Glasgow neighborhood question
 

I am going to be spending 4 nights in Glasgow after hiking the West Highland Way and was wondering which neighborhood I should choose for a B&B or Guesthouse. My options seem to be City Center or the West End. We would like to be closest to the most tourist attractions (walking distance), but also to decent nightlife (restaurants and bars). I have some good leads for quest houses in the West End, but how far is that from the city centre. Any help would be appreciated. I have already booked my entire stay on the WHW and Edinburgh, so thank you to everyone who helped me make those decisions. Any recommendations for guesthouses or B&Bs would also be appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy

The area near the Glasgow School of Art is close to the city center and is quite lively at night. There are a few small hotels/B&Bs in that area. We stayed at the Old Schoolhouse Hotel which I consider well located.

My daughter lived in the West End when she was doing her chartered accountancy apprenticeship. It is a lively area with lots of students, pubs, supermarkets, etc but guesthouses and B&B's are on quiet, shady, restful streets. Subway and busses nearby makes for easy connections to City Centre and Kelvingrove.

My son hiked the West Highland Way the week after he graduated from high school, but he did it from Glasgow to Fort William. We were quite nervous putting him on the plane in Boston, but he had a lot of hiking experience here in the US. He met and walked with a young English policeman or police trainee, and they had a wonderful time.

We were in Glencoe one August with wintry temperatures so we insisted he take a lot of cold weather gear. He had hot, brilliant weather the entire time in May and had to lug all the stuff with him. But better safe than sorry!

Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks for your replies. It seems like the West End, Kelvingrove Park area is more pleasant with walking access to a few museums. But the city centre seems to be the heart of Glasgow. I haven't figured out if I want to be in the busy city centre or the West end yet.

I've stayed in both areas. If you can walk the West Highland Way, you won't find the walk into the city centre long or difficult from the West End. I stayed at http://www.townhousehotelglasgow.com/index.htm in the West End for three nights and found it very comfortable, and I walked every day into the centre.

How far is the walk from the West End, say Kelvingrove Park or Kelvingrove street to City Centre, say Queen street station... if you were walking. Less than a mile?

I'd say it's a bit more than a mile, but I haven't looked it up. There's a subway that goes that route, and the taxi's are pretty cheap.

I think the West End would be fun, although we've always stayed on the northern or eastern edges of the downtown. Our first trip we stayed in Merchant City - sort of near the Cathedral - and it was quite lively. Some good restaurants, pubs, etc. After that trip we've stayed in university dorms (Strathclyde and Glasgow Caledonian) which are both about a 10 minute walk to the Sauchiehall/ Buchanan pedestrian area.

We stayed 2 nights at the Bellhaven located in the West End at 15 Belhaven Terrace, phone
011 44 141 339 3222.

Restaurants were within walking distance as were several other stores.

The front desk attendant had several suggestions for restaurants.

Our room was big, really too big, for 2 people, but we enjoyed the space!!

The hotel had no restaurant but served a good breakfast in the room that was a bar at night.

We lived for several months in the 'Park' area of the West End - on the hill overlooking Kelvingrove Park. I worked in the middle of town, adjacent to George Square, and it would take me about 30 minutes to walk to work. If you are staying in the 'true' West End - around Byres Road - the subway is an easy way to get to & from town. There are also frequent buses on Sauchiehall Street and Great Westen Road but in my opinion they are less comfortable and they are affected by traffic. There are plenty of apartments in town - and I have stayed in several - but the centre of town can be very noisy.

Either area would be good but personally I'd go for the city centre. If you go for the West End, make sure you are near an underground station - Hillhead would be a good one.