9 Best Sights in City Center, Glasgow

Dominating the east side of George Square, this exuberant expression of Victorian confidence, built by William Young in Italian Renaissance style, was opened by Queen Victoria in 1888. Among the interior's outstanding features are the entrance hall's vaulted ceiling, sustained by granite columns topped with marble, the marble-and-alabaster staircases, and Venetian mosaics. The enormous banqueting hall has murals illustrating Glasgow's history. Free guided tours lasting about an hour depart weekdays at 2:30 pm; tours are very popular, so pick up a ticket beforehand from the reception desk. The building is closed to visitors during civic functions.

This ordinary first-floor apartment is anything but ordinary inside: it was occupied from 1937 to 1982 by Agnes Toward (and before that by her mother), both of whom seem never to have thrown anything away. Agnes was a dressmaker, and her legacy is this fascinating time capsule, painstakingly preserved with her everyday furniture and belongings. A small museum explores the life and times of its careful occupant. The red-sandstone building dates from 1892 and is in the Garnethill area near the Glasgow School of Art.

It was the railways that first brought hordes of Victorian tourists to Scotland, and the great station hotels were places of luxury for those wealthier Victorian travelers; Central Station and its accompanying hotel are excellent examples of this. The Grand Central Hotel (once the Station Hotel) demonstrates how important this building was to the city. It remains a busy active train station from which to travel south to England or west to the Ayrshire coast and Prestwick Airport. The Champagne Bar in the Grand Central Hotel is a good vantage point for watching the station concourse and its comings and goings. The railway bridge across Argyll Street behind the station is known as the Highlandman's Umbrella because immigrants from the north once gathered there to look for work in the early 20th century.

Tours of Central Station are an entertaining way to learn not only about the rich history of the station but also of Glasgow itself. Among one of the most popular tourist activities the city has to offer, even locals could learn a lot from the station's fantastic tour guides.

The gallery is something of an institution, having opened in 1969 to provide space for young and unknown artists—a role it continues. It shares space with Cyril Gerber Fine Arts, which specializes in British paintings from 1880 to the present.

Scotland's only public art school's main claim to fame used to be the iconic architecture of its main building, designed by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh; sadly, the building was badly damaged by fires in 2014 and 2018. Glaswegians mourned its destruction, but plans are in place to rebuild it, although officials have admitted that its restoration will be a long and complicated process. Fortunately, there are other wonderful Mackintosh buildings in and around the city. Stephen Holl's newer interpretation of the Reid Building, directly opposite the original, is a spectacular modern homage to it.

One of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's most admired commissions was the tearooms he designed in 1903 for Miss Cranston, whose tearooms across the city were a magnet for Glasgow's middle class. She commissioned the young Mackintosh for several projects; the Willow Tea Rooms were among the best known. The tearooms have now been restored to their 1903 state, with furniture to match Makintosh's design. You'll find other beautiful examples of his work in the building, too, including the Billiard Room, the Board Room, and the aptly named Salon de Luxe. An interactive exhibition focuses on the great artist in his time and place, together with his contemporaries, including the Glasgow Girls.

Exhibits of medals, badges, and uniforms relate the history of a famous, much-honored regiment and the men who served in it.

This 1859 church, the work of Alexander Thomson, stands high above the street. The building exemplifies his Greek Revival style, replete with Ionic columns, sphinxlike heads, and rich interior color. Owned by Glasgow City Council, it is currently used by the Free Church of Scotland. You can see the interior by attending a service Sunday at 11 am or 6 pm or by appointment.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh designed these former offices of the Glasgow Herald newspaper, with the emblematic Mackintosh Tower, in 1893. On the third floor, the Mackintosh Interpretation Centre is a great place to start exploring this groundbreaking architect's work, which is illustrated in a glass wall with alcoves containing models of his buildings. From here you can climb the more than 130 steps up the tower and, once you have caught your breath, look out over Glasgow. (Alternatively, a viewing platform on the sixth floor can be reached by elevator.) Today the Lighthouse serves as Scotland's Centre for Architecture, Design and the City, celebrating all facets of architecture and design. There are a number of popular bars at the foot of the lighthouse, which are pleasant spots to take a break from sightseeing.