UKC

I'm going to be in Glasgow for a few hours tomorrow and don't know the place at all. Any unmissable cultural stuff I should check out, or sights to see? I like a good gallery or museum, particularly modern / flashy / interesting architecture. Preferably free but I might put my hand in my pocket if there's something great.

Cheers

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Certainly not short of museums and cultural stuff. In the city centre, the Gallery of Modern Art. To the west you have Kelvingrove Art Gallery, which is brilliant, and free... Down by the Clyde you have the new Transport Museum and Glasgow Science Centre (both of highly 'modern' architecture).

In reply to Jon Stewart:
You might be able to get a tour of Steven Holl's fairly new Reid Building up at the Art School. I'm not sure if this is still possible but worth a shot, as it's a great addition to the GSA campus.

https://www.dezeen.com/2014/03/06/glasgow-school-of-art-reid-building-steve...


Or check out The Lighthouse, just off Buchanan Street.

http://www.thelighthouse.co.uk/

Edit: typos.

In reply to kwoods:

Thanks, sounds good.

In reply to Jon Stewart:
The Huntarian Museum, Gallery of Modern Art and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum are worth a visit. Lots of info online about their collections and exhibits to choose what would suit you best.

Edit: Kevin beat me to it!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

If you're near the Art School you could pop into the CCA (Centre for Contemporary Arts) in Sauchiehall St. Food in there is also quite good.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

If they're your sort of thing, the Hunterian museum (body parts etc) and the Necropolis are well worth visiting.

Walking north up the river Kelvin is interesting, nice geography and history. Gets a bit sketchy at some point...

In reply to Jon Stewart:

The best thing to do in Glasgow(if you only have a day) is just take a walk around the West End.

You can start at the aforementioned Kelvingrove and walk by the University through the park and then follow the Kelvin river path upstream for a mile or two. Perhaps stop on it's banks by the Botanic gardens. Then maybe cross the Great Western Road to have lunch/dinner/drinks around Byres Road.

In reply to all:

Thanks everyone, looking forward to an interesting afternoon.

In reply to Jon Stewart:
The People's Palace on Glasgow Green is free . It's all about Glasgow City and it's people rather than Kelvingrove and other museums that you can see similar things almost anywhere.

http://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/peoples-palace/pages/default.aspx

And the Winter Gardens is a bit like the Botanical gardens, two for the price of , nothing

Also Check out the fountain and nearby Templeton's Carpet factory building.

In reply to Fraser:

Thank you for the links to The Lighthouse and The Glasgow School of Art New Building. I am a Glasgow graduate, but have not been in Glasgow for about seven years(reunion).

In answer to the OP, I second the Kelvingrove Art Gallery as being a brilliant free place to visit. Also second the idea of going through the botanic gardens as a relaxer.(Mention was made then of eating in the Byres road area. If so in the past, The Ubiquitous chip used to have a good reputation, albeit a bit upmarket, but I have not been there for a while.) Mind you if you want to have a relaxing way of also taking in some art/style, then I would thoroughly recommend going round the Mackintosh house near to the university Library/Hunterian art gallery. It is such a lovely peaceful, light reconstruction of his house.
Just out for a view? Then consider going up the main university spire from which you can see for miles.
I am sure that Jon will have fun.

In reply to Jon Stewart & veteye:

Just in case it's of interest, there's an exhibition of past architectural professors' sketch books in the Reid Building just now:

http://www.glasgowheritage.org.uk/exhibition-professors-sketchbooks/

Andy MacMillan was the professor when I studied there in the 80's and was a great guy, a real character and a very gifted architect. I'll be trying to get along later in the week to check it out.

In reply to Fraser:


I haven't been up there in a while. Does the new building look as hideous in real life as it does in the photos?

In reply to Jon Stewart:

forget everything everyone has said. they are all wrong. every single one. no doubt, no question, the #1 thing to do in glasgow (in scotland?) is go to banana leaf. its a small, nasty looking indian restaurant in the west end. not to be confused with somewhere with the same name else where. a thai place i think.
gooder, better, bester than all indian food anywhere. coming from a man who used to live with his indian not-quite-inlaws.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Have a whirl on the "half sized" underground.

In reply to aln:


Must admit to not being a fan of the exterior but in my opinion, a lot of the inside is quite spectacular. I uploaded some photos of a walk-round we had during construction, as part of our 30 year reunion, back in 2013. They may help inform your opinion. It's not to everyone's taste, but no building ever is and I believe the great ones usually strongly divide opinion:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/70132285@N07/albums/72157634063088837

In reply to Jon Stewart:

years since I've been, but the sharmanka gallery near the Trongate was something that I remember being impressed by!

http://www.sharmanka.com/Home/Welcome.html

All the options folk have mentioned are good, though I have always liked the transport museum and Kelvingrove more than most other galleries / museums.

Cheers,

Stu

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Sadly a few years too late for Paddy's market. A bit out is the Burrell collection in Pollok country park (great for walking the dog, or a run). A great mix of interesting stuff, a quick check says it is closed for a refub.. The Glasgow climbing centre is not far from it either,

In reply to Jon Stewart:

I was only in town for a couple of hours - I had a wander round along the Clyde and some of its bridges and went to the Museum of Modern Art. As usual, one of the main exhibitions left me wondering what in god's name they were on about, some of the more political stuff left a bit more of an impression. Next time I'm there I'll head further out of town to the Huntarian and riiver Kelvin.

Thanks.