The Merchant City pretty much covers everything from George Square to High St, and is one of my…read morefavourite parts of Glasgow. Classed as a residential area, you'll also find all sorts of businesses: from the City Chambers, GOMA, bars, cafes and restaurants. Not to mention music venues like The Fruitmarket and City Halls. The buildings are beautiful - you'll find quite a few of them poem to the public during Doors Open Day each September - look out for St Andrews in the Square. One of the focal points is Merchant Square - a converted market with an awesome internal roofed courtyard, which is surrounded by bars, restaurant, and is home to a weekly craft and design fair. The Merchant city festival runs for around 10 days every July, and is well worth a wander round. All in all, one of the friendliest and most vibrant places to be.

My first ever visit to Merchant City was pretty underwhelming - I'm going to say that during the…read moreday in the middle of the week, this area can seem a bit dull. At night is when it really comes alive and there's lots going on! You have the obvious drawcard of Merchant Square but personally, I don't love the offerings. Other streets of Merchant City have great bars and restaurants, and a few favourites for me are Guy's Restaurant, Wilson Street Pantry for brunch, Spitfire Espresso for a great cake/meeting/working spot and Blackfriars for a pint. New additions like BrewDog and Hutchesons are just wonderful, and really add something special to this great part of Glasgow. Parking can be a pain so I recommend parking at King St car park which is a great excuse to pop into the 13th Note/Mono for a pre-post soft drink. There's also a fabulous walking tour/art trail you can do if you pick up a leaflet at GOMA which shows off some of the amazing art in this area.

It's a tired cliche in Scotland to harp on about the stunning countryside "on our doorstep" that we…read morepay little attention to, but a trip on The West Highland Line proves that even if Scotland is a country filled with bitter, self pitying drunkards, it's an exceptionally good looking one. This rail line is considered amongst the most scenic in the world, and takes you through Loch Lomond, various mountain ranges, past Oban then onto Fort William. The scenery really is beyond belief at some points, with notable money shots being the Loch Lomond section which is viewed from halfway up a mountain (or a big hill, I'm not sure), and towards the end of the line when the train crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct, a magnet for tourists as it was used in the Harry Potter films. There is one slight downside. Despite the summer months being packed with bumbag wearing tourists, Scotrail use an older, slower, and sometimes quite uncomfortable train for this service. It's either down to bad business sense or deliberate usage of a slower train for lovers of the rugged terrain, but it grates that they don't even bother with the buffet car. It's not too huge a deal though, and shouldn't detract from what's always a jaw dropping journey.

This bridge of sighs is not the one in Venice unfortunately but we have our very own in the…read morebeautiful Glasgow! Bridge of sighs allows you to go to and from the Necropolis cemetery which houses around 3,500 graves and the bridge of sighs is named because of the amount of funeral processions that crossed the bridge to the Necropolis.

Anyone that knows me, knows I love me a good bridge…read more And this is one of Glasgows finest. The Bridge of Sighs spans the old Molendiner Burn (now redirected into a big pipe), linking Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis. In years gone by, folks had to carry the coffins of their loved ones across this bridge - hence the melancholy name. Nowadays, the bridge connects war memorials with the Commonwealth Graves in the Necropolis. It's one of those bridges that people always forget about, but which was important to Glasgows history. And you get a nice view from it, looking our across Glasgow.

Fantastic street murals. We arrived in town very tired only 1 night but I wanted to see the murals…read moreso we set off walking in the cold rain. We didn't find them all but most i wanted. The mural of the breast feeding woman is covered by construction.. hope they don't destroy it.

Though my particular walking tour of Glasgow was not focused on the City Centre Murals, per se, it…read morewas inevitable that I'd come across these giant works of art; the tour took me through Merchant City where many of the murals can be seen. Commissioned by Glasgow City Council to revitalize the city, there are around 29 murals beautifying buildings & walls. If you aren't on a guided tour, google will point you to several mural maps, locations, & descriptors. Murals that stood out for me were the Strathclyde University Wonderwall which celebrates the 2014 Commonwealth Games & the two popular pieces by street artist Smug, St. Mungo as well as St. Enoch and Child. I absolutely love strolling through a new city to get to know its distinct areas; these murals made my stroll that much more fascinating.

Every city has their main hub. Where all the shopping takes place, the bars and restaurants. You…read morecould take the train right into the city. From the station, the city center area is right there. Buchanan street is lined up with loads of shops, malls and restaurants. It's a good strip with amazing architecture. You mainly have all the chains stores that you see often. HM, Zara, Boots, Urban Outfitters and so on. There's also House of Fraser which is somewhat similar to Nordstrom. A few floors of shopping with the main floor for cosmetics and a small section with the designer shops. Small clusters of malls hidden behind the building. The storefronts were all decorated for the holidays which made it more festive. There was also an arcade where jewelry stores were. Along the main strip which is pretty wide, you have street performers. No cars are allowed which was great. Loads of restaurants lined the area which there's also some that's inside the shopping mall. It's mainly like a shopping district.

Buchanan Street is one of the main streets in Glasgow; it is a fully pedestrianised area of the…read morecity centre which features shops and restaurants as well as the Buchanan Street Galleries Shopping Centre and a subway station. More notable retailers along the street include a large Frasers department store, Apple, John Lewis, Nespresso and Urban Outfitters. It was home to the city's Hard Rock Cafe until it closed in 2024. The street always feels pretty and lively to walk along; there always seems to be something going on. I do think calling it one of the best shopping streets in the world is a bit of a stretch as it does seem to be lacking compared to many European counterparts, but in Scotland? It could just earn that title. I prefer the modern charm of Buchanan Street compared to alternatives elsewhere, such as in Edinburgh. 4*

Cool street entertainers are much less common in Glasgow than they are in many other big European…read morecities. I personally think they add something to the atmosphere and general hustle & bustle of the tourist areas that we all often find ourselves in when abroad. For that reason I am in favour of stuff like the levitating man and I like to always stop for a second or two and look both at him and the bemused expressions of people watching him.

It's a little hard to review the performance of a person who is essentially standing still on…read moreBuchanan Street (not still enough to count as a statute) but I'm going to give it a try. I went for 5 stars as I do always smile as I walk past, and honestly - this job must require a strong will to stand there for most of the day while people poke and prod you. I remember the first time I saw a levitating man (never seen a lady, yet) I was captivated. "But how?!" my brain screamed. I knew there was an answer, and so with some furious googling I managed to unlock the secrets. Now I know the secret, I like to chortle as I go past at people's confused expressions. Levitating man - kudos to you!

I'm a fan of the Botanics, and when I saw Electric Gardens announced I knew I just had to grab some…read moretickets. The early bird price was really reasonable too, at £8 per adult (full price is £10 per adult). First point to note is that you need to enter from Queen Margaret Drive, opposite the old BBC Building. There could be better signage about this around the top of Byres Road as we really didn't know where to enter from (the info is on the website but I hadn't looked as I assumed the entrance was at the Byres Rd junction). We were booked for 7pm but it didn't actually seem to matter about a start time as it's a walk-at-your-own-pace kind of thing rather than it including performances (like Electric Glen at Rouken Glen). You can wander through Kibble Palace as well as follow the path through the Botanics. It was mostly well sign-posted so you didn't need to worry too much about the fact it was really dark, and spotted around were staff members in case you had any questions. The toilets are also open, and you can pop to Java at the Police Box to grab a coffee/hot drink or something to eat beforehand. The actual display itself was really lovely and quite tranquil - gorgeous lighting on different parts of the Botanics that maybe you'd never noticed before. There was accompanying music and in parts it was perfectly matched to the lights. Part-way through there was performers with fire which was interesting and loads of people stopped to watch (partly because you couldn't actually get past them). I enjoyed this part but thought it took a little way from the actual electric gardens themselves. We'd gone as a really large group (I think there was nearly 20 of us) and while we lost each other along the way, it made for a really fun outing. I'd actually consider going back again as it runs to the 15th of Feb, and I found it a really enjoyable Friday night.

On Friday evening I got to hang out in the park in the dark with some of the lovely Yelp Glasgow…read moreHotties. Don't be confused we we're regressing back to our youth and hanging around the park in the dark drinking Hooch & 20/20, I realise you will only get this reference if you were in School in the 1990's in Scotland...anyway I digress. We were not hanging about for no reason, we were in fact on a night out to the Botanic Gardens to enjoy the Electric Gardens which is part of the West End Festival program of activities in the city. When we arrived we were greeted with atmospheric music and found the gardens was awash with colour and twinkly lights....anyone who knows me knows I am a complete sucker for some fairy lights so I was a bit like a kid in a candy shop. As we wandered round the gardens we found some lovely areas including a giant disco ball, a little fairy light walk way (my personal favourite), a giant ice lolly, some seriously freaky floating dresses and the old subway station which you look down into was full of dry ice and 'scare the bejesus out of you' music...not my favourite bit...eeek! While the rest of the Yelp crew headed off the to pub for a warming beverage Mr G and myself headed to Pommes Frites for some post wander chips and then home. I had a lovely time and felt it was good value for money.

This is a small mall containing jewellery, and only jewellery. Host to over 30 jewellery shops, if…read moreArgyll Arcade doesn't have it, then you are to fussy and need to get a grip of your life. Pushy, obsessive girlfriends drag sweating, shifty-eyed boyfriends around here and coo in an innocent-but-underlyingly-persuasive manner at gigantic engagement rings. You can find everything in here, from traditional gold and antiques, to modern gems by contemporary designers. The walls and ceiling sparkle with the reflected light of a million facets - most people can only afford to browse. Wandering around here is an enjoyable way to spend half an hour. Deciding what you would buy if you found £10,000 or even £100,000 just lying in the street (Ha!). One end of the arcade emerges on Buchanan Street, the other on Argyll Street, so it is a nice alternative link between the two streets, especially if it is raining.

Walking through here is like walking back in time. It's bring, airy & full of beautiful jewellery…read moreshops. Upstairs (there is a lift on the Buchanan St side) there are offices & even more exclusive shops. Today the top floors were opened for an exhibition which was wonderful & they even opened up the roof so we could wander out & enjoy the panoramic views of Glasgow.

4.5 star rating on yelp I am not convinced…read more In my mind this really was a square you would walk past without hardly even noticing it if I am being honest. So I have had to have a think as to what would bring it such high ratings. Plus points for me are of course the duke of Wellington statue. For some reason like many Glaswegians I love the cone on his head, just says something about our sense of humour I think. But... It has its own yelp listings so can be rated highly on its own. I'm struggling to think of anything much else. It's got some nice shiny Christmas lights that hang over it at night and look pretty ........ Ohhh and there are some bars and restaurants as well that could be worth a wee look .... And that's about it. Average square. Average 3 star rating.

Royal Exchange Square is one of those breathtaking places in Glasgow that you can wander into and…read morefeel like you've been transported back in time, or to a city on the continent. It is a really gorgeous space, with welcoming archways from Buchanan Street. One of the archways (the more southern one) has scaffolding on it just now to repair it, but I believe the other one is just as beautiful as ever. I love the fairy lights they have up here during the winter, I just wish they'd leave them up year round. Yes, I know that Glasgow doesn't get dark til 11pm in summer but they're still so beautiful. We had our wedding photos taken in this square and the photos are a really gorgeous reminder of what a wonderful city is. We even got a photo with the Duke of Wellington statue with a cone on his head (a daily occurrence in Glasgow).

Finnieston is a pretty damn amazing part of Glasgow, I have to say!…read more I remember visiting Finnieston when I first moved to Glasgow in 2009, and all I can remember from the area is Crabshakk. I'm not even sure there was much else then? It's come on in leaps and bounds, obviously, and is now one of the trendiest areas of Glasgow. It is bursting with amazing bars and restaurants and makes for a fabulous night out for dinner and cocktails. It's also worth noting that while the majority of hot spots are on Argyle St, you shouldn't forget about places like The 78 (off Kelvinhaugh St) and the restaurants on Sauchiehall St like Ox & Finch and Mother India. My *only* gripe about Finnieston is that apart from bars and restaurants, there isn't a huge amount else. There's The Shop of Interest for a browse, and Hidden Lane for some other shops, but it's mostly eating/drinking options, and hairdressers. That being said, it's a fab area of Glasgow and well worth a visit.

Ah, Finnieston. I've got a lot of love in my heart for the place and I'm not alone. It's one of…read morethose neighbourhoods which just seems to keep getting better and better and I'm not the only one to notice, The Times recently named it the hippest place to live in the UK. Quite right too. Why's it so good? Because it's filled with really great, unique bars, restaurants and cafes. Because its clearly gentrified, but without pushing out the smaller, more traditional places that have been here for years. Because you can have fun without breaking the bank but you'll also find more upmarket options for special occasions. Take the bars for example. You want a cocktail bar? There's several, take your pick. More into wine? Or craft ale? No problem. Want a cheap beer and a burger? You got it. Want a themed pub? Right this way, sir. Would you rather go to a brilliant whisky pub or a brilliant rum pub because they're just across the road from each other. Do you just want a traditional, classic, no frills pub? Maybe one that has live music playing? Yeah, Finnieston has your back. With all of that you'd think that Finnieston has nothing but bars, but you'd be wrong. The restaurants and cafes here are amazing too. Also the shops, from Roots and Fruits to The Shop of Interest you just have plenty of options here. Step off the main drag at Argyle Street and you'll find The Hidden Lane, which is well worth exploring, or perhaps Old Dumbarton Road which is getting quite exciting these days. I mean, for goodness sake, there's a dedicated ice cream place and a dedicated doughnut place. There's a place that sells growlers of craft beer on the street behind the BrewDog, which in turn faces the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and is right on top of Kelvingrove Park (the perfect place for a walk with that ice cream). When I have visitors to Glasgow I take them to Finnieston. They tend to think I'm just showing off.