Where to eat
Little Italy
Posted by hairybuddha
Italian owned (and staffed) coffee house and pizza/pasta place halfway along Byers Road in the West End. Go there for the best pizza and coffee in the city, friendly and efficient service and a great perch to watch some of the weird and wonderful locals amble past. Take a friend or sit with the papers and watch the world go by.
· 205 Byres Road, Glasgow, G12 8TN; littleitalyglasgow.com; +44 (0)141 339 6287
Twofatladies - fish restaurants
Posted by AlanBrine
These are three great restaurants with a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Superb fish with stunning desserts - the trio of crème brûlée was excellent and big enough to share. Not cheap but worth every penny. Don't miss it - the two TV chefs borrowed the name, with permission. Named after the first to open at 88 Dumbarton Road.
· 118a Blythswood St G2 - close to Sauchiehall St, 88 Dumbarton Road G11 and a new one in Argyle St; twofatladiesrestaurant.com
Roastit Bubbly Jocks
Posted by pottig
Great restaurant on Dumbarton Road in the West End, just a little further down the road from the Partick railway bridge. Fantastic, honest and well-prepared Scottish food with an interesting, ever-changing menu.
Friendly, non-pretentious service. Always busy and lively and the bring-your-own wine policy means that this is always a cheap place to visit. The neighbourhood isn't the greatest but don't let that put you off. We have returned and returned and returned!
· Roastit Bubbly Jocks, 450 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, G11 6SE; +44 (0)141 339 3355
Bradfords
Posted by May
If the smell of Bradfords made my teeth nervous, then the pineapple soufflé - a wobbling mound of yellow cream, coated in icing, atop a pastry base - had them screaming in protest. This confection was appropriately packed with sweet, synthetic fruitiness. The walls, if you licked them, would surely taste like the powder-pink icing of the delicious Chelsea buns. Cakes, sandwiches and more substantial dishes are all homemade on site, but this is not a place for serious gourmets. It is old school, lace-doily tea at its finest, and the best way of escaping a Sauchiehall soaking on a grim day.
· 245 Sauchiehall Street; bradfordsbakers.com; +44 (0)141 332 1008
Tapa
Posted by OliverPe
Tapa is a cafe/delicatessen that only sells organic and vegetarian products. They bake their own bread, which tastes fantastic: being Italian my family is very picky about bread. They also do very good organic fairtrade coffee, and their own soups, ciabattas, sandwiches and cakes.
Staff are very friendly. You can dine inside, or outside on the pavement, weather permitting. The cafe has a very "east-side" unpretentious look, but the quality on offer is not matched by more pretentious cafes in the city centre.
· 21 Whitehill St, Glasgow; tapabakehouse.com; +44 (0)141 554 9981
Stravaigin
Posted by bundy
A bar that serves food upstairs, with a restaurant for more refined dining downstairs. Excellent fresh seafood as well as a wide range of other meals made with locally sourced produce. Friendly, helpful staff. Good value upstairs, worth the extra for the more special but unintimidating experience downstairs. The name is a Scots word meaning to wander.
· 28 Gibson Street, Glasgow, G12 8NX (round the corner from Kelvin bridge underground); stravaigin.com; +44 (0)141 334 2665
Where to go out
The Lab
Posted by PeterLloyd
A small bar just tucked away off Buchanan Street, behind Princes Square. Great beer, brilliant service and a laid-back tone. They do a mean cocktail if you ask nicely. Also, a beer garden in the city centre - what more could you need for Glasgow's tropical climate (umbrellas and heaters too).
· 26 Springfield Court, Glasgow, G1 3DQ; +44 141 222 2116
13th Note
Posted by CathM
Independent music venue, bar and vegetarian and vegan cafe. Chilled out atmosphere, friendly staff, great place to check out new bands. Best jukebox in town, DJs upstairs at weekends. Food is well tasty and good value for money.
· 50-60 King Street, Glasgow, G1 5QT 13thnote.co.uk; +44 (0)141 553 1638
The Buff Club
Posted by MrLock
Funk, soul, disco and northern soul club hidden away from the neon student filled barns on Sauciehall Street. Always has a fantastic atmosphere with a very diverse clientele and it's just the right side of sleazy for a great night. Not sure about the tartan carpet mind.
· 142 Down Bath Lane, just off Bath Street; thebuffclub.com; +44 (0)141 248 1777
Ubiquitous Chip
Posted by clairestar
Upstairs or downstairs, both are a charm. Downstairs holds the exceptional restaurant and upstairs belongs to the more laid-back bar. Fabulous selection of wine and whiskies and much better than the rest of the G1 guff that populates much of Glasgow's bar scene.
· 12 Ashton Lane, Glasgow, G12 8SJ ubiquitouschip.co.uk; +44 (0)141 334 5007. Nearest Underground station: Hillhead
What to do
Port Sunlight Cottage
Posted by monket
Not many people know about this, even one tour guide I met hadn't heard of it. At the top of Kelvingrove Park, near the University, sit two Tudor-style cottages, built for the 1901 Glasgow Exhibition. They were built by the Lever Brothers (of Persil and Fairy, and Sunlight Soap fame), as an exact replica of the houses that make up Port Sunlight village, the town built for their workers, complete with cinema, art gallery and railway station, near Liverpool.
The Glasgow houses (Port Sunlight Cottage) were intended to be an example of how houses in Glasgow would be built from then on, but this never happened, and now they stand alone, looking quite out of place amongst the sandstone of the city. They are now private residences.
It's a beautiful walk up through the park to get to the houses, and it leaves you within easy reach of the Transport Museum, the Kelvingrove museum and art gallery, and the West End.
You can see more at tinyurl.com/3dap2j.
· Just outside Glasgow University, G12, at the top of Kelvingrove Park. If you are on the Glasgow tour bus, get off at the Kelvingrove museum and walk up from there.
Monorail Music
Posted by donaldinho
Monorail is an incredibly cool, independent record shop, with a loads of vinyl alongside the racks of hard-to-find CDs. Especially good for underground Japanese music and European jazz, it stocks a really varied range of music, plus magazines/fanzines. The shop is situated within vegan bar/restaurant Mono, which also hosts live music and album launches in conjunction with the record shop.
· Monorail Music, 12 Kings Court, King Street, Glasgow, G1 5RB, UK; monorailmusic.com; +44 (0)141 552 9458
House for an art lover
Posted by grabsue
This is a modern recreation of one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's competition designs and it's simply stunning. It's been meticulously matched to the drawings he provided with extra design features from his wife Margaret MacDonald and is a great example of his vision for family living. There's also a great restaurant in the basement.
· Bellahouston Park 10 Dumbreck Road Glasgow G41 5BW; houseforanartlover.co.uk; +44 (0)141 353 4770. Nearest underground: Ibrox, Nearest overground rail: Dumbreck Road
Botanic Gardens
Posted by NicCarter
One of many beautiful green spaces in this city of surprises. Great place for a walk, a game of Frisbee or just to sit and watch the world go by. In the summer they run 'Bard in the Botanics' so you can waste away an entire evening in the company of some of theatre's greatest characters. For all those who think Glasgow is a grey, dull and depressing excuse for a city - be prepared to have your socks very pleasantly knocked off.
· 730 Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12 OUE; glasgow.gov.uk
People's Palace and Winter Garden
Posted by AudreyC
The People's Palace is Glasgow's social history museum. It tells the story of the city through its people, and not just the great and good. You can listen to examples of Glasgow speech, and see a reconstructed tenement "single-end". It's also free, like all of the City of Glasgow's 13 museums. Unmissable if you're a resident or expat Glaswegian, and still good even if you're not.
· Glasgow Green, Glasgow, G40 1AT; Tel: 0141 271 2951; glasgowmuseums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=9
The Barras
Posted by daedelus
Nothing sums up 'Gallus' Glasgow better than a Saturday morning trip to the Barras. Here, Glasgow's answers to Del boy and Rodney make their southern cousins look like shy introverts, as they sell anything from fur coats to football strips and computers to car parts.
The market has expanded from its humble beginnings to include hundreds of stalls and shops selling everything and anything. Barras are rented out on a daily basis, meaning an ever-changing stock and providing an ad-hoc sales channel for anyone with stuff to shift.
Never one to miss a trick, the Barras has evolved with the times, reflecting the changing needs of a varied clientele. Nowadays, Maggie's original fruit barra has evolved into a farmers' market, which takes place on the last Saturday in every month from 8am (but get there quick, because stock sells out by lunchtime), and the modern market does a roaring trade in computer software of perhaps dubious origin. Never mind, it's all yours for a tenner.
The Barras was there long before Versace and the Italian Centre, and despite constant raids from overworked and frankly exasperated trading standards officials, it will still be there a long time after they're gone too. Margaret Russell would be proud.
· glasgow-barrowland.com Near Bell Street. Every Saturday and Sunday 10.00 am until 5.00 pm
Glasgow School of Art
Posted by Gardenia
Mackintosh masterpiece building of the last century. A granite wonder to come upon as you wander an ordinary street: huge northern windows with rose & sword ironwork, long library windows on the west; a structure that continues to influence contemporary architecture.
· 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow G3 6RQ; gsa.ac.uk; +44 (0)141 353 4500
Kelvingrove museum and park
Posted by johngerard
There is plenty to see for children of any age and the layout allows a space where younger children can run around while browsing. The park is large and on the other side of Argyle Street there are a couple of pubs that serve reasonable food at midday. My kids, aged six and nine, loved it. Taking the Glasgow underground (if you never have) is an event in itself. Across the road is the Transport Museum which is also a good free visit, and the ice-cream van outside is a must.
· Kelvingrover Art Gallery and Museum: Argyll Street, Glasgow; +44 (0)141 276 9515. Museum of Transport: 1 Bunhouse St, Glasgow; +44 (0)141 287 2720; glasgowmuseums.com
Where to stay
Globetrotters Independent Hostel
Posted by hihelen
Quaint and quirky, this is no run of the mill youth hostel. It has a super location opposite the city's Mitchell library and its 100 free computer/internet facilities and is around the corner from the exhibition centre. It attracts an international crowd and has plentiful showers and comfy lounges. Best to book at weekends.
· glasgowhostels.com, +44 (0)141 221 7880. Nearest station Charing Cross at 56 Berkeley Street
Acespace
Posted by smartbart
This is a newly built backpackers hostel. Comes with lots of free off-street parking which is a huge boon to the car-hire aficionados who can whisk into the city and find plentiful free parking. Rooms are for groups of four and six and the facilities in ornate Italian marble are ultra modern and new.
· aceplace.co.uk; +44 (0)221 7900 between exhibition station and Kelvingrove park.
Malmaison
Posted by dion21uk
Sleek and stylish are the watchwords with this hotel, a converted Greek church in the heart of the city, where you are guaranteed a luxurious stay. Fabulous.
· 278 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 4LL; malmaison-glasgow.com; +44 (0)141 572 1000
