Glasgow | highlights of our city tour

tower staircase designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, photo (c) 2015 by David Ourisman, all right reserved

Why visit Glasgow? As this is not a city with which I'm familiar, we asked Jonathan, our UK guru, to set us up with a tour guide for Tuesday — with special emphasis on the architecture and design of Charles Rennie Mackintosh — and we had a fabulous private tour of Glasgow, at one time one of the wealthiest cities in the world (this being the reason for its architectural treasures). Here are the highlights of our day:

George Square was the first stop on our tour. Once we stepped inside the building that houses the Glasgow City Council, we realized that Glasgow offers so much more than meets the eye. An incredibly ornate building, this is a must see. Lavish first floor spaces that are open to the public, and the visit is free.

The Lighthouse was built by Charles Rennie Mackintosh to house the offices of the Glasgow Herald. It is now a museum of his work, containing some of Mackintosh's furniture designs as well as the "tower staircase," pictured above. Admission is free. Be sure to go to the third floor and climb the stairs for the panoramic view of Glasgow from the top.

Riverside Museum. Located on the shore of the River Clyde, this is a museum of different forms of transport in Glasgow — ships, streetcars, trains, cars, and even bicycles. A well done exhibit, and admission is free.

House for an Art Lover, also a building based on a Mackintosh design. We had lunch in a table by the window overlooking the gardens and afterwards toured the house (reasonably priced at 4.50£ for adults and 3£ for seniors).

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. This elegant museum has an exhibit of Mackintosh-designed furniture as well as an extensive art collection — including works by Monet, Van Gogh, and the most important work in its collection, Dali's Christ of Saint John of the Cross. Admission is free.

Hunterian Museum, on the Glasgow University campus, offers free half hour tours every 30 minutes of the Mackintosh House, his reconstructed townhouse which was bequeathed to the university. If possible, begin your tour here, as the tour guide is truly an expert on the subject.


I am constantly reminded of how much an expert guide can add to the enjoyment of your vacation. We could theoretically have arranged this itinerary ourselves, figured out how to get from place to place, parked the car, etc., but we would have missed the narrative by a Glasgow native who truly loves his city and had a fabulous story to tell. Private guides can be expensive, but a great guide can literally make the difference between "checking off" items on a bucket list and truly engaging a destination.

copyright  (c)  2015 by David Ourisman LLC.  All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.