One of the many free Museums in Glasgow, this is the oldest house built in Glasgow. It's on the…read moreroute on of the City Sightseeing Bus if you ever give that a chance, which I recommend. Opposite Glasgow Cathedral and St. Mungo Museum, you can make a day of it going down this way. There's some interesting medieval history to be consumed in here, and you usually have the place to yourself to get immersed in it without hassle. If you are on the tall side, you might have to watch your head! Seemingly people weren't so tall back in the 1400's. A recommended cultural highlight that could easily be missed.

I have visited the Provan's Lordship, the oldest house in Glasgow, several times, both as part of a…read moreschool trip, and on my own initiative. It was built in 1471 and is the only remaining building from medieval Glasgow. Inside there is a lot to be learned about life at the time, with several eerie glassy-eyed mannequins to illustrate what the inhabitants might have looked like. The thickness of the walls and the low ceilings are interesting features of the time. It's easy to walk past, with just a couple of modest signs proclaiming the history of the place. In my experience it's rarely busy, except of course if a school trip has just descended on the place. Most of the children don't have a lot of respect for the history, climbing all over the furniture and shrieking hysterically at the mannequins. Admission is free, so I would definitely recommend taking time out to make a visit if you have even a passing interest in history.

Years ago this fine old building was used as a cinema; today it is used for exhibitions, concerts,…read moremeetings and various events throughout the year.There was even a dalek exhibition in 2007! There are plans to refurbish the interior at present which is in a poor state of repair. The stone exterior, including the fine clock tower and steeple, is very attractive.

Designed by Scottish architect Alexander Thomson in 1857, Holmwood House is located in Cathcart…read more The house is owned by National Trust for Scotland and was restored in 1994 with help from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Today, the house and its gardens are open to the public and it's such a wonderful place to explore. I was in a production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" here a few years ago and I've since seen a few other plays performed here too. The idyllic gardens are great for outdoor performances and add a little bit of magic!

Another job well done by the National Trust. These guys seriously love what they do, and it shows…read more This show home designed with ostentatious glee for a paper merchant by Glasgow's long underrated architect Alexander Thomson has been painstakingly put back together, showcasing the original wit and whimsy of Thomson that had been painted over and removed after several ownership changes. Tucked away in Cathcart, this is an easy sojourn from the city and worth a look in to get a good idea of Glasgow's "other" architect. The staff are as ever attentive and knowledgeable. There's a small cafe but it's not particularly atmospheric...better to visit and get your cuppa elsewhere.

Love it! This is a regular haunt for me in the winter, when it's free, but it's included in the…read moreNational Trust membership if you're there for a summer visit. This is a stately Georgian home that was maintained in the spirit of stewardship--like the earl of Grantham on Downton Abbey. The Maxwell family lovingly and carefully curated the place so that every addition, change, piece of art and situation of the furniture would compliment and reflect upon what already exists. Each room is rich with detail and a wonderful combination of magnificent beauty that still feels like the kind of place you'd want to come home to. The cafe is quite good, if a wee bit pricey. There's also a regular and a food-only gift shop. Definitely make your way over to this other fabulous bit of art, history and architecture when you're in Pollock Park.

As a member of The National Trust for Scotland, my recent trip to Pollok Park inevitably included…read morePollok House. That being said, it is free this time of year anyhow and this was reflected in the high number of people there. It was a gorgeous house, with a maze of rooms and an impressive garden that has been very well kept. Some of the paintings and art inside were suitably impressive, with recent pieces and some vintage paintings on huge canvasses. I couldn't help but feel like I was navigating my way around the house in Cluedo, looking for a candlestick and corpse in the Library. There were some really elegant pianos. The books in the Library were numbering in the thousands, and all concerning historical Scotland. The highlight for me was standing in the very room where initial meetings were held that ultimately led to the formation of The National Trust for Scotland. There was also a packed cafe and funky giftshop that included paper made out of elephant dung. Never seen that before. Not sure if I wanted to though, to be fair. It wont be on MTV Cribs, but it's a nice big house that offers a nice addition to a stroll around Pollok Country Park.

For a real flavour of how Mackintosh and his wife Margaret McDonald so radically transformed the…read moreart scene, I would recommend a visit to The Tenement House in Garnethill (which will show you what Glasgow tenements were like in Victorian days) before coming here. It is near-impossible to imagine that this interior started out as a typical Glasgow tenement on nearby Southpark Avenue, such is the transformation that they wrought on it. Moving from the typical dark Stygian Victorian décor to this wonderful temple of light that they created was a quantum leap in interior design that still resonates even today. The actual house was demolished as it was thought to be unstable when the University were building next to it - however it turned out to be not as bad as was originally thought and could have been saved, which leaves the University in something of a questionable position to say the least. It is rather ironic then that this specially-built extension to the Hunterian Art Gallery, constructed solely to house the interiors of the Mackintosh house, is now in such a parlous state of disrepair itself that it is going to have to be dismantled and moved to the new Kelvin Hall museum extension where it is not going to enjoy the wonderful natural light and east-facing views that it currently has. Mackintosh's interiors are all about the light - how it can be introduced and channelled into the space. He installed extra windows in the south wall of the house and in the hallway used a mirror to spread the light around the otherwise dark wooden walls. Little arrays of square stained glass pieces (something of a Mackintosh trademark) catch your eye when the light is behind them. In the main living area, the transom in front of the bay window is dropped to just above head height, which seems very counter-intuitive until you see how this matches up with the height of the doors, the dropped picture rail, the new side window, and the opening knocked through to the back room (yes, this is not a modern idea!). It completely changes the proportions of the space and focuses the light where it is needed. The house contains the Mackintoshs' own furniture - all to their design of course - and there are some wonderfully quirky pieces, such as the small wooden chair with the heart- (or buttock-) shaped depression on the seat that looks so inviting. The large high-sided box chair (surely inspired by Orkney chairs) looks as though it would be very cosy on a draughty winter's day. I also loved his personal writing cabinet in the rear space, which with its doors open looks almost like a small Japanese lady in a kimono; Mackintosh, along with several other of his fellow artists, at the time, was heavily influenced by Japanese design that was just starting to make an appearance in the West. I could continue to wax lyrical about the Mackintosh house as I love it so much, but there is also the main Hunterian Art Gallery to consider. Personally I find this rather overshadowed by the Mackintosh house, yet it is a fine collection and there are some notable works by Rubens, Rembrandt and Chardin as well as the Scottish Colourists and Glasgow Boys. It also has the largest collection anywhere of works by American artist James McNeill Whistler. The Art Gallery is free, although they sometimes charge for special exhibitions, but there is a small charge (£5) for entry to the Mackintosh House. Get there early on a sunny morning (it opens at 10am, 11am on Sundays) for the best experience.

I visited today to see the excellent Ingenious Impressions, an exhibition of some of the earliest…read moreprinted books from the 1400s onwards. It's on until 21st June 2015 and I think I'll be back again because it was fascinating and there were so many books to look at. The University of Glasgow has an outstanding collection of paintings, books, artefacts and many many other things. Much of it is from William Hunter's collection hence the Hunterian Art Gallery and Museum but there are many other collectors who have sold or gifted amazing things to the uni. And now we get to see it all FOR FREE! This is what blows me away about the art galleries and museums in this fine city. The Hunterian Art Gallery has a wonderful collection of paintings with many works by Whistler. I'm not very knowledgeable about Art History but I love wandering round here in the afternoon, it's peaceful and interesting. It doesn't attract many children or families in the way that Kelvingrove does so you can get around without dodging hectic toddlers! The Mackintosh House is a must see and they run regular short tours throughout the day. I would quite like to live in the White Room if that could be made possible?! The only thing I don't like about the Hunterian is that the building is a bit dated, I think it opened in the 80s and hasn't changed much since. Other than that it's a great place to visit if you're in the area and interested in art and painting.

I've been promising myself a visit to Scotland Street School Museum for what seems like forever and…read moreit didn't disappoint. I thought it would be interesting on two levels, one being the architecture and designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh who designed the building and whose trademark touches are everywhere. The second being the museum which showed what school was like way way back in the good old days. While I don't see myself as particularly ancient, it was a shock to the system that much of the school had a familiar feel, including the cloakrooms, the desks complete with chewing gum, and yes even the ink wells! I remember getting in quite an inky mess with those wood and metal quill pens and open ink pots back in the day. We quickly upgraded to fountain pens thankfully. The domestic science room was vast and well equipped and made me want to crack open a cook book and start baking immediately. A cookbook lay open on one of the tables and I wondered aloud if it was the famous Glasgow Cook Book. It was, and whats more it was open at a page of entirely vegetarian friendly recipes. Huzzah! The Glasgow Cookery Book started its life in 1910 as the textbook of The Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science and is apparently a much loved and often reprinted tome. I plan to buy one for myself. I thoroughly enjoyed this visit and would recommend it to everyone. The building is stunning, the museum is fun and there was a fabulous wildlife photography exhibition running in one of the upstairs rooms. A nice bonus. Entry was free (donations welcome and well deserved), the staff were enthusiastic and welcoming, and the parking unexpectedly turned out to be free! We had parked across the road in Shields Road Subway Park and Ride. A voucher from the museum staff allowed us to get our parking ticket validated free of charge at the station. Afterwards we caught the subway into Glasgow city centre and only had to pay for the travel and not the parking. How lovely!

As mentioned by a previous reviewer Scotland Street School Museum is a favourite for day trips with…read moreprimary schools. I always found it a little bit eerie as a child but now that I'm older I can appreciate it more. Architecturally this building is beautiful and was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh between 1903 and 1906 and is Scotland's' only museum dedicated to the countries educational history. The main attractions are three classrooms which have been set up exactly how they would have looked during Victorian times, WW2 and the 50s/60s. When you see these dull and dingy little classrooms it certainly makes you appreciate the airy contemporary classrooms of modern times! You can listen to former pupils who attended the school over different decades talk about their time at school covering areas such as discipline, playground games (such as hopscotch and skipping games which you get to have a go at yourself), school uniform and evacuation during WW2. This is a great day out for kids as it is very interactive and it is made very easy for them to imagine what being at school was like for their ancestors. Adults will enjoy it too but will have the added pleasure of appreciating the beauty of the building itself which will most likely escape the attention of the kids!

We happened to come across the museum while walking around Glasgow University. It's free, so we…read moredecided to check it out. It's the oldest public museum in Scotland. There were some interesting artifacts.

I visited The Hunterian, located on-campus at the University of Glasgow, for the first time on…read moreWednesday 17 July 2019. I was following a geologist on Twitter who worked/collabed with the museum (I have since deleted my account - in the first half of 2021) and decided it would be fun to check the exhibits out. The building was straightforward to find and was marked for The Hunterian. The entrance was located up some stairs and had posted hours just outside the entrance. The admission was free. I enjoyed the different exhibits overall. Workers were friendly, but not nosy. The artifacts were well labeled and contextualized. As well as items of historical significance, such as stone altars from the Romans, exhibits also highlighted different people and their contributions to social and scientific development in Scotland. As a woman who is part Scottish by ancestry, I still find it neat that the term "scientist" was coined for female Scotswoman Mary Fairfax Somerville. I found the informational placards accompanying the displayed items to be easy to understand.

One of last years trends for me (before the weather kicked in) was going to as many museums and…read moreparks as possible in and around Glasgow. Partly because its inexpensive and because it's a good way to see Scotland with my Finnish girlfriend. Our National Trust for Scotland memberships served us well in here, a place I haven't been for around 15 years. It's terrifying how much I can still remember. As well as the museum of the Scottish explorer David Livingstone, which houses alot of his own personal belongings, there is a play park and gorgeous woodland garden that is a joy to stroll around. My luck being my luck, it wasn't the warmest day on record so we spent more time indoors than out. If I ever have kids, I will bring them here and tell them stories about when my Dad took me here oh so many years ago. Free to all, with an admission charge for the museum itself. National Trust for Scotland members go free.

Nice looking place at the bottom of Blantyre, The building itself is impressive. With a huge statue…read moreof Livingstone outside being attacked by a lion. however the museum itself inside is quite boring. Certainly not worth the entrance fee. There is some interesting stuff about the abolishing of slavery, and a replica of his tomb. There is also some of Livingstones diaries and medical equipment on display, (and a disturbing looking thing for cutting holes in skulls!!) The tea room is well priced and and has a good menu. A lot of the building seems shut off the the public, like old classrooms and stuff and they could maybe make more of this. His red shirt he wore when he met HM stanley is on display. ( I presume its not a replica!!!) The surrounding area is nice and a lovely park to walk in , but the asking price of £6 is bit steep for what this museum offers if you ask me.