Free Spirits Rowing

My wife and daughter (12) are planning a two week trip this summer to Scotland - basing about half time in Edinburgh and half in Glasgow. I wonder if some of you more local chaps have any suggestions for great things to see and do.


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I guess this could be a "how long is a piece of string" question.
Both are great cities, with plenty of history and plenty to do in and around both.
Will you have a car?
On the Glasgow side you have Loch Lomond and the Trossachs not far away to the North, and even the West Coast only an hr or so.
For Edinburgh you have St Andrews up the coast, the Firth of Forth etc
Plus all the obvious things like the Castle, Arthur's seat, Holyrood, Machintosh, the museums etc
I know there are few Scottish members, but maybe they don't post as much as they used to ...

Christine Wojcik (from San Diego) spent a few days in Scotland and they did quite a few castles and there appears to be a few, ahem, distilleries up there...if that's your type of thing.

Haha, yeah, I guess it is super vague. I was thinking along the lines of "if you only had 3 or 4 days" in each, what's the must-see intinerary, or alternatively are there any things that are interesting that you wouldn't necessarily find on tripadvisor. My wife is a big history buff, and has a lot of interest in celtic / druidic remnants (and probably in a few castles too). As Americans, we can mostly drive in the UK (I'll always fondly remember the experience of having a London cabbie "explain" to me how to drive on my first day driving in the UK)... so if a car was useful, it'd be an option!

I wouldn't take too much advice from a London Cabbie, in fact for that matter, anyone who drives in London, they are much more wired to "me first" than the rest of the country .

I spent a weekend in Edinburgh and didn't use the car at all once parked. It's a fabulous city with wonderful people. I've been to Glasgow on business a couple of times but know nothing of the city. Our old team mate John Stevenson lives north of Glasgow so I'll contact him and see if he can visit this thread and chuck some ideas your way...

Excuse me while I flex my fingers!! Plummy sent up the FS signal, and I've popped on to help with some tips for you.

When you're travelling from Edinburgh to Glasgow (or the other way round) take a detour through Stirling so you can check out Stirling Castle - but more importantly Wallace Monument. It's just as impressive from the inside as it is from a distance. Great bit of Scottish history, and you'll be able to flush all thoughts of Mel Gibson's backside out of your memory too. A bit of a trek up from the car park - but worth it.

Then in Glasgow, continuing the history / culture side of things, Kelvingrove Art Gallery is amazing from an art (obviously) perspective, but also a history of art. And if you time it when the organist is banging the keys, the noise in that place is amazing!!
Behind the museum you'll see Glasgow University. It has its own museum "The Hunterian Museum" with artifacts going back to Roman times. Very cool. And the university itself is stunning.
There's also the Transport museum along with the Tall Ship - both of which do what they say on the tin. And on the other side of the River Clyde is the Science Museum - with lots of sciencey bits, and a planetarium.

If you're interested in arty things, you could take in the mural trail, which is quite a bit of walking - or do a search for the various Charles Rennie McIntosh museums (like The House of An Art Lover).

Of course, if you're lazy like me - hope on the bus tour, which will take you around Glasgow, allowing you to hop on and off. I've never actually hopped off, I've always just done the full circuit. I remember doing the same in Boston, and the trolley driver kept reminding people they COULD get off if they wanted to!!

For shopping, aim for Buchanan Street, where there a LOT of places happy to take your money for clothes you may or may not like!! There are some good restaurants on the bottom too, with a big wide open space. I've always wanted to set up a squash court down there... Behind it is Royal Exchange Square, with some nice food places, but also the GOMA - the Modern Art Museum. It's worth seeing what's on show. But 100% worth going to just to see the iconic Duke of Wellington statue with a cone on his head...

If you're looking to do a Whisky tour, I really recommend Glengoyne Distillery. It's about 30 minutes outside Glasgow (but also on the way to Loch Lomond on the Drymen / Balmaha side) and really worth it if you like Whisky.

The other side of Loch Lomond (Balloch, Luss and the Lomond Shores shopping bit) are all well worth going to - the view up to the mountains, especially Ben Lomond, from Luss can capture your heart.

I hope that covers a few things? Let me know if none of that is your thing though, and I'll suggest something more to your liking.

Be well and enjoy Scotland!

John

Thanks, John -- I appreciate your return to send me some personalized tips!!

obirobsan wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2024 11:27 pm Thanks, John -- I appreciate your return to send me some personalized tips!!

It's my pleasure, FS will also be my Spiritual home when it comes to rowing and community. I may have left the nest and ended up setting up RowAlong - but I took a large part of here with me.

John

A great historical place in Edinburgh is
The Real Mary Kings Close where you go down underground into the original streets beneath the Royal Mile
And the guided ghost walks also