Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland with a population of a little under a million people. In spite of a huge effort over the last 10 years or so to make Glasgow more cosmpolitan and welcoming, Edinburgh remains by far the larger tourist magnet. Glasgow still has a lot to offer visitors however, from the bus tours which can show you 300 years of industrial history, to the architecture - Glasgow actually has more interesting buildings than Edinburgh, to the exellent nightlife and shopping. There are galleries and museums for the culture buffs. Best of all however, the prices are far less steep than in Edinburgh. As a base for travelling, Glasgow is great for visiting the west coast islands, and is just as good as Edinburgh for reaching the north and highlands. If you are keen on being different from the crowd try Glasgow.

Climate and weather

Scotland has a reputation for being cold, windy and rainy. To a large extent this is fair, and Glasgow is at the centre of it all. Okay, so it is not as cold as the highlands, but the rain blows relentlessly off the Atlantic all winter, and for the annual three weeks which Glaswegians insist on calling summer, the air is humid. Not that this is some hell-hole - at the worst times of year it rarely gets cold enough for the locals to go out in anything warmer than a t-shirt, and the sun is comfortable without beating relentlessly down. Just don't expect to come away saying that the weather was lovely.

Arriving by Plane.

Glasgow Airport is located around 10km from the town centre in the Paisley area. A regular bus link runs to the centre throughout the day (25 minutes, every 10 minutes), though inconveniently there is no service at night. Glasgow Prestwick Airport is around 40 minutes away by train from Central Station, again running every 30 minutes daytime only. The other sensible airport to fly to is Edinburgh (25 minutes bus to Haymarket station, then 40 minutes by train. Around 6 pounds single).

Arriving By Train.

The main station for trains arriving from England and destinations to the south is Glasgow Central. This is located in the southwest of the city centre, close to the river. Glasgow Queen Street Station is located at the northeast end of the city centre next to Buchanan Street Bus Station. The fast shuttle trains from Edinburgh, and trains from the north arrive here. The following major trains arrive in Central (unless otherwise stated):

• GNER trains run from London Kings Cross, York and Newcastle and Edinburgh.
• Virgin Trains trains run from London Euston, Birmingham and Manchester.
• Other Virgin Trains trains run from stations in the south of England and Birmingham.
• First Scotrail trains run from Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen.
• Local services also run from all over central Scotland.

Arriving By Coach.

Buchanan Street Coach Station is located on Buchanan Street (suprisingly), close to Queen Street train station and just off the end of Sauciehall Street. Scottish Citylink run coaches from around Scotland to here - in particular there is a service to Edinburgh (every 15 minutes, 1-1.5 hour) which is cheaper than the train and runs until midnight. Coaches from England are mostly run by Megabus and National Express.

Arriving By Ferry.

The only reasonable ferry destinations from close to Glasgow are in Ireland. See the Scotland and UK pages for details.

Newspapers

Metro Publish an Edinburgh edition of their free paper, available on buses and everywhere else during the morning rush hour. The Daily Herald is published in Glasgow, but covers the whole of Scotland.

Hostels

Glasgow has one independently-run hostel.