Glasgow - 211 places to stay
Hotels | Bed & Breakfast | Inns | Self Catering | Budget | Holiday Parks | Attractions | Activities | Shops | Sports | Directory
When Glasgow was at the pinnacle of its industrial might it was regarded as the Second City in the Empire. Nowadays, its reputation is more complex; but what is beyond repute, is its charm, its vibrancy, and unique history and culture that makes it such a captivating city. Home to 1.75 million people, Glasgow defines the west of Scotland in so many ways. It was the quiet monastery town that grew post-Union into a hugely populist, multicultural city – thousands of Irish immigrants moved to the city after the Irish Potato Famine of the mid-19th Century, and today it has one of the most cosmopolitan communities in the country. It has seen its population swell to the point of overcrowding, thus leading to the creation of new towns such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld . Glasgow watched its fortunes rise and fall with that of heavy industry. It got wealthy on the back of tobacco and sugar, shipbuilding and industrial toil; it was these industries that have made an indelible mark on the city, defining its tempo and key. The River Clyde, whose bands flank the south of the city centre, made Glasgow and its shipyards a global brand. Now they are all but gone, luxury flats and redevelopment see Glasgow’s riverside following the rest of Glasgow by rebranding and re-imagining itself. The finance sector is now gobbling up land once used for heavy industry. Glasgow’s economy has irreversibly changed in the past twenty years, but the city’s identity is still instantly definable. There are many factors which make Glasgow the inimitable city that it is. Though industry played its part, it is the people who are more indicative of Glasgow . Glaswegians – ‘weegies’ as the rest of Scotland may refer to them – are real salt of the earth people, no airs or graces needed, with a language and accent that seems to be impenetrable to the rest of Britain. Cultural exports, like television comedies Rab C. Nesbitt and Taggart, are often screened with subtitles. Glaswegian is one regional dialect that those in the south struggle with; rough, guttural and peppered with slang, swearing is oft used for punctuation, Billy Connolly springs to mind! Glaswegian slang, ‘the patter’, is constantly evolving, but when used by Glasgow’s people – in particular its working class denizens – it is as much a badge of identity as it is a means of communication. Another component, key to Glasgow’s identity, is its architecture. If there are some depressingly modernist buildings to be found in the city’s financial sector, relics of the trend of the ‘60s and ‘70s, they are the exception, not the rule. Glasgow’s 19th Century wealth afforded it the best of design and construction, and there’s no greater example of this than the City Chamber Buildings which overlook George Square in the City Centre. Built in 1888, these magnificent buildings have been the headquarters of Glasgow City Council for over 100 years. Many of Glasgow’s more inspired buildings have been conceived by the pen of Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Both are instantly unique – Mackintosh’s designs for Glasgow School Of Art, House For An Art Lover and Queens Cross church are typical of his work; while Thomson’s classical approach can be seen all around the city, from townhouses in the leafy residential area of Strathbungo in the city’s southside, to the Caledonia Road Church in the Gorbals. The Lighthouse Museum of Architecture, Mitchell Lane, offers panoramic views of the city centre, and an insight to its architectural heritage. Culture is also firmly cemented into the city’s identity. European City Of Culture in 1990; be it theatre, dance, comedy, art, music, eating and drinking, Glasgow’s social calendar is always chock-a-block. Glasgow is home to a number of theatres, and there can be few cities where drama is brought to the people like it is in Glasgow: The Citizens’ Theatre consorts with TAG Theatre Company, a company devoted to involving youth groups in theatre and educational workshops; The Arches Theatre hosts a number of exhibitions and productions, from avant-garde music festivals to cutting edge performance artists, and is widely considered to be one of the hippest venues in the UK; and the Theatre Royal has been presenting the best in theatre of all disciplines since the late 19th Century. Nighttime in Glasgow leaves little room for sleep. The streets of the West End, City Centre and Merchant City are fringed by a phalanx of eateries, and a great number of bars. Glasgow’s West End has long been the bohemian capital of the city, its lively community swelled by a large student population, and there some of the finest restaurants in Glasgow can be found – Stravaigan (one and two), Number 16, Two Fat Ladies, The Ubiquitous Chip – not to mention some excellent delis, and places for a quick bite or pub lunch. Ashton Lane attracts throngs of revellers at the weekend who shoehorn themselves into the cobble-stone lane for an evening of Guinness at Jinty McGinty’s, or Belgian Bier and moules et frit at Bar Brel. Just a ten-minute ride from the city centre by tube, Hillhead is your stop for the West End’s main thoroughfare, Byres Road. The Merchant City, sitting to the east of Buchanan Street in the city centre, has enjoyed a burgeoning nightlife in recent years. Home to restaurants, bars, boutiques and galleries, the streets around Candleriggs and Bell Street throb with activity. Originally the beat of Glasgow’s mercantile set – the tobacco lords, the sugar lords – now the Merchant City is the preserve of the artist, the hipster, the fashionista, and the evening diner. With bars and restaurants in such number, Glasgow puts its dukes up in the fight against dieting and sobriety. Despite its enthusiastic hospitality, how much you enjoy yourself in Glasgow isn’t measured in pints. Your heart (and itinerary) is more likely to be commandeered by the city’s most famous landmarks. Breathtaking, though by nature sobering, Glasgow’s Necropolis is a cemetery, and not obviously the first port of call for visitors to the city; but its views, its grandeur and its history are compelling reasons to make your way past the Royal Infirmary on High Street, and into the sprawling graveyard where some 50,000 people have been laid to rest. Originally modelled on the Parisian cemetery, Pere Lachaise, it became Scotland’s first ornamental garden cemetery in 1833, a 37 acre site with monuments designed by Glasgow’s auteur architects; Mackintosh, Thomson, and David Hamilton. Built for the living was the People’s Palace , situated in Glasgow Green, it charts Glasgow’s colourful social history. From its formative years in the 18th Century to contemporary times, Glasgow and its people are under one roof. Kelvingrove Art Gallery in the West End is a spectacular building heaving with art and history exhibits, and best of all it’s free. And a lot of what Glasgow offers is free. There are a number of great parks – Kelvingrove Park in the West End, Queen’s Park, Rouken Glen and the magnificent Pollock Country Park in the South. For a taste of real working class Glasgow visit the Barrowlands market in the Gallowgate area of the East End. Easily walkable from the city centre, and located under its infamous ballroom and concert venue, ‘the Barras’ is a flea-market cum institution in Glasgow, and a real eye-opener for any visitor. Glasgow, the sophisticated city; it doesn’t sit comfortably with its image as the gritty, hard city. Yet, with a cultural wealth that dwarfs that of most cities in Britain, Glasgow’s image as a hard city seems woefully one dimensioned. It is football mad, with three 50,000 plus seater stadia catering for Celtic , Rangers , and the Scotland national team. But it is also enthralled by cinema: the Glasgow Film Theatre on Rose Street is an art-deco cinema specialising in arthouse film; and with the new eight-story UGC cinema on the top of Renfrew Street, the city has the biggest multiplex in Britain. Only London’s galleries see more footfall than the Gallery Of Modern Art on Queen Street – Glasgow values its arts, it loves its music, and, as the slogan would have it, ‘Glasgow’s Miles Better’. Glasgow’s recovery from the deindustrialisation of the past 30 or so years is moving on at pace. The city still has a lot of work to do before its more deprived areas enjoy an economic and social renaissance, but Glasgow is a city with plenty to celebrate, and even more to look forward to.
If you like this, Share it
Destinations
Recommended Hotels See Map
- Abode Hotel Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant, Conference Facilities - Carlton George Hotel Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant - Ewington City Hotel Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Express by Holiday Inn Glasgow Theatreland Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant, Conference Facilities - Glasgow Swallow Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Parking, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Merchant Lodge Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Historic, Restaurant - The Lorne Hotel Glasgow *featured*
Licensed, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Glazert Country House Hotel Lennoxtown *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant - Black Bull Hotel Loch Lomond *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant, Satellite TV - Winnock Hotel Loch Lomond *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Glynhill Hotel & Leisure Club Renfrew *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant, Conference Facilities - Rosslea Hall Country House Hotel Rhu *featured*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Parking, Restaurant
Hotels bookable online See Map
- Hilton Strathclyde Bellshill *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant, Conference Facilities - Mar Hall Bishopton *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant, Conference Facilities - West Park Hotel Clydebank *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Crutherland House Hotel East Kilbride *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant - Best Western Glasgow City Hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Best Western Glasgow Pond Hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Brunswick Merchant City Hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant - Buchanan Hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant - Menzies Glasgow Hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant, Satellite TV - Milton Hotel & Spa Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant, Conference Facilities - Rab Ha's Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Historic, Restaurant - Ramada Glasgow City Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant - Rennie Mackintosh Hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV - Thistle Glasgow Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant - citizenM Glasgow hotel Glasgow *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Restaurant, Satellite TV - Tontine Hotel Greenock *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Express By Holiday Inn, Hamilton Glasgow Hamilton *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Bowfield Hotel & Country Club Howwood *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Pool, Gym, Restaurant - The Colquhoun Arms Hotel Luss *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant - Moorings Hotel Motherwell *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV, Conference Facilities - Halo Crowwood Hotel Muirhead *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV - Watermill Hotel Paisley *book online*
Licensed, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV - Ardencaple Hotel Rhu *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant - Kirkhouse Inn Strathblane *book online*
Licensed, Parking, Historic, Restaurant, Satellite TV
More Glasgow Hotels
Bed and Breakfast See Map
- The Travellers Rest Barrhead *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Parking - Dunard Guest House Cambuslang *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Parking - Grange Hotel Coatbridge *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Parking - Gleniffer House Elderslie *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - Alba Lodge Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms - Albion Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - Alexander Thomson Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Disabled - Ambassador Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Parking - Argyll Guest House Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic - Atlantic Guest House Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - Avenue End Bed & Breakfast Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Parking - Belhaven Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Children Welcome, No Smoking, Historic, Inspected, Parking - Charing Cross Guest House Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Parking - Clifton Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Inspected, Parking - Devoncove Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Parking, Disabled - Heritage Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - Lomond Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Children Welcome, No Smoking, Historic, Inspected, Parking - Manor Park B&B Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - Marks Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - McLays Guest House Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic - Newton Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Disabled - NO 15 Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Parking - Seton Guest House Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms - Smiths Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, Children Welcome, No Smoking, Historic - The Boswell Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms - The Georgian House Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms - Townhouse Hotel Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic - Victorian House Glasgow *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic, Parking - The County Lodge Hotel Helensburgh *featured*
TV in rooms - Alamo Guest House Hillhead *featured*
TV in rooms, No Smoking, Historic - Belgrave Hotel Hillhead *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Inspected, Parking - Hillhead Hotel Hillhead *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Parking - Finglen House Lennoxtown *featured*
TV in rooms - Greenacres Milngavie *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Parking - Ashtree House Hotel Paisley *featured*
TV in rooms - Uplawmoor Hotel Uplawmoor *featured*
TV in rooms, Historic, Parking
Pubs & Inns
- Tullie Inn Balloch *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Busby Hotel Busby *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Torrance Hotel East Kilbride *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Inn on the Green Glasgow *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Howwood Inn Howwood *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - The Boathouse Kilsyth *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Abbey Inn Paisley *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Ferry Inn Renfrew *book online*
Food, Historic, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards
Self-Catering See Map
- The Carrick at Cameron House Luxury Lodges Alexandria *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - City Apartments Glasgow Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Short Breaks, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - City Apartments Glasgow South Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Short Breaks, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Dreamhouse Merchant City Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Short Breaks, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Embassy Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - G1 City West Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow Budget Apartment Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow Central Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow Centrale Serviced Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow City Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow City Centre Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow City Centre II Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow Lofts Glasgow *featured*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow South City Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Glasgow West End Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Hot-el-apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Mackays Holiday Cottages & Lodges Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Riverview apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Saco Glasgow Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - The Spires Serviced Suites Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Short Breaks, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Tolbooth Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Verde Apartment Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - White House Apartments Glasgow *book online*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Byres Road Holiday Let Hillhead *featured*
Pub Nearby, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards - Avenue End Stepps *book online*
Pub Nearby, Garden, Open all year, Parking, Credit Cards
Brit Quote: |
|
On this day: |