GLASGOW-SCOTLAND

Glasgow is one of the finest Victorian cities in Britain and the largest city in Scotland. Recently reinvented with new concert halls, art galleries and festivals as well as new stores, bars and hotels, it makes a great city-break. It is also Scotland's main centre for shopping.

WHERE TO STAY

• ABODE GLASGOW

  129 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 2SY(0141 221 6789)
  The Abode Glasgow has bright, luxurious rooms with city-centre views and a well-reviewed Michael Caines restaurant, as well as a basement café-bar.

• CITIZENM GLASGOW

  60 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Scotland(020 3519 1111)
  Self-service had never been a hotel plus before CitizenM in Amsterdam made it desirable for today's time-pressured traveller. And CitizenM Glasgow, which opened in September 2010 with 198 rooms, is certainly a hotel for the digital age. Book online and your reservation confirmation welcomes you as a 'mobile citizen of the world'. Check-in at an electronic kiosk allows you to pick your room just as you would book a seat on a plane. With the help of a Philips touch-screen mood pad, you can even customise it, changing ambient lighting, temperature, TV, music and the view At CanteenM you help yourself to a hot breakfast and Italian coffee, sandwiches or sashimi, and cocktails at night. You are not alone in a computerised world: there are 'ambassadors' about, but no self-important concierges. Instead of a foyer, there are three areas (they call them living rooms), with free Wi-Fi and a large-screen TV, for meetings or chilling out. Rooms are small - well, they are only £49 a night - but they do have power showers, full-length mirrors and luxurious linen on the XXL beds.

• HOTEL DU VIN AT ONE DEVONSHIRE GARDENS

  1 Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow G12 0UX(0141 339 2001)
  A grand row of five Victorian houses in a fin de siècle style on a quiet West End street, not far from the Botanical Gardens. Most bedrooms are so big you can play hide-and-seek using antique trunks and armoires. The Townhouse Suite 7 sleeps six and boasts a "haunted house" bookcase that folds down into a bed.

• MALMAISON

  278 West George Street, Glasgow G2 4HG(0141 572 1000)
  A converted Greek Orthodox church where muted, masculine decor is juxtaposed with elegant furniture and wrought-iron stairs. The intimate brasserie has a feelgood atmosphere and its amber-hued Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar functions as a sophisticated antechamber.

• MAR HOTEL

  Earl of Mar Estate, Bishopton, Nr Glasgow PA7 5NW(0141 812 9999)
  Chandeliers-and-gilt Gothic mansion: once a military hospital, it opened as a five-star hotel in 2004 after a lavish refit. The spa is exceptional with 12 treatment rooms, Vichy showers and in-room treatments. Front bedrooms over look the craggy hills of Kilpatrick; to the rear are landscaped gardens and woodland.

• RADISSON SAS GLASGOW

  301 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G2 8DL(0141 204 3333)
  A striking copper, mahogany and glass building. Coloured lighting effects, glass lifts and modernist influences have created a real sense of space and drama. The whole hotel is a WiFi zone - a good excuse to take your laptop down to the spacious lobby and bar area. No gym but guests do have use of LA Fitness next door.

• SAINT JUDE'S

  190 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4HG(0141 352 8800)
  Designer boutique in ivy-covered townhouse; the patron's Glasgow School of Art pedigree is evident in the decor. Expertly mixed cocktails at the bar are a highlight, as is the live music at the weekends. An outpost for several of London's members' clubs, the hotel has just six rooms.

• THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL

  106–8 Brunswick Street, Glasgow G1 1TF(0141 552 0001)
  The Brunswick Hotel, in the Merchant City with interiors by local designers Graven Images, offers small but perfectly formed rooms, and good food ranging from dim sum to the most famous local delicacy - a fish supper. Whisky vouchers on arrival and a very laid-back approach.

• WHERE TO EAT

  BRIAN MAULE AT CHARDON D'OR
  176 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4RL (0141 248 3801; www.brianmaule.com). Serves Scottish food with French touches, such as dry-aged sirloin and lamb with aubergine caviar, and has just opened a bar and private dining room downstairs.
  
  CAFE GANDOLFI
  64 Albion Street, Glasgow G1 1NY (0141 552 6813;www.cafegandolfi.com). For an unpretentious but delicious Scottish meal, try Café Gandolfi in the heart of the Merchant City. The panelled interior with its oversize wooden chairs designed by Tim Stead may look a bit 1970s, but the service and food certainly isn't. Favourites include Cullen Skink, a thick smoked haddock soup, which tastes much better than it sounds, spicy Stornaway black pudding with Scottish pancakes, and delicious cold-smoked venison.
  
  CITY MERCHANT
  97-99 Candleriggs, Glasgow G1 1NP (0141 553 1577; www.citymerchant.co.uk). A great restaurant for fresh fish, the City Merchant menu contains treats such as baked amoked haddock wrapped in bacon, and deep-fried mackerel in oatmeal served with caper-crushed potatoes and beurre blanc.
  
  ROGANO
  11 Exchange Place, Glasgow G1 3AN (0141 248 4055; www.roganoglasgow.com). Rogano is famed for its seafood, and at the bar you can try great fish soup and fishcakes. If the prices in the main restaurant make you wince, try the café in the basement.
  
  THE MIXING ROOMS
  226 West Regent Street, Glasgow G2 4DQ (0141 221 7795; www.mixingrooms.co.uk). The new Mixing Rooms is part of a recording studio: lounge about on the leather sofas for long enough and you'll see musicians taking a break.
  
  TRON THEATRE
  63 Trongate, Glasgow G1 5HB (0141 552 8587; www.tron.co.uk). You can hang out in the bar, see a play and have dinner at the Tron Theatre Victorian Bar & Restaurant - a refurbished former church.

NIGHTLIFE

KUSHION
158 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4TB (0845 1666031;www.g1group.co.uk). There's an exotic Eastern feel to new city-centre club Kushion, with its draped seating areas and slouchy sofas for chilling away from the dance floor.

ONE UP
23 Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow, G1 3AJ (0141 225 5612; www.oneupglasgow.com). This has a private members' room, a bar open until 3am and rooftop garden to beat the smoking ban.

UBIQUITOUS CHIP
12 Ashton Lane, Glasgow, G12 8SJ (0141 334 5007; www.ubiquitouschip.co.uk). A serious restaurant with a decent bar upstairs.

WHAT TO SEE

GLASGOW NECROPOLIS
Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0UZ (0141 287 3961;www.glasgownecropolis.org). This sprawling cemetery is renowned for its grandiose tombs designed in every style from Byzantine to Egyptian Revival. If the main entrance is closed, try the side way opposite Cathedral Hotel.

HOLMWOOD HOUSE
61-63 Netherlee Road, Glasgow G44 3YL (0141 204 4400; www.nts.org.uk). This Victorian villa was designed by celebrated architect Charles 'Greek' Thomson. It has been restored recently, after the nuns who ran a school here in the 1960s painted over the frescoes of cavorting semi-naked figures. Closed from November to March.

MACKINTOSH HOUSE
82 Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QQ (0141 330 5431; www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk). The former home of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald was saved from demolition and reconstructed inside Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow. Admission is free.

POLLOK HOUSE
Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow G43 1AT (0844 4932202;www.nts.org.uk). A charming, intimate 18th-century house with a superb art collection.

ST MUNGO MUSEUM
St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, 2 Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0RH (0141 276 1625; www.roganoglasgow.com), lies at the base of the Necropolis. Contains a few beautiful artefacts and paintings representing a range of religious faiths, including Salvador Dalí's haunting painting Christ of St John of the Cross. You will also find the only Zen garden in Britain. Next to this is the Cathedral, a magnificent Gothic survivor, built between the 12th and 15th centuries.

THE TENEMENT HOUSE
145 Buccleuch Street, Garnet Hill, Glasgow, G3 6QN (0844 4932197; www.nts.org.uk). Tenement House is a typical Glasgow tenement flat, home to a shorthand typist, Miss Agnes Toward, who lived here from the turn of the century until the 1960s and didn't alter the interior, thus preserving a Glaswegian time capsule. Closed from November to February.

WHERE TO SHOP

Shopping metropolis Glasgow is seen as the modern little sister of the Scottish city scene. Just as steeped in history as the capital, Edinburgh, the city is the third most populated in the UK, and the busiest shopping street, Buchanan Street, grosses more than any other outside London. The city's centre is reportedly the world's first grid system - and the one on which New York was based - and as such is laughably easy to navigate.

BOUDICHE
203 Ingram Street, Glasgow G1 1DQ (0141 221 6477;www.boudiche.com) A high-end underwear haven.

BRAZEN
58 Albion Street, Merchant City, Glasgow G1 1LH (0141 552 4551;www.brazenstudios.co.uk) A jewellery shop situated in the heart of the picturesque Merchant City, stocking the work of the city's finest designers.

CRUISE
180 Ingram Street, Glasgow G1 1DN (0141 572 3232; www.cruiseclothing.co.uk) Stylish boutique with a discerning selection of labels.

MELLIS CHEESEMONGERS
492 Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12 8EW (0141 339 8998). Promises olfactory overload with its huge range of organic Scottish cheeses, melt-in-the-mouth cheese straws and sweet quince jelly. Opposite is the New Alliance, where you'll find the best bread, cakes and savoury snacks in Glasgow.

MR BEN
101 King Street, Glasgow G1 5RB (0141 553 1936; www.mrbenretroclothing.com) A well-sourced vintage clothing shop.

PRINCES SQUARE
48 Buchanan Street, Glasgow G1 3JN (0141 226 2271; www.princessquare.co.uk) The city's hub of boutiques and high street brands.

STARRY STARRY NIGHT
19-21 Dowanside Lane, Glasgow G12 9BZ (0141 337 1837) A treasure-trove of vintage wears.

THE BARRAS
Callowgate, Glasgow G1 5AX (0141 552 4601; www.glasgow-barrowland.com) A legendary market, selling everything from DVDs to silver charms to giant inflatable chickens - depending on your requirements.

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Princes Square, 48 Buchanan Street, Glasgow G1 3JN (0141 226 2271;www.viviennewestwood.com) The extroverted designer's first store north of the border.

HOW TO GET THERE

AIRPORT
Glasgow Airport is about 30 minutes from central Glasgow. There are regular buses and taxis into town.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
British Airways (08707 663481; www.british-airways.com); easyJet (08712 882 236;www.easyjet.com); Ryanair (0871 246 0000;www.ryanair.com); BMI (0800 0096 8679).

TOURIST INFO

The tourist office is at 11 George Square (0141 204 4400). There is also an office at Glasgow Airport.

WHEN TO GO

There is little point planning a trip to Glasgow around the climate. The city doesn't boast the finest British weather at the best of times. However, spring and summer are the warmest months. Hogmanay, Scotland's New Year's Eve, is another popular time to go.