OnlyTravel

My wife and I are going to be in Glasgow in mid September for a week and then travel around for 3 to 4 days. I would appreciate any travel tips and ideas to make the trip exciting. We would not have a rental car in Glasgow but will consider renting one for going to Edenburough and Loch Lomond.
Things to do for sure in Glasgow and Edenburough would be helpful.

janisj

it is Edinburgh . . .

Are you staying in Glasgow for work or visiting relatives or something? If not, a week is a fairly long time in Glasgow. Not that there isn't enough to fill your time, but there is an awful lot in Edinburgh and the countryside.

Glasgow is a very large city w/ some amazing museums, the cathedral, Charkes Rennie Mackintosh bldgs, the city chambers etc . . . and you could see all of them in 3 or 4 days. So why Glasgow for so long?

You'll need at <i>least</i> 2 full days for Edinburgh and that would just scratch the surface. Three days would be much better. That only leaves you 1 or 2 days for the countryside so I wouldn't bother renting a car - I'd just take a small group tour w/ Rabbies to see some other bits. http://www.rabbies.com

You can visit both Loch Lomond by local bus from Glasgow.

historytraveler

I agree with janisj, Glasgow is good for 3/4 days at the most. I would include Glasgow Cathedral and the Burrell Collection. Obviously there are several other places of interest but these are a start. I recently did a Rabbies tour and thought it excellent value. I wouldn't hesitate to do another. I thought their tour of Arran a good option as you visit Culzean Castle, the Kintyre Peninsula and Loch Lomond all of which will give you an excellent overall view of Scotland.

Michael

Pictures of our stay in Glasgow:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...346603583/show

janisj

Jeeze - why doesn't autocorrect work when you'd actually want it to >>Charles Rennie Mackintosh <<

Gordon_R

Perhaps an award on Fodors for the most inventive attempted spelling of Edinburgh? Just seems to be one of those place names folk always struggle over for some reason - along with Stirling, St Pancras, Covent Garden, the Cotswolds, Stonehenge...

For he OP: in case you're unsure how to pronounce it as well, it's "Edin-BURR-ah" with the stress on the BURR bit (we Scots love to roll our R's).

cathies

We did a guided walking tour of Edinburgh and really enjoyed it. The company operates from outside the Starbucks on The Royal Mile.

dotheboyshall

<i>We would not have a rental car in Glasgow but will consider renting one for going to Edenburough and Loch Lomond. </i>

Take the train to Edinburgh - it's only an hour each way and you avoid the "joys" of driving and parking

Ditto for visiting Loch Lomond

http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/...nu-id-120.html

uruabam

Glasgow is a great base for a Scottish visit. Highlights in the city itself are Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Burrell Collection, Glasgow Cathedral, Necropolis and Museum of Religious Life. Pop in to the Glasgow Museum of Modern Art, Visit the Glasgow University area along with the Hunterian Museum.

The Riverside Transport Museum is excellent and can be combined with the Science Centre and IMAX if you have kids. The Rennie Mackintosh designed School of Art was recently severely damaged by fire but has reopened for tours.The City Chambers also has tours, that don't require a booking, at 10:30 and 14:30 daily and it's a very special building inside. DO take one of the city tour buses. It will give you a great orientation of the city and the guides can be very amusing and always informative. The city has a huge amount of excellent architecture which is ideally viewed from the top deck of the tour bus.

The city bus system is comprehensive and day and weekly tickets are available from the driver. You will need exact change for your fare but the prices of the day and weekly tickets are displayed on the side of every First Bus. The local rail network is extensive, reaching out to Loch Lomond, Helensburgh, the Ayrshire and Inverclyde coasts. This is what makes the city such a good base. Day trips to Loch Lomond and the Clyde coastal towns are very straightforward. Heading to Millport on Cumbrae, Rothesay on Bute or Brodick on Arran are all perfectly doable as day trips.

Edinburgh is about an hour by train and they run every 15 minutes from Glasgow Queen Street Station. Similarly Stirling and Perth are also served by frequent services and reachable within 40 minutes and hour respectively. Another option is the three hour trip up to Oban by train. The 08:21 service will get you into Oban in time for lunch, runs through some fabulous scenery and the 18:11 train back to Glasgow will get you in around 21:18.

The city is also replete with great dining, nightlife, cultural and shopping options with fully comprehensive listings available at http://www.list.co.uk/events/what:Glasgow/.

Without knowing your specific interests it's hard to be more detailed but if you have any other questions about the city please feel free to ask.

nytraveler

Please - correct the spelling or you may not find what you want googling or otherwise searching.

And you seem to think Edinburgh is a small town - not the capital of the Scotland with a tremendous amount to see and do related to the log royal history.

bvlenci

We recently spent three days in Glasgow and felt that we could have spent a few more. I actually liked the city better than Edinburgh, although maybe we didn't give Edinburgh enough time. The famous Royal Mile was overrun with tacky souvenir shops.

kawh

michael--- great pictures-- what is the building pictured just before (what looks to be skiers)??

Gordon_R

>>michael--- great pictures-- what is the building pictured just before (what looks to be skiers)??<<

It's Mackintosh's House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park.

janisj

kawh: A great many of the photos in michael's slide show (interiors and exteriors) are Mackintosh sites.

I don't know exactly why but some of his designs bring me to tears. A genius.

Michael

Summer skiers on some type of synthetic material. There should be a "more Info" button when viewing the slides which, if on, will identify the location of each picture.

janisj

Oh -- I thought kawh was asking what the bldg was in the shot <i>before</i> the skiers photo.

BigRuss

Geez, even the Scots wouldn't call it EDENborough.

Edinburgh.

Scotland - land of the Scots, not land of guys named Scott.

You need a good map. Edinburgh is as close to Glasgow as Philly is to New York. No reason to drive to Edinburgh, Stirling, or Perth from Glasgow, there are plenty of trains. That said, travel in Scotland by car is slower than you would anticipate - there are only a couple of highways as you (if you're American or Canadian) would conceive them and they're closest to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The rest of the country is primarily what you'd think of as country roads. And the gas prices are hideous - $8.50/gallon (converting both metric and currency). So be prepared. Prioritize efficiency in your rental.

And driving in Edinburgh is terrible - it's like mini-London.

Plenty of listings on this site for what to do in each.

OnlyTravel

Thanks to all of you and my apology of spelling Edinburgh wrong. As an American I also got how to pronounce it- Edin-burr-ah. Yes, my wife has a conference to attend Sep 12-17th at the Conference Center.

Some great tips by you all. We won't rent a car and use the wonderful train infrastructure to travel around the country. Still have not decided whether to spend a couple of nights in Edinburgh or do day trips from Glasgow by making Glasgow our base for 9 nights.

We are considering renting an apartment in Glasgow which may be more convenient. Any suggestions of the areas in city center where we can enjoy the city as well as the Conference Center is reachable? Any particular sites to look up for apartment rentals in Glasgow besides VRBO?

janisj

If it was me -- I'd rent the flat in Glasgow for 6 or 7 nights and stay IN Edinburgh for a couple of nights. Edinburgh is an easy day trip from Glasgow but there is sooooo much to see in the city that you'd want to go twice -- it would be a much more efficient use of time to stay over IMO.

Between the trains/ferries/local buses and Rabbies Tours you can get to lots of places from Glasgow - Stirling Castle is easy on your own by train. Loch Lomond, Ayrshire, the Isle of Bute or Arran would each be great day trips.

Rabbies is a very good/long established company that specializes in small groups -- usually fewer than 12 passengers so not this massive 50 passenger coaches.

dotheboyshall

<i>It's Mackintosh's House for an Art Lover in Bellahouston Park.</i>

House for an Art Lover was inspired by Mackintosh plans, he had nothing to do with it's construction.

Compare it with The Hill House, the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow School of Art, the Willow Tea Rooms to see the difference