This is one of those things where you're like, "Eh, it's just a garden, how nice can it be." Well,…read moreI'm here to tell you--it can be spectacular. I bought National Trust memberships for myself and my mom while she's here visiting, and I've found the properties to be lovingly kept by passionate and eager staff. If it's National Trust, it's worth a visit, however small potatoes it might initially appear. This is a place curated and maintained with real love...the lawn outside the old estate house is manicured to perfection, each blade of grass clipped to be nearly supernatural in its even- and neatness. Then when you get into the wall every shrub, tree, flower and leaf seems to have been arranged with a sense of how it will be most pleasing to the eye from every direction. There are several thoughtfully placed benches should you desire a contemplative moment, and every plant is clearly labelled. The staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, and there is a small cafe and gift shop to finish off the visit. What is amazing is that this is so close to the city but it feels like it's deep in the countryside. Definitely well worth a visit if your just trying to take advantage of a sunny day or show off something unique to a visitor of our fine city.

This is indeed, one of Glasgow's best kept secrets - or was to my knowledge until about six weeks…read moreago. It, just so happened that the mother-in-law was coming to Glasgow for a weekend stay on her way to London. In her determination not just to stay in the West End and visit the boy's favourite pub - Curlers - she did some researching of her own. Alas, the three of us trundled along to Greenbank Garden before heading to mine for a home-cooked dinner. As unusual a situation as this was, being a cultural trip and all, it was extremely pleasant. Despite the time of year, the gardens were well looked after, presented and provided a nice change from Curlers. I also really enjoyed the chance to explore another The National Trust for Scotland adventure, which given my rather indirect degree is something that I have been increasingly open to in recent months.

Deep into the South Side, Linn Park is absolutely enormous and due to it being used mainly by…read morelocals in what is one of the city's leafier suburbs, a somewhat tranquil location to spend time. Facilities wise, there's a couple of adventure playgrounds, a large equestrian centre, and a golf course, which in all honesty isn't very much for a park of this size, but it's main attraction is the woodland walks. There are large chunks of forest in the park, waterfalls and a good few picturesque little bridges over the river, so it's a very relaxing and peaceful place for a stroll. We got caught in a thunderstorm on our last visit here which is probably a negative but it did provide a bit of excitement. There's also an old mansion in the park which was derelict and thus wonderfully spooky until recently, but it's since been done up and turned into admittedly impressive houses. The Snuff Mill Bridge walkway just at the edge of the park is in my opinion one of the nicest spots in Glasgow. Hardly anyone has heard of it yet I was quite taken aback when I first stumbled upon it. On a nice day it can genuinely feel like you're in a quaint little English village, there's even old Victorian-style street lighting.

Agan, Gavin is spot on: this park is an undiscovered treasure, and has a beautiful bridge, plenty…read moreof walks through the forest (best when I am acting out some late romantic torment) and one of the most pastoral atmospheres in Glasgow. I tend to make the pilgrimage during the summer- when I can find someone with a car to carry the picnic stuff- and sit out in the open field for a lovely, restful afternoon. The lack of facilities is what has made it so peaceful- the golf course, I am glad to say, is under-nourished.

Beautiful park. Very nature friendly…read more Love spending time here especially at the waterfalls and pond area. Very kid friendly and even has an outdoor free gym! Plenty history to be found in the visitors centre and even got a coffee shop just at the car park at the garden centre.

This beautiful park is a huge favourite with director Danny Boyle with scenes from "Shallow Grave"…read moreand "Trainspotting" filmed here. For me, Rouken Glen is also very special, it's where I used to feed the ducks when I was little, I learned how to ride my Bluebird bike here, I enjoyed eating ice-creams here with my family in summer and making a wish by throwing pennies into the waterfall with my dad. Rouken Glen is a beautiful park and there is so much to do here, especially if you have a young family. If you're a nature lover then it's great to come here for a walk and listen to the birds tweeting. When I came here last summer I was glad to see that it's still as popular as ever, we even took the paddle boats out and I enjoyed being captain for the day as G-Bot is useless at rowing. I also took a lot of flyers from the park rangers office, that encouraged people to be more environmental and bring out the hippie in you. This year I plan to take part in some of the activities in these flyers, such as going on an ancient tree hunt, joining the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, taking part in National Insect Week by going on a bug hunt, who knows I might even find Bugtropolis. What better place to do all of these things than at Rouken Glen? If all that nature tires you out then there's a little cafe beside the pond to sit and recharge your batteries.

I've lived less than 10 minutes away from Newlands Park for 6 years now, and I only visited for the…read morefirst time last week. And what a park I've been missing all these years! I guess I'm spoiled by Rouken Glen, but Newlands is just as lovely and well worth a visit. It's quite small but really lovely, a bit of a hidden oasis off Kilmarnock Road. I was there to visit the new Dandelion Cafe at the tennis court pavilion (check out my review for that separately) but took the chance after eating to have a bit of a wander. This park is a lovely spot for dog walking, running, walking, cycling and general meandering. There's a small pond, a kids playground and generally, seems like a really lovely place to spend some time. I'll definitely be back again soon.

For shame, I've lived on the southside all of my life, and I've never been here. Having a puppy…read moreobviously changes this - in search of a wee park for his first weekend of being allowed to roam free, this was our first choice. Luckily, we weren't disappointed. For a park that small, there is a lot going for it: it's got a great cafe in the Dandelion Cafe, a good amount of open space for letting your wee dog run free, a couple of tennis courts, a play park, and a small pond. It's a dog walkers paradise, and is great if you want to chill out from the hustle and bustle of Shawlands. While it definitely isn't as big as Rouken Glen, it has a hell of a lot going for it. The Dandelion Cafe is well worth a visit in itself (another review hopefully on the way!), and you'll really enjoy a wander to walk off your cake!

Great park to watch and pet Highland Cows (hairy coos). And not crowded. Yay…read more Came here during a Cruise. From Greenock Cruise Terminal you only have to take 2 trains: Greenock to Glasgow Central, then transfer to train that goes to Pollokshaws West. Costs about 10 pounds (taxi costs 60). There is a nice, free museum there. Restrooms and cafe are very modern and super clean. There is a tram that takes you around the park, and even stops at the train station. Kids loved this park. Very open and not busy.

Clean park with highland cows that you can pet. Small walk to the Burrell collection. A great way…read moreto spend the day in Glasgow.

Whenever I think of Overlee Park I'm always traumatised by the memories of cross country at school…read more Every year they made us run around this park, and for what? It didn't matter if it was raining, snowing, hurricanes, tropical thunderstorms, we were running that cross country jeered on by our tubby control freak P.E teacher. I always thought it should have been her running round in circles instead. I usually felt like I was dying and that was just the walk to school, during the cross country session people were passing left right and centre and you were always left covered in that horrible red grit that's on the running track here. All the while the fitness fanatics were running by looking like muscley skeletons with their short lycra running shorts. I just don't get running, if you want a good figure then surely you don't want to look like a muscly stick insect with chunky thighs that could put Mr Motivator to shame, it just looks really unnatural on women. Think Madonna and Renee Zellweger bodies, ew. Anyway, since my P.E days at school I've slobbed out on the couch ever since, thankfully I'm naturally very small but I'm waiting for the day that I wake up the size of a house. I do, however, have some fond memories of Overlee Park, I have a picture of toddler me sitting on a metal bumble bee which is surprisingly still there after all this time! I used to love the huge shoot they used to have too, but they got rid of that a couple of years ago because of some ridiculous health and safety lark. They've since built a new play park complete with monkey bars, climbing wall and a roundabout. A really nice park to visit if you have a young family as you can keep the little ones occupied in the playpark for a good wee while. It's got some pretty nice foliage too.

Quite a small park mainly containing a rugby pitch and several football pitches. There is a handy…read moreplaypark for the kids that was recently redone with the usual swings nearby. Overlee pavillion stands in the middle providing changing facilities for the pitches. Good enough for dog walking and kids playing but not overly scenic.

My parents have lived beside here all my life so I have fond memories of walking through here after…read moreschool with my Gran. In the ensuing 25ish (oh, God!) years, it's not changed one iota. There are 2 play areas with swings, chute etc, which are in constant use. In the centre of the park is Aikenhead House - now privately owned flats. There is also the awesome Walled Rose garden - no ball games and keep your dog on its lead in here! The park is regularly patrolled by council staff and police, but you may want to avoid the playpark parts in the evening as they've become a bit of a teen hangout.

Been up to this place many times as it's just a 20 minute walk from my house. It used to be very…read morenice and the dams used to be full of water but now it's became extremely quiet not much water in the dams anymore.

Darnley County park is a dog walkers paradise in the middle of a Glasgow suburbia housing estate…read more The dams themselves are really picturesque but the one drawback is that the park itself is hard to find. Also when your their, there are no maps or signs anywhere so be prepare to walks miles to find the dams, but it'll be worth it. You'll never truly feel out of the city as the M77 roars away in the background but there are great views of the city on a clear day!

I only heard about this place because the lovely Bowl Food truck was going to be there, but I'm…read morereally glad I went now. The Forestry commission have been working hard to revamp this area as part of the Legacy 2014 project and I popped along for an 'open day' event where they were highlighting all they were doing. When you walk in, you're immediately transported into a little paradise of greenery - although when I went it was FILLED to the brim with kids. Seriously, this is a great place for children. They have a bike track for kids to ride around filled with hills, rocky sections and plenty of opportunity to fling themselves round while staying safe. They also have a bouldering section - where the Climbing Academy were showing people how to safely boulder. I didn't try it but it looked pretty cool! If that weren't enough, there is the COOLEST adventure playground. Seriously, if it had been quieter and no kids were around I would absolutely have been running all round that. Yes, I am a big kid. This is true. A bit further a walk on the loop there's a lovely board walk by the water to have a nice wander, and they're working on some seating areas. A little birdie also told me the plan in the future is to have a bridge linking this park to the athletes village - a lovely idea to connect the two parts together and I can imagine it'd be a lovely walk around them all on a Sunday afternoon (to counteract the Sunday Roast!) While the grand opening isn't until Spring 2016, I highly recommend keeping an eye out for more events prior to then to check it out. And I know I'll be back in spring for sure.

I popped along here on my bike at the weekend to check out Glasgow's newest public park - and I was…read moreimpressed! The 15-hectare site was previously waste industrial land, located in a bend on the River Clyde by Dalmarnock. After many years of clearing and treatment, the Forestry Commission were able to start work rejuvenating this large east-end space. Located just over the river from the Commonwealth Village, in the shadow of the Emirates Arena / Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the park is accessed from Downiebrae Road (near Tesco Rutherglen), and soon by a new foot and cycle bridge from the Village. A great space for families, there's lots of play facilities. For all ages there's extensive trails, riverside boardwalks, graded rock-climbing boulders, mountain-bike "pump track", meadow, picnic areas, and so on. Thousands of trees have been planted, and as they grow and mature, this amazing space will become a real gem in the renovated east-end.