After breakfast, we drove down the A82 to Paisley (near the Glasgow airport), to return our car at the Arnold Clark depot there (I don’t like driving anywhere remotely close to big cities). Just like 2017, Arnold Clark had been exceptional – they set a very high service benchmark in the otherwise stressful world of car rental. They dropped us to the Gilmour Street station, from where we took a train to the city

We had reached our hotel much earlier than standard check-in, so we dropped our bags and set off to focus on the parts of the city we’d missed back in 2017. We had spent only an evening in Glasgow back then, while waiting for the Caledonian Sleeper to London.

Our first stop was the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. The building itself is a marvel, and given the vast collection, we focused on just the key exhibits.


Outside

Inside

Inside

The Egyptian exhibits

The Spitfire above Sir Roger the elephant


We returned to George Square to join an afternoon guided tour of the City Chambers, seat of the local government and one of Glasgow’s most famous landmarks. The tour takes you through the rooms otherwise inaccessible to the public.


Outside

The staircases

The Council Chamber

Banquet Hall


We returned to our hotel to pick up our room keys, collect our bags from luggage storage and slept that afternoon.

We walked through the lively University quarter to the Glasgow Cathedral (had been closed for repair back in 2017). We had lost track of time and it was about 5pm when we reached the Cathedral, and it was closed already! I cursed my luck at having missed this yet again !


The Cathdral

Leaving Cathedral Square


After a delicious bite at the nearby Greek food truck, we walked through the Merchant City quarter. This was a former warehousing in the 18th century, now full of offices, residences and restaurants.


Walking around

Walking around

Cafes lining the streets


This was our last day in Scotland (we flew home from Glasgow the next day), and we spent some of the evening at George Square and shopping and strolling around Buchanan Street.


George Square

The Tron Church, Glasgow

Buchanan Street impressions

Buchanan Street impressions

Buchanan Street, goodbye Glasgow !


Scotland is very special in so many ways – the landscapes, the history, the hospitality … . After cancelling a fully booked trip in 2020 courtesy the pandemic, we were just grateful to have pulled it off in 2023 (costs have escalated almost 50% since!). We had more than our fair share of mishaps – the Pentland (Orkney) and Calmac (Outer Hebrides) ferry fiascos (which I wrote about) and a cancellation and re-scheduling of my onward BA flight to London (which I didn’t write about but was sorted a month before the trip) – but I suppose travel isn’t complete without adventure !

I always have a softspot for Scotland but my first time in Glasgow in the 80s was a sunny Saturday and I walked away from the Tron church and just past an alley where I saw four men razoring a man to death. Not a pretty sight, and there was little we (a motely ragbag of pasersby) could do to save him. It has always coloured my view of Glasgow though Mrs Bilbo and a niece took a degree there and I've been back a few times.

Strangely my most odd memory was that this was my first European city with a grid layout (perhaps those from NA might think of as normal). It is also the only city that used to have a fully concrete bar (steel mesh protecting the bar staff) with a sign outside describing the latest murder. But that was the 80s.

Thank you everyone for your patience with this report. While we are fast paced travellers (I’ve had feedback that this trip report was exhausting!) and covered a lot, you’re always forced to make choices. So I’m going to list a few notable things we missed, which I’d have liked to include if we had the luxury of more time.

• Islands : Shetland (having gone as far as Orkney) and St Kilda (having gone as far as the Outer Hebrides, however this one needs a lot of time and flexibility)
• NC500 : Some gems along the NC 500 like Cape Wrath (from Durness), Handa Island (though the chances of sighting puffins were low in May), a few more beaches (like Sandwood Bay or Red Point)
• Outer Hebrides : Some boat trips like the Lady Anne Wildlife Cruise from Grimsay (Uist) and perhaps some remoter islands like Shiant Isles (from Tarbert) and Mingulay/Sandray (from Barra) etc.

There were multiple sources of inspiration for our trip – guidebooks (all the usual suspects – LP, Fodors including the bespoke NC500 Rough Guide), websites (notably Undiscovered Scotland and Walk Highlands), blogs (a special mention for Annes Travels and Hikes, maintained by a super helpful TA DE who goes by the moniker Scotlandmac), Youtube vlogs and various trip reports.

This had been one of those “trips of a lifetime” with the maximum "oohs and aahs" per mile, that I recall in recent times. Of course, this is not an easy trip and probably not for everyone, but I hope the TR has allowed a wider audience to enjoy these spectacular and remote regions of Scotland vicariously.

Happy travels !

Great report Anuj…and thank you for your kind words about the blog.Lovely to know it helped shape your trip! You certainly saw some of my very favourite places- relieved Torridon lived up to my waxing lyrical about it so much.The beaches in the Outer Hebrides are a glory all to themselves and Luskentyre is possibly the most beautiful place I’ve seen anywhere in my travels so far.
Haste ye back….though there is so much to draw us in this big, beautiful world I’m sure other countries must have your attention for the future.
If you do return, then St Kilda is out of this world and wait until you see the stacks! Difficult trip to make happen as it’s so weather dependent.Shetland, I prefer overall to Orkney…certainly worth the extra travel it takes to get out there.I don’t personally think you’ve missed too much by not getting to Cape Wrath …the cliff scenery is far better at Duncansby although it is a bit of a ‘tick’ if you can get out there.
Happy future travels!

Well-done ANUJ! Every time that I selected one of your images as my fave, another would suddenly appear, then another...
You two got to some rarefied locations. Hoping that your next voyage goes as smoothly.
I am done. the map

What a trip of a lifetime, Anuj. I know that I am a little late to the party here, but should you see this message, would you be willing to share the names of the B&B, hotels etc where you stayed? We're doing a 2-week trip to Scotland but with a short lead-in for planning unfortunately and it's helpful to have recommendations from a Fodorite who has already done it.

Thanks for your inspirations.

trippingalong, could you DM me with your planned locations on Fodors (if you click on my name, on any of these posts a "Send a private message to ANUJ" option should appear).