statue was named by Lonely Planet as one of the top ten most bizarre monuments on Earth. And I must say that I agree with the founder member of the Keep the Cone campaign when he said: “The cone represents an important part of the city’s identity – Glasgow’s unique sense of humour. It’s a harmless way of ‘sticking it to The Man’ and it simply gives people a laugh or reminds them of good times.” And even the authorities have shown a bit of pragmatic common sense and have finally realised that the statue with the traffic cone means more to the heritage of Glasgow than the statue itself ever has.
10. Mitchell Library
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 424 reviews
Reviewed By SusanR159 - Kilsyth, United Kingdom
We went on a guided tour of the library which included a behind the scenes treat. This is a regular event. The Mitchell is an incredible library which houses many original manuscripts and letters as well as an immense collection of historical and contemporary books. There is a genealogy section, music pods for practising complete with pianos, computers available for use, quiet study areas, maps, newspaper archives, and so much more. We were amazed to be told that we could become members even though we didn't live in the Glasgow area. So we did just that and are looking forward to going back very soon.
