Garden

Best green space:

Botanic Gardens

Glasgow is known as the Dear Green Place because of the number of parks it has – more than 90 at the last count. In the heart of the leafy west end, just a 15-minute walk from the city centre, sits the Botanic Gardens, undeniably one of the best green spaces in Glasgow. Follow paths through the wooded gardens to the banks of the River Kelvin and it’s so peaceful it’s hard to imagine you’re still in a bustling city. Then go to the Kibble Palace, the mighty glasshouse which dates back from the 1870s and is packed with tropical blooms.
Where: Botanic Gardens, 730 Great Western Road, Glasgow, Tel: +44 (0)141 276 1614.
Website: www.glasgow.gov.uk/

Art

Best art:

Burrell Collection

Take a bus from the city centre to the south side to marvel at this wonderful collection of art, sculpture and objets d'art bought over the years by the late Glasgow shipping tycoon Sir William Burrell. There are paintings by Cezanne and Renoir, pieces of Chinese porcelain and medieval furniture. The collection is so vast it regularly changes, so even Glaswegians who keep coming back still haven’t see it all.
Where: The Burrell Collection, Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, Tel: +44 (0)141 287 2550.
Website: www.glasgowmuseums.com/

Trongate 103

This hub of creativity in the heart of the Merchant City is a place to see art – and make your own. The ground and first floors of the converted Edwardian warehouse are gallery spaces with a year-round programme of events. The other floors are a hive of inspiration with the chance to make art, from printmaking and photography to film and animation in workshops and studios. A long-running showpiece on the first floor is Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre’s performance for all ages, which features hundreds of carved figures and pieces of old scrap, dancing to haunting music. Stop for lunch at the Russian themes Café Cossachok, which features home cooking from Armenia, Georgia and the Ukraine.

Where: Trongate 103, Glasgow G1 5HD. Tel: +44 (0)141 276 8380

Website: http://www.trongate103.com

Best Mackintosh:

The Mackintosh House

No visit to Glasgow is complete without at least one stop on the Mackintosh trail: architecture and artwork by the celebrated Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The Mackintosh House at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow University is a recreation of the designer’s Glasgow home, where he lived with his wife, the artist Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, in the early 1900s. They transformed the Victorian end of terrace house, decorating it in Mackintosh’s distinctive style and remodelling rooms to let light flood in – something unheard of in those days. Rooms are decorated with Mackintosh’s own furniture, including high-back chairs, rose-stencilled walls and bold white-painted carved fireplaces.

Where: University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ. Tel: +44 (0)141 330 4221

Website: http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/

Landmark

Best quirky landmark:

Duke of Wellington statue, Queen Street

This unique Glasgow landmark sits proudly outside the Gallery of Modern Art. At some point in the past it seemed a good idea – presumably by passing drunks on their way home from the pub – to put a striped plastic road cone on the Duke’s head. After several attempts to take it down, it always ended up going back on, and now the Duke has become a tourist attraction in his own right. Buy a postcard of the statue, have your photograph taken next to it or splash out and buy fabric with the Glasgow toile on it, infamously designed by award-winning interiors mavericks Timorous Beasties.
Where: Royal Exchange Square on Queen Street, city centre, Glasgow.

Shopping

Best shopping:

Glasgow Print Studio

Come here to buy fine art prints from leading and up and coming Scottish artists. The custom-built printmakers’ workshop has gallery space and regular workshops as well as a shop selling original work on handmade paper. It’s the perfect souvenir to take home with no hint of cheesy tartan.

Where: Glasgow Print Studio, 25 and 48 King Street, Glasgow, Tel: +44 (0)141 552 0704.

Website: www.gpsart.co.uk/