Despite having visited Scotland several times, my wife and I had never visited its largest city by population: Glasgow. That is, until a few weeks ago.
A friend from New York was over in the UK for work and, after spending time in London, was going to Glasgow to explore the city with a friend she was traveling with. She reached out to us seeing as we live in the UK now and, with Glasgow “only” being a three hour drive away from where we live, Shae and I decided to head up there for the weekend to hang out with them.
Growing up in the UK, I’d had a perception in the 80s and 90s of Glasgow being a bit of a rough area. I don’t know if that was actually true back then, but I’d heard over the past couple of decades that Glasgow is now a lovely city with lots of culture. I was therefore looking forward to finally checking out the city and I didn’t leave disappointed. In fact, we’d love to return as there’s so much more there to see.
Here’s a roundup of everything that we got up to in Glasgow, as well as a little further afield.
Where we stayed in Glasgow
Our friend was staying at the AC Hotel Glasgow which is a Marriott brand. That’s not pet-friendly and we were bringing our dog along for the weekend, so we needed a hotel that allows pets.
I had a couple of Marriott 35K free night certificates expiring in the next few months that weren’t earmarked for anything else, so I redeemed those—topped up with a couple of thousand points per night—for a two night stay at the Glasgow Marriott hotel.
We enjoyed our stay overall. There’s an excellent health club with a large, heated indoor swimming pool, a sauna, steam room, and large fitness and exercise rooms.
If you have Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status or higher, there’s an executive lounge that provides food and complimentary beer and wine in the evenings (you can also pay cash for a room with executive lounge access).
For those with Platinum status or higher, breakfast is served in the main restaurant—Cast Iron Grill—rather than the executive lounge. That means you get a more comprehensive selection of food.
The hotel is in a good location downtown as it’s within a good walking distance of many activities that you might want to do. It’s also not far from train stations, nor Glasgow airport.
You can read my full review of the Glasgow Marriott hotel here.
What we did in & around Glasgow
Alpine Coaster at Midlothian Snowsports Centre
On our drive up to Glasgow, my wife surprised me with a quick stop at Midlothian Snowsports Centre just outside of Edinburgh (Scotland’s capital is just over an hour’s drive east of Glasgow).
That’s because she’d booked me a few tickets to ride their Alpine Coaster, the first of its kind in Scotland. The track is almost one kilometer long (315 meters up, 667 meters down) and you travel at up to 28mph, although you can control the speed with brakes if you don’t want to go full pelt.
Shae had gotten me tickets for it as I’d enjoyed the Alpine Coaster in Leavenworth, WA when we visited a couple of years ago; here’s a video I recorded of that experience.
It seems like you can get some lovely scenic views when riding the Alpine Coaster just outside of Edinburgh, but we got a little unlucky with the weather that day as there was low-lying cloud or fog. Still, I really enjoyed it and it’s a lot of fun if you’re into that kind of activity.
Tickets are £7 per ride (~$9.50), or three for £19 (~$25.50). It’s a popular activity, so it’s best to book tickets in advance as tickets aren’t always available on the day.
The Pot Still
Shae had another surprise for me the night we arrived. She’d found a fun whisky bar called The Pot Still which was only a 15 minute walk from our hotel. The Pot Still has an impressive selection of more than 1,000 whiskies to choose from.
In addition to the huge individual whisky selection, they had a set of seven different preselected whisky flights you could choose from.
The original plan had just been to try a few different whiskies, then head back to our hotel to watch the England vs Norway quarter-final game in the World Cup. However, the bar ended up showing the game on TV (albeit minus the commentary) and I was enjoying trying the different whiskies so much, we decided to stick around to watch the game.
One flight became two, then the game went into extra time and I ordered two or three more individual whiskies to try them out. Needless to say, that probably wasn’t my wisest choice, despite drinking a lot of water along the way to try balancing things out, and left me feeling fairly tender the next day.
Falkirk Wheel
About 45 minutes northeast of Glasgow is the town of Falkirk which has a couple of popular attractions for people visiting the area, so we took our friends there as they were interested in checking them out.
The first was the Falkirk Wheel. It opened in 2002 and was built to connect the Union Canal which is above to the Forth & Clyde Canal below. Previously, there was a series of 11 locks used to raise or lower barges (narrowboats) along the route, a process that took close to an entire day to traverse.
The Falkirk Wheel is an elegant solution to that. It’s a rotating boat lift and is, at the time of writing this, the only one of its kind in the entire world. It uses the Archimedes Principle of water displacement to ensure that both arms of the wheel weigh the same, thereby reducing the energy needed to power the wheel. In fact, it only has to use the equivalent power of boiling eight electric kettles of water in order to power each 180° rotation.
Here’s a timelapse video of it in action (not recorded by me) to give a sense of what I’m talking about:
One of the best parts of the Falkirk Wheel is that you can take a ride on it. At the time of writing this, it costs £15.70 for adults (~$21) and £8.58 (~$11.50) for children ages 5-15, with children under the age of five being free.
This is another activity where it’s worth booking tickets in advance as it’s a very popular tourist attraction—close to half a million people visit it each year. When it’s your time to ride, you get on board a barge and that enters the caisson on the arm at the bottom.
The 180° rotation takes about five minutes. It’s such a gentle movement that you don’t notice that you’re being raised unless you look out the window and see that you’re gradually getting higher.
As a side note, one of the things I’m loving about living back in the UK is how many attractions and activities are dog-friendly and the Falkirk Wheel is one of them. We’d visited Scotland with friends last year for my 45th birthday and left Truffles with a dog-sitter for the couple of weeks we were away, so it was nice to get to bring her along this time.
Once at the top, you take a short trip through a tunnel on the Union Canal, before returning back down.
In addition to riding on the wheel, there are several other activities you can do at the Falkirk Wheel. You can go on a Behind The Wheel tour, do archery, hire a paddleboard, canoe, or eBoat, play minigolf, or go Zorbing.
We didn’t have time to go Zorbing during this visit, but it’s definitely something I’d love to do at some point. If you’re not familiar with Zorbing, they’re giant inflatable balls that you can get inside and run around as though you’re in a hamster ball. Some Zorbing locations let you roll downhill in them, while the experience at the Falkirk Wheel has you Zorbing on the canal below.
The Kelpies
The other major attraction in Falkirk are the Kelpies. Built in 2014 by sculptor Andy Scott, they’re two giant horse head sculptures.
They’re named the Kelpies after the mythological creatures that are said to live in Scotland’s lochs (lakes), rivers, and streams. They’re thought of as shape-shifting water horses that prey on humans who dare to cross their path, pulling them into the water.
The Kelpies are 30 meters (98.5 feet) tall. They have a metallic skeleton inside, with their metallic skin being held in place with more than 12,000 bolts.
We only visited the Kelpies during the day this time around, but when visiting them last year we also returned at nighttime as they get lit up after dark.
The Kelpies are free to visit, although there is a nominal parking fee if you’ll be driving there.
As with the Falkirk Wheel, the Kelpies are pet-friendly and so Truffles got to join us there too.
Sunday roast at Blackmill Bar & Kitchen
We wanted our friends to have a chance to experience a Sunday roast in the UK, so after visiting the Kelpies we drove a little further north to a nice pub just outside of Stenhousemuir called Blackmill Bar & Kitchen.
Many pubs in the UK are pet-friendly inside and out. This was no exception which was handy seeing as Truffles was joining us for the day. We all ordered roast beef which was tasty, although it didn’t end up being the most amazing roast dinner we’ve ever had.
The Clydesdale Distillery
After an afternoon out in Falkirk, we drove back with our friends to Glasgow and dropped Truffles off at our hotel before heading on to one more activity which wasn’t pet-friendly. On the banks of the River Clyde is the recently-built The Clydesdale Distillery, the city’s first single malt distillery in more than a century.
You can do a tasting at their bar, but they also run a few different tours. The only one that we could fit in that day based on their timings was their chocolate and whisky tour, so we booked four tickets costing £39 (~$52) per person.
Our tour guide Ross was entertaining during the tour of the facility, as well as during the whisky tasting afterwards.
Having more-than-slightly overdone things the night before, I couldn’t face drinking any whisky during the tour and so I’d offered to drive us all to the distillery and then back to our hotels.
Thankfully Scotland’s distilleries are responsible and do their best to discourage drink-driving. As a result, many—including The Clydesdale Distillery—offer ‘driver drams’. Driver drams are small bottles or jars that you can take the whisky home in to enjoy there, so I took advantage of that opportunity. The jars were labeled, so you know which whisky to pour into which jar. At the end of the tour, you’re also each given a small whisky glass to take home as a memento.
Scotties in the City Sculptures
I’ve written before about some of the sculptures hunts we enjoyed in the US, so it was nice to see that Glasgow has its own collection called Scotties in the City.
This is a collection of 40 large and 52 small sculptures of Scottie dogs, beautifully decorated by local artists. We didn’t go hunting for all of them as we didn’t have anywhere near the time needed to check them all out. Nonetheless, we did come across about half a dozen of them just from our general explorations.
There’s not much longer to see all of these in the wild though as the display is due to end on August 16, 2026. However, they’re then being auctioned off in September, so hopefully at least some of them will be purchased by local businesses and kept on public display.
Glasgow Botanic Gardens
After checking out of the Glasgow Marriott, we stopped at several other places in Glasgow before driving home. The first of those was Glasgow Botanic Gardens which offers free entry to the public.
The weather was very nice that Monday lunchtime, so there were quite a few people out and about enjoying the gardens.
Like several of the activities we did that weekend, Glasgow Botanic Gardens is dog-friendly. The only places they’re not allowed into are the Conservatory and the Kibble Palace.
The center of the Kibble Palace reminded me of Changi Airport in Singapore.
Murals
Glasgow has some other incredible public artwork, including dozens of murals that are part of the City Centre Mural Trail.
We didn’t visit all of the murals, but my favorite one that we did see was the stunning Saint Mungo mural. Saint Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow and a well-established homelessness charity in the UK is named after him. The mural features Saint Mungo with a robin; one of the four miracles he’s said to have performed in his life was bringing a robin back to life that had been killed by some of his classmates at school.
You can find the Saint Mungo mural on Google Maps here.
That mural was created by an artist who goes by the name of Smug. They also created another impressive nearby mural titled Cult of St Enoch.
Glasgow Cathedral
Just around the corner from those two murals is Glasgow Cathedral. Dating back to the 1100s (although much of the current structure was built in the 1200s), it’s free to visit and tour inside, with donations being welcome. It apparently features the tomb of Saint Mungo, but we didn’t have time to look around ourselves on this visit as we had to get back home for something that evening.
Glasgow Necropolis
Behind the cathedral is the Glasgow Necropolis, a cemetery built on a hill where more than 50,000 people have been buried over the years.
It’s free to enter and walk around, but be aware that some of the hills are fairly steep and so it might be a little tricky to explore if you have mobility issues.
Your suggestions
It seemed like there was lots more to do and see in Glasgow, so please share your recommendations below if you’ve either enjoyed doing something there in the past or your research for a future trip has turned up some fun things to do.
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I left this page open to comment, but sorry it’s days later!
My first visit to the UK (I spend several months a year there now), I had planned to go to both Edinburgh and Glasgow; however, Edinburgh was a stopover for me, as my train went through there and was already a long journey. I snatched a room on points and then made my way to my multi-day Glasgow stay after.
On my way to Kings Cross in a Black Cab, the driver asked me where else I planned to visit. I said I was going to Glasgow with a short stop in Edinburgh. I will never forget what this native Brit said (and you know the Black Cab drivers are some of the smartest folks in London!):
And that has remained through the years–in other words, sure, Edinburgh is fine, but overhyped. Glasgow is the best-kept secret in the UK, I think.
I’ve returned to Glasgow twice since, for several days each time. My go-to hotel is the Voco Grand Central because it’s IN the train station and has mounds of history.
I also loved the Burrell Collection, which someone mentioned below. Also after the bus ride to the museum, you walk a short distance to the entrance. On that short walk, you may encounter the classic “hairy cows” which are famous up there.
A couple years back Glasgow hosted one of the only authorized Banksy exhibits. There’s always a Banksy exhibit somewhere but virtually all of them are NOT authorized by him.
Glasgow, indeed, is a pretty city that doesn’t yet know it is pretty. I kind of like it that way.
I’d also recommend Kelvingrove Art Museum. You can hit that, University of Glasgow Cloisters and the Botanical Gardens all in a day, plus lunch / dinner at places in Finnieston.
If you’re not going to the Highlands on a Scotland trip, take a local train to Pollokshaws West and go to Pollok Country Park. Pollok House is suppose to reopen soon, The Burrell Collection is a fairly good museum, and then you have the resident Highland Cows. Occasionally they’re off in an edge of their fields, but they tend to be visible most of the time and by the railings by the road / path.
Thanks Stephen!
Interesting that @Dee and @Peter both preferred Glasgow to Edinburgh.
We are headed back to Edinburgh shortly to spend 10 days at Fringe (what an event!) and visiting friends. Your post and the comments are making we wished we’d blocked out some Glasgow time. 🙂
Great report and photography! Thanks Stephen and the commenters for many great ideas of things to do! (I still haven’t made it to Scotland and am definitely looking for an opportunity to go there — the trip planned for April 2020 got cancelled due to Covid, and the one planned for August 2023 due to a sick family member.)
I’m an urban planner by profession so I found the Tenement House museum fascinating. I really liked the vibe of the neighborhood around Buccleuch Street in general, right in the crook of where the M8 makes its turn. I’d be happy to hang out in the terraced housing in that area for a couple weeks with no itinerary and just be a temporary local.
Went to the Pot Still in February and was lucky enough to have their very last dram of 1979 Scapa (my favorite scotch). There was also an Eritrean-Ethiopian restaurant around the corner with amazing food.
Loving your trip write ups lately – great read. I much preferred Glasgow to Edinburgh – felt like a “real” place. A narrowboat holiday via the Falkirk Wheel is high on the list!
What a great report! Thanks so much for writing it all up, Stephen!
Fun memories in this very underrated and friendly city. Another good outing is taking ScotRail to Balloch to end up in The Trossachs, and walk over to the docks for a beautiful cruise around Loch Lomond.
Loved the post. Thanks for sharing!
Great photography, too!
In addition to your list…
In Glasgow: The Transportation Museum (designed by Zaha Hadid), Kelingrove Art Museum, the Mackintosh designed tea room, the Mackintosh house on the University campus
Near Glasgow: Helensburgh – Mackintosh designed house The Hill House (owned by the National Trust)
We loved Glasgow more than Edinburgh.
Stephen- we must have just missed you! My son and I rode the alpine coaster last weekend. We were fortunate and it was a clear day, and the views from the top of the coaster of Edinburgh and the Firth out to the North Sea were fantastic. We did not visit Glasgow, but slightly north of there is Stirling Castle. So much history there, and that was my favorite castle in our Scotland trip.
That is one cool ride!! Nice statue of your doggie, too!