2 days in Glasgow

Day by day

1. Day 1: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and University of Glasgow and the Hunterian

   Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, University of Glasgow and the Hunterian, Glasgow Botanic Gardens and Ashton Lane, then Clyde Walkway and the Finnieston Crane in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

      Galleries on the Glasgow Boys and Mackintosh's designs give a good introduction to the city.

   2. Late morning

      University of Glasgow and the Hunterian

      Inside, the Hunterian Museum, Scotland's oldest public museum, displays Roman finds from the Antonine Wall and William Hunter's anatomy collections, and the Hunterian Art Gallery has a large Whistler collection and the reassembled Mackintosh House.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Full Scottish breakfast

      Cafés across the city centre and the West End serve it all day; greasy-spoon cafés in the East End are the most traditional.

   4. Afternoon

      Glasgow Botanic Gardens

      Paths lead down to the River Kelvin walkway, which you can follow back towards Kelvingrove.

   5. Late afternoon

      Ashton Lane

      It is the West End's evening meeting point and gets lively with university students during term.

   6. Evening

      Clyde Walkway and the Finnieston Crane

      Walk west from the city centre in the late afternoon and finish with dinner on Finnieston's Argyle Street.

2. Day 2: Glasgow Cathedral and Glasgow Necropolis

   Glasgow Cathedral, Glasgow Necropolis, Provand's Lordship and Gallery of Modern Art, then Merchant City in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Glasgow Cathedral

      Its lower church holds the tomb of St Mungo, the city's patron saint, and the building has a large collection of post-war stained glass. Entry is free.

   2. Late morning

      Glasgow Necropolis

      Paths wind to the summit, which gives one of the best free views across Glasgow.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Square sausage roll

      Bakeries and sandwich shops near stations and offices; ask for a 'roll and square'.

   4. Afternoon

      Provand's Lordship

      Its low rooms hold period furniture, and behind it the small St Nicholas Garden is laid out as a medieval physic garden.

   5. Late afternoon

      Gallery of Modern Art

      Outside, the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington has worn a traffic cone on its head for decades and has become the city's unofficial mascot.

   6. Evening

      Merchant City

      Cocktail bars, wine bars and the heart of the city's LGBTQ+ scene around Virginia Street and Glassford Street.

Before you go

If it rains

• Swap in Riverside Museum (Partick): Combine it with a walk along the Clyde Walkway from Finnieston, or take the seasonal ferry across to the Govan side.
• Swap in Burrell Collection (Pollok Country Park): Take the train to Pollokshaws West and walk through Pollok Country Park, stopping to see the Highland cattle on the way.
• Swap in Glasgow Science Centre (Pacific Quay): Walk across the Bell's Bridge footbridge from the SEC side; it takes about five minutes.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 11–14 hours of visiting over 2 days, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 7 hours in December to 17.5 hours in June, so in winter start early and keep museums for the afternoon.

Getting between stops: Metro. The Subway, opened in 1896, is a single circular line with 15 stations running both ways round the loop in about 24 minutes.

More or fewer days

• One day in Glasgow
• 3 days in Glasgow

Questions travellers ask