What to See in Glasgow, United Kingdom: Free Audio Guide

Glasgow is a lively Scottish city shaped by medieval religion, Victorian civic ambition, industrial heritage and a strong cultural scene. The best things to do in Glasgow range from exploring one of Scotland’s oldest cathedrals to discovering world-class museums, football history, modern architecture and the story of the River Clyde. Neywo has a free Glasgow audio guide with 296 narrated places to help you explore the city as you walk.

Part of Scotland and the United Kingdom, Glasgow is a rewarding destination for anyone interested in history, art, architecture and urban life. Its neighbourhoods each offer a different view of the city, from the medieval heart around the cathedral to the West End and the riverside museums.

What to see in Glasgow

Glasgow Cathedral and the medieval heart

Glasgow Cathedral is the oldest building in Glasgow and the oldest cathedral on mainland Scotland. Dedicated to Saint Mungo, also known as Kentigern, the city’s patron saint, its history reaches back to the twelfth century. A stone cathedral was dedicated here in 1136, while the present cathedral was dedicated in 1197 and largely rebuilt during the thirteenth century.

Its medieval interior survived the Reformation virtually intact, making it one of only two medieval cathedrals in Scotland to do so, alongside St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. The cathedral also played a role in the early history of the University of Glasgow: after the university was founded in 1451, its first classes took place in the chapter house.

Nearby, Cathcart Castle offers a very different glimpse of the past. The fifteenth-century castle once stood in the Cathcart area, but it was abandoned in the eighteenth century and the remaining ruins were pulled down in 1980. Today, only the foundations can be seen in Linn Park.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

One of the best places to visit in Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum stands in a grand red sandstone building in Kelvingrove Park. Its ornate Spanish Baroque design makes the building itself part of the experience. It opened fully to the public on 1 October 1902, after first being built for the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901.

Inside, more than 8,000 objects are displayed across 22 galleries. The collections cover fine art and design, natural history, Egyptian antiquities, medieval arms and armour, Scottish history and the history of Glasgow. The art collection includes Scottish and European works, as well as art from Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Highlights include Salvador Dalí’s Christ of Saint John of the Cross, paintings by the Glasgow Boys and the Scottish Colourists, and works by important European masters. The museum is also one of Scotland’s most popular free visitor attractions.

The University of Glasgow and the Hunterian

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery is part of the University of Glasgow’s historic campus. Founded in 1807 through the bequest of Dr. William Hunter, it is Scotland’s oldest public museum.

Its collections bring together art, archaeology, natural history and scientific discovery. Roman artefacts from the Antonine Wall tell the story of the frontier that once marked the northern edge of the Roman Empire, while fossils, minerals and zoological specimens explore the natural world. The anatomy collection reflects Hunter’s medical research.

The Hunterian Art Gallery adds works by Rembrandt, Whistler and the Glasgow Boys. It also holds the world’s largest collection of works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Scottish architect and designer. The university, its galleries and the surrounding West End form one of the most rewarding areas for a Glasgow self-guided walking tour.

Riverside Museum and the River Clyde

The Riverside Museum brings Glasgow’s industrial and maritime heritage to life beside the River Clyde. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, its wave-like form reflects the movement of the river. The museum opened in 2011 as the new home for Glasgow’s transport collection and won the European Museum of the Year Award in 2013.

Inside are vintage cars, bicycles, trams, steam locomotives and other vehicles and machines. Displays recall Glasgow’s engineering, shipbuilding and global trade. A recreated Cobbled Street evokes an early twentieth-century Glasgow through period shops and signs, while vintage automobiles appear on a dramatic vertical wall.

The riverside also leads to Glasgow Science Centre, a modern complex with a Science Mall, Glasgow Tower and an IMAX cinema. Its hands-on galleries explore light, sound, energy and the human body. Glasgow Tower is a 127-metre rotating structure and holds the Guinness World Record as the tallest fully rotating freestanding structure on earth. When weather permits, its observation deck offers views across the city, the River Clyde and the surrounding hills.

Gallery of Modern Art

In Royal Exchange Square, the Gallery of Modern Art, or GoMA, is Glasgow’s main gallery of contemporary art. Opened in 1996, it presents work by local and international artists through exhibitions, workshops and major projects.

The neoclassical building has had several lives. It was once a private home, then a bank and a library, before becoming the Royal Exchange after substantial renovation between 1827 and 1832. David Hamilton added Corinthian pillars to the entrance on Queen Street, a cupola and a spacious hall at the rear.

The collection includes works by David Hockney, Andy Warhol, Sebastião Salgado, Ken Currie and John Bellamy. The gallery’s programme often addresses contemporary social issues, giving the building and its exhibitions a connection to life beyond the museum.

The People’s Palace and Glasgow Green

The People’s Palace and Winter Gardens stand in Glasgow Green, the city’s oldest public park. Opened on 22 January 1898, the building was created as a museum and cultural centre for Glasgow’s working-class citizens, offering education, recreation and a place to explore local heritage.

Its exhibitions trace the story of Glasgow and its people from the eighteenth century to the present. Personal objects, photographs and film explore housing, work, leisure, political activism, dance halls, strikes and campaigns for social reform. Recreated tenement interiors offer a particularly vivid view of everyday life.

The red sandstone exterior and classical lines reflect the ambition behind its name: a palace for the people. In 1970, the People’s Palace was placed in Scotland’s highest category of listed buildings.

St Andrew’s Cathedral and Glasgow’s civic memorials

St Andrew’s Cathedral stands on Clyde Street on the north bank of the River Clyde. Glasgow’s Roman Catholic cathedral was designed in the Neo-Gothic style by James Gillespie Graham and completed in 1814.

Its façade is distinctive because it has no steeple or bell tower. Large buttresses frame the ornate entrance, while an enormous arched central window dominates the front, with a statue of Saint Andrew above it. Restoration work in 2009 renewed its gold-leaf decoration, added bronze doors and modernised the lighting and heating.

In the city centre, the Glasgow Cenotaph stands on the east side of George Square, in front of Glasgow City Chambers. Originally created to commemorate Glaswegians killed during the First World War, it was unveiled in 1924. Further inscriptions were added after the Second World War.

The Burrell Collection

The Burrell Collection is one of Glasgow’s major art museums. It houses a collection assembled by Sir William Burrell and Constance, Lady Burrell, including tapestries, glass, ceramics, sculptures and paintings from Europe and the Far East.

Sir William Burrell gave the collection to Glasgow in 1944. It contains more than 8,500 objects and first opened as a museum in 1983. Following a major refurbishment, it reopened on 29 March 2022, and in July 2023 it was announced as the winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year award.

Merchant City and the Glasgow Police Museum

Merchant City offers a different perspective on Glasgow’s history, with former warehouses, public spaces and cultural venues. The Glasgow Police Museum explores the City of Glasgow Police, established in 1800 as the United Kingdom’s first modern-style municipal police force.

Uniforms, equipment, photographs, documents and personal stories reveal more than two centuries of policing. The museum also examines famous cases involving robbery, murder and smuggling, as well as changing detective methods. It opened in 2002 and moved to Merchant City in 2009, occupying a historic building once associated with the force.

Hampden Park

Hampden Park is Scotland’s national football stadium and the home of the Scotland national team. The stadium’s history is defined by remarkable crowds. A stadium opened on the site on 31 October 1903, and its capacity grew to 150,000 between 1927 and 1937. A Scotland versus England match in 1937 drew 149,415 spectators, a European record for an international football match.

Hampden has hosted six European finals, including the 1960 European Cup final between Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt. It has also hosted three European Cup or Champions League finals, two Cup Winners’ Cup finals and a UEFA Cup final.

Holmwood House and Glasgow’s design heritage

In Cathcart, Holmwood House offers a chance to see one of Scotland’s notable Victorian villas. Designed by Alexander Thomson, known as Alexander “Greek” Thomson, it is regarded as his finest and most elaborate residential villa and is recognised as a Category A listed building.

Much of its original interior decoration has survived. Its design was published in 1868 in Villa and Cottage Architecture, and that published version may have influenced Frank Lloyd Wright and other early modernist architects.

Explore Glasgow with Neywo

Neywo offers seven walking tours, one bus route and one bike route in Glasgow, with 296 narrated places in total. The walks range from the 1.11-kilometre, 58-minute route through Glasgow’s medieval heart to the 3.75-kilometre, 103-minute walk around Glasgow Green and the Gorbals. Other routes cover George Square, Mackintosh’s Glasgow, the West End, Merchant City and the Clyde.

The 6.5-kilometre bus route takes 28 minutes and has five narrated stops. The 2.7-kilometre bike route takes 14 minutes and has three stops, linking the Riverside Museum with Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

Download Neywo and explore Glasgow at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, so you can turn a visit into your own self-guided walking tour of Glasgow.