What are your top ten attractions in Glasgow, Scotland?

Have you visited Glasgow before?

If you have, your memories of the City might settle on Charles Rennie Mackintosh. They may bring up images in your mind of an exhilarating Old Firm game, the intoxicating passion of the stadiums filtering throughout the rest of the city, cranking up the feeling of excitement in its eclectic restaurants and its myriad of pubs. You might recall having spent your days here breathing in the arts and the architecture, the likes of which will never be repeated, and then breathing out after a challenging day at XSCAPE and our other popular activity centres. And then your memory may call up the feeling you had when you trudged onto the plane or train, wondering when you might come back.

Well yes I know, that's a whole lotta assumption on my part. Your memories may well be filled instead with the litter you saw, some deprivation, the scourge of tracksuited neds (the term used here for the homogenous throng of bored and therefore rowdy youngsters you'd likely find in any other city in the world, albeit dressed differently), and centre on the negative but now dated and inaccurate no mean city vibe you've heard so much about.

To be honest and with the greatest of respect, if that's what you've taken from your time in Glasgow, go back again. Scratch the surface of the place and you'll unearth the real Glasgow. If you do, you'll learn exactly why it is that this city is the most magnetic UK tourist destination outside London, and ranks higher than anywhere else in the UK bar London (yeah well, scrap that exception if you like!) for shopping, cultural attractions, dining out, theatre, and one of the most fun packed nights out you'll ever experience, I kid you not.

As in any other city you visit, you just need to know where to look, where to start.

My top ten cultural attractions in Glasgow?

1. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
2. Glasgow Science Centre (including IMAX & Glasgow Tower)
3. Botanic Gardens & Kibble Palace
4. Museum of Transport
5. Gallery of Modern Art
6. People's Palace and Winter Gardens
7. Provand's Lordship & Surrounds (including Glasgow Cathedral, Necropolis & St. Mungo Museum)
8. The Burrell Collection (including Pollok House & Pollok Park)
9. The Mackintosh Ten (i.e. Mackintosh House, Willow Tea Rooms, Ruchill Church Hall, Queen's Cross Church, School of Art, Martyrs' Public School, the Lighthouse, Daily Record Building, Scotland Street School Museum, & House for an Art Lover)
10. Glasgow University and grounds

Yeah yeah, I know I cheated a bit with the whole Mackintosh Ten thing, but hey, it's pretty difficult to pack in the best of the best, because my home city has so many world class places to visit and spend your time, you'd end up just being insulting if you left somewhere out of the list (you should read some of the emails I receive!).

But my top ten above is just a start for you to consider. If you're thinking of coming over here to spend a week or so on vacation, sprinkle these in between going to a Celtic or Rangers football game at the weekend (where you'll begin to understand what really drives Glasgow's culture), dine at one of the many famous restaurants dotted around the City Centre and the West End, lose your inhibitions in the welcome atmosphere of whatever pub and club tickles your fancy, and then drop like a spent cabbage onto your pillow in one of Glasgow's world renown hotels.

Please bear in mind that I don't work for the tourist industry here. I just love my home city, and whilst I'm perfectly happy to be accused of being completely biased, well, I'll also point out that I'm not comparing Glasgow with anywhere else in the world (and I've been around the block a bit too) - my point is simply that if you're looking for a unique and friendly city to explore for a while, no matter whether your ancestral connections hail from Scotland, you'd be an absolute moonman to miss out on Glasgow.

So just visit the place and learn for yourself. When you do, let me know your own top ten attractions and I'll likely publish them on my site.

See you soon...

Copyright Scott Charles Docherty. All rights reserved.

About the Author: Scott Docherty lives happily in Glasgow, and is the owner of Top Ten Glasgow Guide & its popular Lobey Dosser Tribute Blog - Have you kept in touch with Glasgow?

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