About Glasgow
| Glasgow: Scotland with style Steeped in history yet defined by innovation, Glasgow’s breathtaking Victorian architecture and traditional welcoming embrace have provided a stately inheritance for the city’s commercial resurgence and cultural vigour. Reiterating its status as one of the world’s most desirable destinations to work, study or simply enjoy a weekend visit, Scotland’s thriving central metropolis is developing and recasting itself to meet the challenge of hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Likened to 1960s Detroit for its music scene, producing Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian and Glasvegas in recent years, legendary venues like the Barrowland, King Tut’s and The Arches stage the world’s biggest and most promising new bands, while the City Halls and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall regularly play host to classical performances, all making a contribution to the city’s recent honouring as a UNESCO City of Music. Seasoned clubbers swear by the ever popular Optimo at the Sub Club, or one of the Art School’s idiosyncratic indie nights, but Glasgow is also home to Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera with their impressive credentials attracting an international following. Cutting-edge theatre can be discovered at the Tramway and the Centre for Contemporary Arts while The Citizens has become a nursery for new talent and the King’s and Theatre Royal present big name touring productions. Supporting these permanent attractions is a year-round programme of events and festivals. From the massive traditional music festival Celtic Connections in January to the Merchant City Festival in October via comedy, art, jazz, piping and river expositions along the way, there’s something for every taste and wallet. The art deco Glasgow Film Theatre continues to project the most acclaimed in arthouse and European fare, while the gargantuan, 18-screen Cineworld and the Science Centre’s impressive IMAX cinema by the River Clyde are the settings for watching Hollywood blockbusters. Hailed as the dear green place, Glasgow has plenty of attractive, well-maintained parks, but its aesthetic standing truly rests with its buildings. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s fame draws visitors from far and wide and his distinctive style can still be appreciated in the award-winning refurbishment of The Lighthouse, Scotland’s centre for architecture and design, with its panoramic views of the city centre, as well as the Scotland Street School Museum and the aptly named House for an Art Lover, a contemporary edifice built from the Art Nouveau architect’s original blueprints. A cultural treasure trove, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, with its eclectically arranged, eye-catching exhibits, recently welcomed its five millionth visitor and remains one of the largest museums in the UK. Further afield, the Burrell Collection contains a wealth of Egyptian, Chinese and Islamic artifacts, while the Hunterian, attached to the 15th century University of Glasgow, is the oldest public museum in Scotland, its gallery housing the largest display anywhere of James McNeill Whistler. Glaswegians enjoy a bit of retail therapy and the city has cemented its reputation for offering the UK’s best shopping outside London, from the Italian Centre in the Merchant City, to the exclusive, designer label parade of Ingram Street, right through to the delicatessens and boutique shops of the fashionable West End, where the weary and shopped-out drag a chair onto the Ashton and Cresswell Lane cobbles at one of the countless bars and cafes. |