3 Days in Glasgow

If visiting the city for two consecutive days, a good idea is to take advantage of the hop on, hop off’ City Sightseeing tour bus, which takes in a number of Glasgow’s attractions. Alternatively, you can use the Glasgow Subway to get round the city centre and the West End.

Highlights of the day include:

• Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum – this free museum is packed with over 8,000 intriguing objects and artefacts. You'll find an extraordinary collection of art, from the Dutch Old Masters and the French Impressionists, to perhaps its most famous piece, Christ of St John of the Cross by Salvador Dalí.
• Glasgow Botanic Gardens – see a collection of flora and shrubs before visiting Kibble Palace, an exquisite restored Victorian glasshouse. If you’re feeling peckish, the tearoom offers a tasty selection of cakes, sandwiches, teas and coffees.
• Gallery of Modern Art – found in the heart of Glasgow in Royal Exchange Square, it is home to Glasgow's most extensive modern and contemporary art collection and is free to enter.
• UNESCO City of Music – Glasgow's reputation for live music is legendary; so much so that the city has been given UNESCO City of Music status. Make sure to catch a gig in one of its amazing venues. The OVO Hydro hosts all the big-name stars. You can experience roots, classical and world sounds at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall or see up-and-coming indie artists at the small but perfectly formed King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.

We hope you’ve got enough energy for another packed day of culture and sightseeing! Enjoy more of Glasgow’s free cultural attractions and uncover more about the life and work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

• Riverside Museum and Tall Ship –  the building itself is one of the most striking modern buildings in Scotland. Inside, the museum houses all kinds of exhibits related to transport. Vehicles, bikes, and locomotives dating from different periods can be found. In addition, you can also explore the Clyde-built Tall Ship, which is berthed alongside the museum.
• House for an Art Lover – just south of the River Clyde, explore the works of one of the city’s favourite sons, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The beautiful House for an Art Lover is a stunning Mackintosh design. Although it wasn’t built in his lifetime, it’s a true art nouveau dream fully realised, with the building and furnishings working in complete harmony.
• The Burrell Collection – situated in the heart of Pollok Country Park, this building is home to one of the greatest art collections with thousands of objects spread across 24 galleries and spanning more than 6,000 years of history. You’ll find famous artworks from Rodin, Degas and Cézanne, as well as medieval, Chinese and Islamic art.
• Glasgow’s West End – head to Ashton Lane, a pretty cobbled pedestrian street near Byres Road, which has a great mix of bars, pubs and eateries, as well as a cinema, or try the Finnieston area – it has built up a reputation for being home to a number of the city’s best new restaurants.  

If you want to explore more of Glasgow’s neighbourhoods, why not try: 

• Merchant City – chock full of trendy cocktail and wine bars, clubs and restaurants.

Spend a day exploring Glasgow through the big and small screen, visiting locations featured in recent blockbuster films and hit TV shows. Boasting medieval landmarks, Gothic architecture, sweeping Victorian boulevards, and striking modernist buildings, discover the places that have served as backdrops for everything from Marvel epics to period dramas and futuristic action-thrillers.

• Glasgow Cathedral – start in Glasgow’s historic east end, where two of the city’s most atmospheric landmarks have appeared on screen. Glasgow Cathedral recently provided the setting for an emotional climax between Oscar Isaac and Mia Goth in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.  
• Glasgow Necropolis – next door, the Necropolis and its Bridge of Sighs served as a seamless gothic backdrop as Gotham City for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, with scenes featuring Batman and Catwoman racing through the cemetery and out of the ornate iron gates at sunset.  
• George Square – discover one of Glasgow’s most sought-after filming locations. George Square and the surrounding streets transformed into Philadelphia for the opening of zombie apocalypse blockbuster World War Z helmed by Brad Pitt, while Succession used locations around George Square and Cochrane Street to double for London and Dundee, the hometown of the fearsome Scottish billionaire Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox.  
• Glasgow City Chambers – the magnificent interior of this municiapl building was a natural choice for the filmakers of the Gilded Age drama The Buccaneers, based on Edith Wharton's novel. See the magnificent Carrera marble staircase the dazzling young debutantes glide down on their way to a ball. Be sure to head to nearby Cochrane Street also. Just one of the elegant streets used to re-create late 19th century New York and other locations, it's a fine example of elegant stone façades and grid-plan layout that make Glasgow a prime destination for period drama productions.
• St Vincent Street & the city centre – this street in an area of central Glasgow known as Blythswood became 1969 New York for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, with the imposing neoclassical sandstone buildings draped with Stars and Stripes flags, recreating the ticker-tape celebrations for the Apollo 11 astronauts.
• The Running Man filming locations – discover some of the locations used to create the dystopian world of Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, starring Glen Powell. Buchanan Bus Station, the Anderston area, Cadogan Square, and venues including the OVO Hydro and SEC Armadillo set the scene for a film packed with tense stand-offs and riveting chase scenes.  
• University of Glasgow – head west to admire the university’s spectacular Gothic Revival architecture and atmospheric cloisters. In the historical epic Outlaw King starring Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce, the cloisters featured in an opulent medieval banquet scene, while the university courtyard was used for scenes of King Edward practising archery.