Insight Guides Great Breaks Glasgow (Travel Guide eBook): (Travel Guide eBook)

By Insight Guides

Insight Great Breaks Guides: pocket-sized books to inspire your on-foot exploration of the best of the British Isles.

Explore the best of Glasgow with this indispensably practical Insight Great Breaks Guides. From making sure you don't miss out on must-see attractions like Riverside Museum and Loch Lomond, to discovering hidden gems, including New Lanark and Pollok Estate, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking routes will save you time, help you plan, and enhance your Great Break in Glasgow.

· Practical, pocket-sized and packed with inspirational insider information, this is the ideal on-the-move companion to your trip to Glasgow
· Features 12 detailed walking tour itineraries, including the High Street and the Clyde Valley
· Overview section features concise insider information covering everything from landscape and location, to history and culinary highlights
· Top Ten section takes you to the heart of your destination, from Burns Country to the cathedral and necropolis 
· Rainy Day recommendations offer plenty of options, whatever the weather
· Invaluable itinerary maps and practical Travel Tips section ensure effortless exploration 
· Inspirational colour photography throughout

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps, as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Apr 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781789198096

Insight Guides

Pictorial travel guide to Arizona & the Grand Canyon with a free eBook provides all you need for every step of your journey. With in-depth features on culture and history, stunning colour photography and handy maps, it’s perfect for inspiration and finding out when to go to Arizona & the Grand Canyon and what to see in Arizona & the Grand Canyon. 

Book preview

How To Use This E-Book

This Great Break has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With ­top-­quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the world’s most exciting destinations.

Walks and Tours

The clearly laid-out walks and tours in this book feature options for walking or using public transport wherever possible. The emphasis is on family fun, wholesome outdoorsey activities, local festivals, and food and drink. There are loads of great holiday ideas: kids’ stuff, best beaches, historic pubs, literary connections, unique shops, and – crucially with our Great British weather – what to do on a rainy day.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments – options are shown in the ‘Eating Out’ box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink.

Directory

Also supporting the walks and tours is a Travel Tips section, with a clearly organised A–Z of practical information. There is a comprehensive round up of sports and activities in the destination, recommendations for themed holidays, plus our pick of the best places to stay.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Glasgow’s Top 10

Overview: The Art of Reinvention

Architecture

Economy and renewal

Location

Climate

History of turmoil

Industrial awakening

Entertainment

Nightlife

Pubs and bars

Clubs

Tour 1: High Street

Tolbooth Steeple

Historical High Street

University digs

Around Cathedral Square

Religion and medicine

Glasgow Cathedral

Architectural features

Necropolis

A walk around the graves

Back to Glasgow Cross

Tour 2: The Barras to Saltmarket

Along Gallowgate

The Barras

People’s Palace

Glasgow Green

St Andrew’s in the Square

Towards and over the Clyde

Heading back north of the Clyde

A new cultural quarter

Feature: Sandstone and Steel

Tour 3: Merchant City

Along the Trongate

Up Albion Street and the Old Fruitmarket

Ingram Street and the Ramshorn

City Halls and Candleriggs

Wilson Street

Hutchesons’ Hall

Italian Centre and Trades Hall

Tour 4: City Centre

Queen Street Station and City Chambers

Gallery of Modern Art

St Vincent Place

St George’s Tron and Glasgow Stock Exchange

Buchanan Street

Shopping

Galleries and Royal Concert Hall

VisitScotland Information Centre

Merchants’ House

Tour 5: Going West

Up and down St Vincent Street

Towards Mitchell Library

Mitchell Library

Back east to Tenement House

CCA – Centre for Contemporary Arts

Feature: D.I.Y. Glasgow

Tour 6: From Kelvingrove to the Clyde

Lobey Dosser and Park Circus

Kelvingrove Park

Kelvingrove Art Gallery

Kelvingrove’s Art Collections

Riverside Museum and The Tall Ship

Along the Clyde

Across to Pacific Quay

Tour 7: West End

Kelvin Way and Glasgow University

Hunterian Museum

Hunterian Gallery

Byres Road

Ashton Lane

Cresswell Lane

Òran Mór

Tour 8: South Side

Heading south to Tramway

Queen’s Park

Towards Pollok House and Country Park

Burrell Collection

In Glasgow City Council hands

Rouken Glen Park

Greenbank Garden

Tour 9: Mackintosh Tour

City-Centre sights

Glasgow School of Art

Mackintosh in the West End

The Hill House at Helensburgh

Southside Masterpieces

Tour 10: Excursion to Loch Lomond

Luss, on the banks of Loch Lomond

Balloch, Drymen and Balmaha

Lake of Menteith

Aberfoyle

Feature: Loch Lomond

Tour 11: Excursion to Clyde Valley

Strathclyde Country Park

David Livingstone Centre

Chatelherault Country Park

Craignethan Castle

Lanark and New Lanark

Tour 12: Excursion to Burns Country

Mauchline and Failford

Bachelors’ Club

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

Towards South Ayrshire

Active Pursuits

Boating

Cycling

Fishing

Golf

Horse riding

Themed Holidays

Artistic breaks

Bagpiping

Buddhist retreats

Cooking classes

Nature

Practical Information

Getting there

By air

By car

By coach

By rail

Getting around

On foot

By public transport

Car hire and parking

Steamer and seaplane

Taxis

Facts for the visitor

Disabled travellers

Emergencies

Opening hours

Postal services

Tourist information

Accommodation

Central Glasgow and Merchant City

West End and by the Clyde

Southside

North of the city

Websites

Glasgow’s Top 10

From Glasgow’s dazzling variety of art and architecture to the wild natural beauty of the surrounding countryside, here, at a glance, are the top sights and activities of this fascinating Scottish city.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Discover the wonders of Victorian civic endeavour at this red-sandstone museum filled with compelling exhibits. For more information, click here.

Douglas Macgilvray/Apa Publications

Shopping. Choose from swanky designers at Princes Square or speciality shops in the Merchant City and West End. For more information, click here, click here or click here.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. It’s adventures galore in this national park, dipping into Britain’s largest lake, trekking and visiting beguiling villages. For more information, click here.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Glasgow culture and nightlife. With its myriad music scenes, cutting-edge theatre and nightspots, Glasgow caters for everyone. For more information, click here.

David Grinly

Cathedral and Necropolis. Glasgow’s impressive cathedral was founded in 1136, while the Necropolis provides spine-tingling moments amid crumbling temples and monuments. For more information, click here or click here.

David Cruickshanks/Apa Publications

Pollok Estate. A splendid mansion, riverside walks, biking trails, and the world-class Burrell Collection (closed until 2020) make for a memorable Southside day. For more information, click here.

iStock

Riverside Museum. Glasgow’s award-winning transport museum features buses, trams, trains, bikes and cars. For more information, click here.

Dreamstime

New Lanark. David Dale and his son-in-law Robert Owen’s model factory town is now a fascinating Unesco World Heritage Site. For more information, click here.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Burns Country. On the trail of the Scottish bard, visiting Alloway Kirk’s graveyard, Burns Cottage and the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. For more information, click here.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Glasgow arts scene. The Gallery of Modern Art and assorted galleries give the city one of the world’s most vibrant contemporary art scenes. For more information, click here.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Overview: The Art of Reinvention

Glasgow is a city continually in flux: its vibrant culture, and its grand architectural splendours of sandstone and steel make it sparkle despite dark urban realities.

Glasgow is something of a Renaissance city. Like a proud fighter who refuses to be knocked down, this vibrant, bustling, rumbustious Scottish city continues to look forward. Born as a fishing village on the slopes above the meandering River Clyde, Glasgow has been, in turn, a market town, an ecclesiastical centre, a seat of learning, a city of merchant adventurers, a gateway to the New World, an industrial powerhouse of the British Empire and a European cultural capital.

The ornate façade of the Stock Exchange building.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

The riverside is packed with striking buildings, such as the Science Centre.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

Glasgow

Architecture

From the southern approach to the city, first impressions are not great. Despite some misguided 1960s urban planning – Brutalist tower blocks and the M8 motorway, which rips through the heart of the city – Glasgow is an architectural treasure house. Its mix of Victorian, Georgian, Venetian and Art Deco equals anything in Europe.

The city retained its grim face until well into the second half of the 20th century, when the New Glasgow Society – a loose collection of early eco-warriors – led a rearguard action against the City Corporation’s policy of ‘If it’s old, knock it down’. Victorian tenement homes were stripped and refurbished instead of being demolished, revealing honey-and-red sandstone wonders and striking detail. The defining moments in Glasgow’s recent past were its selection in 1990 as European City of Culture and its hosting of the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Economy and renewal

The city set about reviving its fortunes with the bold regeneration of the inner-city riverbank. In 2011, the Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum added to the shimmering riverside scene, along with the futuristic SSE Hydro venue, opened in 2013. Meanwhile, the Merchant City’s abandoned warehouses continue to be transformed into swanky apartments, businesses and restaurants. For example The Briggait event and studio space is at the heart of a wider regeneration of run-down