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*

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.

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.

I had booked to go before and it was only a fiver so what you get here at this fine venue was…read moredefinitely worth going to. Unfortunately I couldn't go as I was ill so I entered into the Yelp give away competition and low and behold I won. Yay!! I was excited as I was gutted for missing the last one. I had been to Malmaison before for a previous Yelp event so it was nice to come back to this lovely hotel. On arrival you get a wee token for a glass of fizz. I have to say I was a wee tad delicate as one had been out on the Glasgow Subcrawl the day before. That's a whole other review. I found some other Yelpers and donated my fizz token. There was also a cocktail master shaking up some cracking drinks but I just enjoyed watching rather than participating. We were also treated to getting our nails, hair and make-up done. As I was on the rough side, I came with hair scraped back and no make-up so I was in need of some major pampering. Once I had a wee cup of tea and the bar, I know but I was rough, I booked into get my nails. I got a slot for Benefit make-up, I asked for a healthy look as I was looking a wee bit like death. Haha!! I then managed to get a slot for my hair by Sassoon, the girl did a great job and straightened my curly, frizzy locks and gave me a much softer look to go along with my healthy make-up. I was very much starting to feel much more like myself. I caught up with some of the other Yelpers while I was waiting to get my nails done and they loved my hair. I don't straightened it often and I forget how long it's got. I also spoke to the lovely girl from Ultimo, and was gifted with a beautiful pair of satin purple pants. I am not your average bra size so it was good to find another brand who sells my size and does lovely styles. I do like my underwear bright and pretty. I then went over to get my nails done and I opted for a lovely red/pink colour. It was just nice to get pampered and this wee rough yin came out feeling wonderful. If another event pops up I would definitely book to go as it's nice way to spend an afternoon. Thanks to Briony and Yelp Glasgow for giving me opportunity to enjoy this Sunday treat.

When I first found out I was going to the event, I really had no idea what to expect, having never…read moreeven set foot in Malmaison before! What the set up would be, if there would be food/drinks, not a clue! So when the event turned out to be essentially a pamper session, I was pretty thrilled! The bar itself is really stunning, with turquoise blue chairs, comic strip art, and one wall decorated with empty beer kegs! On arrival, we were given goody bags filled with vouchers, flyers and a couple of beauty products, and a glass of complimentary champagne - a pretty good start! We were then invited to head through to where the exhibitors were awaiting us. Our first stop was to the Benefit stall. I was pretty excited about this because my entire make up collection is Benefit! The staff were super friendly and tested their brand new mascara on me and filled in my eyebrows - something I have NEVER done before - and it looked great! They also gave us the menu for the boutique in House of Frasers, which includes a waxing, tanning and brow bar - who knew?! After that, Eilidh and I grabbed a cocktail while we waited to get our nails done. I ordered a lovely French martini, and just after it was sat in front of me, we were called to get our nails done. I chose a purple/grape colour and chatted away with the beauticians from Pure Spa, who were friendly and lovely, just like the Benefit team. After my nails were sorted, I headed over to the Sassoon stall to get my hair done. I asked for a fish-tail braid, something I have never been able to master, and minutes later I had a lovely side-braid! I left the beauty stalls just in time to catch Eilidh attempting to make cocktails with one of the bar staff. When she and the barman both poured their cocktails into shot glasses to sample, it was clear that Eilidh's had much more of a kick to it - go easy on the gin next time!! Before calling it a day at Malmaison, we decided to order one last cocktail. The friendly and helpful bar staff recommended one that wasn't even on the menu, and consisted of blueberry, chambord, gin, lemon and tonic. It was a big hit! As we chatted away, nibbles were placed in front of us including Truffle & Parmesan Popcorn (!!!) and these amazing salted almonds which they kept re-filling every time we emptied the bowl! That's good service for you! I'm really glad I got the chance to go this event - I learnt some beauty tips I'll never forget and got to know two lovely fellow Yelpers while sipping on some delicious cocktails! We even headed out to Tiki Bar afterwards for more!

So argyle street is long.. Very very long and it covers a lot of areas, but I really think of the…read morecity centre part as being the actual real argyle street so this review covers the that part. (You should check the other parts out to though they are cool) The centre for me is outside the St. Enoch shopping centre and at the junction with Buchanan street. It's the shopping focus for Glasgow and it is always Heaving with folk during the day. I'm pretty sure you can find just about everything on it. Pubs, food places, markets, street entertainers, high end shops, cheap ass shops, two train stations, christmas reindeer (during winter of course, not now) tourists and tonnes of locals going about their business. If your coming to Glasgow for shopping you will inevitably end up here and that in my opinion is the only reason to come to this part of town. If your here for food and drink there are far better areas to head to.

Argyle Street is a busy place…read more It's principally a street for shopping, much like Buchanan Street just around the corner. There are a few exceptions as you move away from the central hub of Argyle Street stretching from Argyle Street train station to Glasgow Central train station. It has its own tube station too, St Enoch. It has some great shops including a Waterstones, HMV, Marks and Spencers and a disproportionate number of phone shops. On top of this though, it is home to a wee fruit stall and seasonally, more festive stalls with crafts and home-baking etc. It can get really busy at peak times being close to two train stations and St Enoch Centre. There are some decent eateries and bars nearby here that are worth checking out though such as 13th Note and Mono, beyond St Enoch Centre car park.

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.

This is a beautiful bridge and a stunning feature as you walk along the river clyde walkway…read more amazing photo opportunities of the bridge reflecting off the water too. I love it. I would love to see it at night.

The regeneration of the Clydeside in recent years, brought the South Portland St Suspension Bridge…read moreto my attention. There's been a bridge here since the 1800's. The most recent rebuild, turned this from a basic wooden bridge into a wrought iron frameworked footbridge. On the Clydeside side, the area has been extensively rebuilt, with additional planning permission in place for more building works. Like most of Glasgows bridges, this one has a permanent light installation at night, which compliments the red of the iron frame. The stone supporting pillars are huge, awesome, stoney, and supporty - and we're also partially replaced many years ago sure to structural failures. I like the tiger murals just bedside the bridge too :-) If you ever find yourself out for a stroll, take a gander.

For me, the Kelvin Walkway is the highlight of the West End and one of the main reasons I love…read moreliving here. It's just a wonderful corridor of greenery to wander through and transport yourself away from traffic noise and pollution. Mind you, it wasn't always like this - in Victorian times and before the Kelvin was very much a working river and was extremely polluted, and it's only really in the latter years of the 20th Century that it was properly cleaned up and transformed into a walking route. The Kelvin is Glasgow's 'other' river and I recommend the book of the same name by Alex Matheson if you want to know more about the history of the river. The walkway is great for accessing the Botanic Gardens or Kelvingrove Park, and a pleasant walk into town is to take the walkway round the back of the Museum & Art Gallery then cut through Kelvingrove Park and along Clairmont Gardens and Woodside Place, which brings you out nicely at Charing Cross without encountering much traffic. I live within a mile of its downstream efflux into the Clyde, and I just adore the fact that I could step out of my front door and end up in Fort William by following the Kelvin Walkway to Milngavie and then joining the West Highland Way. How does Bilbo's song go? The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say. Definitely on my bucket list - I may not make it as far as Fort William but Milngavie station is a definite possibility!

A simply gorgeous part of Glasgow to explore - I only knew of a small part of this walkway until…read moreSara T took us on a west end wander further north from Inn Deep up to Queen Margaret Drive. What a delight the walkway is - leafy, lush and somewhat like a rainforest. You'd never knew you were in the middle of a city when you're wandering along. There's some delights to discover along the way, including the mills and at the right time of year, loads of wild garlic. If you've never been before, it's a must for any Glasgow resident for a lovely weekend wander.