A large venue constantly mobbed, Firewater is a good honest servant of Sauchiehall St. It’s always lively and there are usually some pretty good bands plying their trade.
Retro decor, a big selection of tap and bottled beers, 3am closing, and nightly alternative live music downstairs followed by a club at weekends make this a winner.
Named to poke fun at Scotland’s perceived lack of finer cuisine, it offers a French touch but resolutely Scottish ingredients, carefully selected and following sustainable principles.
Laid-back and a little hippy, the bagels and paninis, with names like maverick or renegade, are highlights. Try some inventive dishes, such as the ‘nuclear’ beans, dripping with cayenne and Tabasco.
Paisley Museum features Paisley psychedelia! There are some marvellous exhibits, including contemporary displays of children in the modern world -- it’s worth at least a couple of hours.
As laid-back as you could ask for in a hip city bar, the friendly, tuned-in staff complete the happy picture. It does decent, cheap paninis, salads, and the like during the day.
With 100 whiskies and four quirky rooms to choose from, this unique pub is one of Glasgow’s best -- an antidote to style bars.
This temple to Scottish dining and drinking is a superb venue in an old church. Giving new meaning to the word ‘conversion’, the brasserie pumps out meals in a dark, Mackintosh-inspired space.
Stravaigin is a serious foodie’s delight. The cool contemporary dining space in the basement has booth seating, and helpful, laid-back waiting-staff to assist in deciphering the audacious menu.
Mono is one of Glasgow’s best vegan eateries. Monorail is in the same premises, which means you can browse through an indie record shop while waiting for your food to be prepared.
Book a Tim Stead-designed, medieval-looking table in advance for well-prepared Scottish and Continental food. There’s an expansion, specialising in fish, next door.
The piggery is a little offbeat, a little zany and makes you feel comfortable as soon as you plunge into its basement depths.
Local flavors and Mediterranean highlights (mainly Italian and Spanish) are evident. Taste sensations range from wood-fired pizzas to a Moroccan chicken and chickpea salad.
It has creative, inventive displays, which are great for families – the kids will love the re-creation of a WWII air raid.
Excellent German dishes accompany the amber fluid, such as bratwurst sausages, sauerkraut and schnitzels. Migrate to the beer garden overlooking the People’s Palace in summer.
It’s hard to resist the traditional "classic" rooms with windows onto the delightful square, but at weekends you’ll have a quieter sleep in the new wing at the back.
It’s worth a visit for its supreme facade and interesting museum of education that occupies the interior.
The building’s best feature is its authentic feel -- if you ignore the tacky imitation-stone linoleum covering the ground floor.
There’s floor-to-ceiling velvet, with red curtains revealing a staircase to the tapas bar and restaurant above in a show of decadence that the Romans would have appreciated.
There’s something otherworldly about the very mannered style of the beaten silver panels, the long-backed chairs and the surface decorations echoing Celtic manuscript illuminations.
Full performances are at 7pm Thursday and Sunday, and there are shorter daily performances (£5 with two kids free) from Wednesday to Sunday. The gallery is also open between performances.
The attraction is twofold: first, impressive art that blurs the lines between religion and culture; secondly, the opportunity to delve into different faiths, as deep or shallow as you wish.
Designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, the museum houses a varied collection, including three recreated Glasgow streets from various points in history, a display of maritime heritage, etc.
The main halls of the exhibition, with their high vaulted roofs, are magnificent in themselves. A highlight is the 1674 ‘Map of the Whole World’ in the World Culture section.
It’s a superb collection of model ships, industrial displays and narrative, vividly painting the history of the Clyde, the fate of which has been inextricably linked with Glasgow and its people.
The museum is at Hampden Park, off Aikenhead Rd. To get there, take a train to Mount Florida station or take bus 5, 31, 37 or 75 from Stockwell St.
Check out the planetarium, where the Scottish Power Space Theatre brings the night sky to life and a Virtual Science Theatre takes you on a 3-D molecular journey.
Best of all, everything – including every painting – has an easy-reading paragraph of interpretation next to it: what a great idea. Bus 17, among many others, runs here from Renfield St.
Excellent hour-long guided tours (roughly hourly summer; 11am and 3pm winter) run by architecture students are the only way (apart from enrolling) to visit the interior. Book by phone at busy times.
The gorgeous hilly grounds make the perfect place for a picnic lunch. There are also organised walks and concerts in summer -- have a look at the noticeboard near the entrance to see what’s on.
The most interesting part of the cathedral, the lower church, is reached by a stairway. Its forest of pillars creates a powerful atmosphere around St Mungo’s tomb.
Great home-cooked curries. It’s wise to book -- it’s a snug place with a big reputation, a limited menu and a sensational-value two-course lunch for £5.25 (dinner mains £6-12).
One of the city’s premier live-music pub venues, the excellent King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut hosts bands every night of the week. Oasis were signed after playing here.
This happy, buzzy bar serves excellent meals, far better than average pub food. Salads, pasta and burgers are among the many tasty offerings.
Glasgow’s flea market, the Barras on Gallowgate, has almost a thousand stalls and people come here just for a wander as much as for shopping, which gives the place a holiday air.
The Bothy dishes out traditional, uniquely Scottish, home-style fare with a modern twist. It’s filling, but leave room for dessert. An £11 lunch will get you away cheaper.
Relive the original splendour of this unique tearoom and admire Mackintosh's stroke in just about everything. He had a free rein and even the teaspoons were given his distinctive touch.
