I will be in Glasgow Saturday March 17 - Monday, March 19. I am young, love art museums, and move fast. Here are my thoughts. I am just wondering about the general order and the feasibility of things.

1) Saturday:

Arrive Glasgow International Airport at 10 am.

Try to make it to West End hotel by around 11 am

1) Mackintosh House and Hunterian Gallery
2) Kelvingrove Museum
3) Self-guided sightseeing around University of Glasgow, including cloisters, chapel and Quads.

Would there be a "closing time" for the University stuff, especially the chapel? Does anyone know what the tower at the University is? I have seen photos but I am not sure what this is.

Perhaps Volpone at the Citizens Theatre? What is the best way to get there from the West End?

Sunday:

Pollok House and Park
Burrell Collection
Explore Merchant City area and Princes Square/Buchanan Gallery malls (is this a bad idea on a Sunday)?

Monday:

Walk a bit around West End area and Byrnes Road

City Chambers tour at 10:30

St. Mungo Church and museum

Glasgow School of Art Tour at 2 pm and Mackintosh Gallery

Leave around 4 pm for 5:45 flight. How long will it take me to get to the airport on public transport?

Is it worth it to fit something like the Mitchell Library, Botanical Gardens, Nelson's Monument or Queen's Cross Church in?

Finally, where are the "unsafe" areas to avoid, especially late at night? Is the West End generally safe? It seems so, but I just wanted to ask as I will probably be staying around there.

Just a few comments:

Try to get to the Lighthouse, Glasgow's architecture and design museum, which is housed in a commercial building that Mackintosh designed. It has an extensive permanent exhibit about Mackintosh as well as several galleries devoted to temporary exhibits. You can get some nice views of downtown Glasgow from the roof. We visited shortly after it opened in 1999, and really enjoyed it. Here's the link to what will be showing when you visit in March: http://www.thelighthouse.co.uk/exhib...;sub=ex-future This is located right off Buchanan St., so would fit on your Sunday. I'm not sure I'd kill myself to visit the malls. They are good malls for shopping, but I wouldn't be doing that with just 2-3 days in Glasgow.

Merchant City is nice to check out. It's pretty much adjacent to St. Mungo's, so you'd want to do those the same day. I'd say Sunday after the Lighthouse. When you say "St. Mungo church and museum" I assume you mean the Museum of Religious Life and Art? I've not been, although I've read some mixed reviews of it. You may know that the Dali's "Christ of St. John of the Cross" was moved from there to the Kelvingrove when it reopened this summer.

The area around the bus station can be rough at night. (My guess is that is true of most bus stations in most cities.)

Are you into cutting edge contemporary art ? If so, Glasgow has a good young scene with a number of galleries/artists' spaces mainly round King Street. If you get 'The List' the fortnightly listings magazine covering Glasgow & Edinburgh, when you arrive, at least some of their shows will be listed in there.

The Citizens is an excellent theatre & I highly recommend it. Get the underground to Bridge Street, exit on to main road, turn right, walk a couple of blocks along & you'll see the Citizens facing you on Gorbals Street on your right. (I have done this on my own at night.)

The unsafe areas are edge of town housing estates which you'll have no reason to visit, like Easterhouses. You may see drunk young people in the city centre, but they only fight each other The West End is a very safe, middle class area.

Thanks for the tips. I thought about the Lighthouse but scratched it off. I'll add it back on and drop the malls. I'm not really into shopping at all, I just often enjoy passing by the commercial areas of big cities.

I did mean the Museum of Religious Life, and I had heard that the Dali was back in Kelvingrove.

I am not crazy about modern art, but I appreciate the info. I hope to see the play at the Citizens Theatre, though I am also considering a concert for the same day.

Coincidentally I got home last night to find a mailing from the Citz about Volpone. It's by Theatre Babel who are brilliant so I will definitely be seeing it, but will look to see if it's coming to Edinburgh too.

We may pass each other at Glasgow airport - on the day you leave, you are flying out to Berlin !

Glasgow Museum of Modern Art lies between Buchanan St & Queen St so you will be near it.You can go there after being disappointed by the Lighthouse, only 2 mins away.All the museums are free (not Pollock House as its owned by the Nat.Trust)
If you are near Great Western Road best way to the Citz is to take a 66 bus - it passes the theatre just after the central mosque (big minaret just S.of the river)Immediately north of the bridge you just crossed (Victoria Br.)are a group of pubs with music (folk/rock/blues)Fastest way into the city is on the underground, but you can get a view from the double decker of a bus - buy an all-day ticket from the driver (exact change), travel anywhere in town.

You will be near the Museum of Modern Art and could easily stop for a few minutes (which is all it took for me to be disappointed by it) If JoeTro is not a fan of modern art, this museum might not be the one to convince him, but we might have hit it on a bad day.

If you have extra time after all those museums, you could head down to Glasgow Green and see the People's Palace, which is not an art museum, but does give a great feel for the history of the city and is housed in a great old building in the middle of a public park.

I think I will book Volpone then. I was a bit hesitant because I will have been travelling that day since 4 am ... hopefully I won't fall asleep! I'm sure it will be exciting.

I did want to try to make the People's Palace. So many things to do, so little time.

I will be flying back to London, so I don't think I will be passing you to Berlin, although one never knows!

Caroline, I assume it's you that's flying out of Glasgow to Berlin? We might pass in Berlin then, as I'll be there from March 24.

I am typing this message from a cafe in Gibson Street,in the heart of Glasgow's west end...Because it is a studenty and middle-class area it is very safe...I can walk around any hour of day and night......Nothing ......And because there is a nearby 24 hour store I do go out here at odd hours....I mean have you ever tried to go to bed late,and the cat reminds you that she hasn't been fed,and you have to go to the shop at 1am ? Where this cafe is,is only a stone's throw from The Union,(part of Glasgow University)....And I work nearby this cafe too, in a bookshop called Voltaire and Rousseau(second-hand and old books)....
1...To get from airport to West End could cost you about sixteen pounds...Much cheaper to get bus to Buchanan St.Bus Station and then jump on the Underground to west end....Journey takes about 30 minutes...
2...The last I heard they were doing up the Hunterian Museum to fit in with the 21st Century...
3...You can get to Citizens'Theatre by Underground....It is about five minute's walk from Bridge St.Underground....About six minutes by tube from west end....
4...The shopping malls are just like a normal weekday ,and so Sunday is a good day to shop....
5...The Mitchell Library is worth a visit....I did visit yesterday and was embarassed when a guard asked me to open my bag ,and asked me if I had a book inside....The alarm went off...Honest,I had nothing that belonged to them !!!
6...The Queens Cross church looks beautiful from outside,but I have never been inside.....
7...The Botanical Gardens are pretty when everything is in flower...Worth a visit at any time of the year....They are in the process of renewing the glasshouses that have been there since Victorian times...
8...The Citizens is in an area known as "The Gorbals".....Although this place is said to be a bit rough,I have walked all around it at various times of day,and night,and never had any problem.....
9...The part of Glasgow that I think could be a bit rough is places like Castlemik and Easterhouse,but they are housing schemes not easy to get to....
10...Having been all around the world,I would say that there is a friendly atmosphere here and I love this old city and think will enjoy it...Try to fit in the Peoples' Palace,a visit to the Horseshoe Bar,(Drury Street),and a visit,(between 8.am to 12 midday on Sundays),to the massive car boot sale at Blochairn,(it's terrific value for you money)..

Yes, sorry, I did mean I am going to Berlin that day - but now I look again at the dates, that's actually the day we come home ! I'm sorry our paths won't cross, noe.