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.

This old red sandstone building was built in 1893 at a cost of £1,400. It had a stage, changing…read morerooms, and kitchen below and a recreation room, reading room, and a gallery above. I was amazed to read that the architect forgot to include a staircase on his drawings and one had to be constructed quickly a narrow winding staircase just in time for the official opening!! It has had many uses over the years, including being used by the council as a place for the homeless to stay and a shelter for single parents. There's a very small car park opposite where you can park for free, as I did yesterday, (in the 'Main Street Car Park') next to the former parish council chambers and old gaol.

A friend recommended this place and her elevator pitch was simple "it has a wall of vintage cars"…read more A very interesting museum that has transportation displays but also a recreation of a classic Scottish main street, glasgow punk vinyls, and old toys. It was one of the most unique museums we've been to and like all the museums in Scotland it was free! The architecture is interesting and was done by one of my favorite architects, Zaha Hadid. The roofline is undulating and angular and the whole form is extruded backwards toward the river to form the museum. From the back you get a very interesting view with the restored old ship and the modern museum juxtaposing each other. The interior is also distinctly Zaha, with curved lines that seem to guide you and your eyes through your space. The only jarring thing is it feels a bit disorientating, especially when trying to take photos and videos and looking for horizontal and vertical lines to help line you up. The wall of motorcycles and cars are visually stunning though the ones high up are really hard to see so I enjoyed the vehicles on the floor more because you could see everything much better. There is a second floor you can get to with all the interactive displays and a hypnotizing carousel of giant model ships that move in a continual loop.

What a fun, big and FREE museum! We spent four hours here and probably could've stayed a bit…read morelonger. We got licky and made it just in time for a FREE guided tour. The tour guide took us around the whole museum highlighting the more Scottish items. The museum is mostly transportation but also has a section that is a recreation of a 1920's street complete with shops you can walk into. I highly recommend coming solo, with friends, or family! Donations are asked to help keep this amazing museum free to the public and there is a parking lot for a fee

Hands down a must visit in Glasgow! Free admission!…read moreLocated in Kelvingrove Park, West End. This is a popular museum and art gallery with the likes of Dali and more. It's a large space and it's divided up by fine art, natural history, etc. I wandered through all of the rooms and believe that I saw almost every exhibit. I spent hours and just took my time taking it all in. Stopped by the cafe' for a cuppa tea too. Fantastic museum.

The museum is one of the top attractions in Glasgow. It was established in 1901- 125 years ago. The…read morearchitecture of the building itself is a marvel. I'm not much of a museum person, but entrance is free. The expansive museum's west wing focuses on "Life" (natural history/prehistory), while the east wing focuses on "Expression" (fine art). There are 22 galleries with 8,000 objects. Salvador Dalí's "Christ of Saint John of the Cross" is one of their most famous works of art. I was most interested in "The Floating Heads" installation by Sophie Cave. We spent most of our time viewing Scotland's Wildlife, where most of the kids were. While we were there, we also enjoyed an organ recital- 1:00pm Monday-Saturday and 3:00pm on Sunday.

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.

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.

This was an interesting place to tour. It presented the flat of a typical middle class person who…read morelived in the apartment for roughly the first half of the 20th Century. The story of an ordinary life was well presented in the context of the culture in which she lived. It was curated in an interesting way giving a vivid peek at ordinary life at that time including the Depression and War years (WWI and WWII). The Coffee Shop on the ground level across from the office is a nice place to finish the tour.

This place is absolutely fascinating, your literally stepping into a time warp right back to the…read more20th century with its lovely tiled wally close. The tenement which belonged to Agnes Toward consists of a bedroom, parlour, kitchen and bathroom and has the most beautiful mahogany furniture, gorgeous wallpaper, a brass bed, perfume bottles, old suitcases, an enclosed bed in both the parlour and the kitchen, which I think is great. Here you will also spot a Wally dog, brass taps and a range, a pulley and wringer, jam made by Miss Toward in 1929 but was never used, it really is a wonderful interesting unique experience, fantastic and I am so glad that it was preserved for us all to enjoy thanks to Anna.

This is a real gem of a museum. Entry is free and there are no set opening times at the moment so…read moreits best to phone ahead first. The museum is housed in a former bakery it is the only one of its kind in Scotland. The Darvel Telephone Museum contains a unique display of telephone memorabilia dating from 1900's to the present day The museum is very hands on - the manual switchboards are operational. There are many examples of early wooden and metal phones from the first half of the last century, as well as more modern switchboards and telephone equipment. There are opportunities to operate an old A & B coin box with its old style 2p's & 10p's. You can climb an old style shortened telephone pole and see how the wires connected up to the insulators or try out the morse code key.

A hidden gem. Max is delightful, knowledgeable and patient. From ancient to modern, they're all…read morethere and you get to use them too!