After finishing my Rob Roy Way hike, I returned to Edinburgh and decided to take a day trip to Glasgow. The train from Waverley to Glasgow Central took just under an hour and dropped me right in the city center. I only had about 5 hours in Glasgow, but it was enough to get a feel for the city’s murals, pubs, and industrial charm.
Glasgow felt immediately different from Edinburgh—less storybook, more industrial, with wide streets, Victorian buildings, and a bit of grit. The city was built on shipbuilding and brewing along the Clyde River, but these days it’s more about music, art, and pubs—supposedly anywhere from 400 to 700 of them. Lucky for me, in a city with that many pubs, finding one for lunch wasn’t exactly a challenge.
Just around the corner, we found MacSorley’s, one of Glasgow’s older pubs, dating back to the late 1800s. Inside, it had a beautiful brass ceiling, tiled walls, and that slightly worn, comfortable feel that makes a place seem real. I had vegetable soup, chips, and a pint of Guinness— solid and satisfying.
Glasgow has built a bit of a reputation for its murals—you can even download a map of the official City Centre Mural Trail or join a tour, but I preferred to just wander and see what I stumbled across.
One of the first one I came across was “Bubbles” by Rogue One: two girls and a French Bulldog blowing bubbles, splashed across a wall in bright color. It just made me smile.
After that I kept spotting pieces by Smug (Sam Bates), an Australian artist who feels pretty much synonymous with Glasgow’s street art now. His work is everywhere—giant portraits, wildlife, everyday people. Fellow Glasgow Residentsshows a mother and child, with a robin perched on the boy’s arm. On High Street I found his St. Mungo, a modern take on the city’s patron saint cradling a bird. Both are big and dramatic, but also surprisingly tender.
But the mural I was really looking for was Billy Connolly— the comedian, actor, and all-around Glaswegian legend. The city put up three murals in his honor, but I only made it to the one on Dixon Street. Bright, funny, and full of personality — exactly what you’d expect for a tribute to the ‘Big Yin’ (the Big One).
That’s what I loved about walking the city this way. Sometimes you stumble onto a mural you’ve heard about, other times it’s one you didn’t know existed. Either way, the murals gave Glasgow this sense of energy and surprise, like there’s always another story waiting around the corner.
Before heading to the river, we cut through George Square, Glasgow’s civic heart. The City Chambers takes up one whole side, a towering Victorian showpiece with all the grandeur you’d expect. Around the square are the usual mix of statues—Robert Burns, James Watt, Queen Victoria—and the Cenotaph war memorial with its lions. It’s the kind of place where everything happens, from parades to protests.
South of the square I started noticing what makes Glasgow’s streets so distinctive: the red sandstone. Tenements, shops, office blocks—it’s everywhere. One stretch even had stained-glass windows tucked high above a casino and restaurant, a reminder that ordinary buildings here were once designed with real flair.
A few blocks further, we came across one of the city’s most striking corners: a red sandstone corner block with turrets and carvings., now home to Driftwood Bar and a handful of shops. With its rounded façade, clock set into the stonework, and elaborate carvings, it felt like Glasgow showing off—everyday buildings dressed up to look grand.
From George Square, we started walking south toward the river, weaving through the city until the streets felt more industrial. That’s when we came to the Yorkhill railway arches, and this stop ended up being my favorite of the day. The murals here pulled me straight into Glasgow’s industrial past.
One arch showed the silhouette of a shipyard worker with a hammer, layered over patterns of fish scales and a Clyde crane—an ode to the shipbuilding and dockside work that once defined the city.
The neighboring arches burst with bold graffiti and colorful characters, part of a local community project. It was gritty, loud, and alive with color. For me, it perfectly captured Glasgow: proud of its working-class roots, but also reinventing itself through creativity.
Right on the river, the Clydeside Distillery brings whisky-making back to Glasgow for the first time in more than a century. It’s set inside an old dockside pump house from the 1800s, a brick building that once controlled access to the docks. Now it’s whisky instead of ships, but the history is still all around. Standing outside, the Clyde felt wide and a little windswept, lined with reminders of the city’s shipbuilding past.
They run a handful of tours, but I chose the Clydeside Tour. It mixed the story of the Pump House with a straightforward look at how whisky is made, and ended with three drams to taste. Just enough to notice the differences without being overwhelming.
Upstairs there’s a whisky bar where you can stick around afterward. You can order more single malts, try a cocktail, or grab a small bite. What I liked most was that it didn’t feel flashy or touristy—just a modern, welcoming space tied to Glasgow’s industrial past, with the Clyde right outside as a reminder of where the city came from.
On the walk back we passed the statue of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, maybe Glasgow’s most famous designer. He’s the name behind the Glasgow School of Art and the Willow Tea Rooms, and his clean, elegant style pops up all over the city. The statue in St. Enoch Square shows him casually perched on one of his own chairs—felt like the city tipping its hat to the man who helped shape so much of its look.
Before heading back to the station, I squeezed in one last stop—Tantrum Doughnuts. I’m not really a doughnut person, but my son is, so I feel obligated to try places like this just so I can report back. The flavors were over the top — pistachio & hibiscus, crème brûlée, malted milk jam. The shop itself felt more like a café than a bakery, and it ended up being the perfect final stop before the train back to Edinburgh.
Five hours isn’t nearly enough for Glasgow, but it was enough to get a taste—pubs, murals, whisky, architecture, and even a doughnut. Compared to Edinburgh, it’s rougher around the edges, but that’s part of what makes it interesting. Glasgow wears its history proudly but also feels creative and alive. I’d happily come back and give it more time.
If you’d like to read more about my time in Scotland, here are a couple of related posts:
About the Author
Hi, I’m JoAnne—writer, wanderer, and lover of places that surprise me. I’ve traveled to 60+ countries (and counting), usually with a camera in one hand and a notebook in the other. I’m drawn to mosaics, markets, and mountains, and I write to remember what moved me. When I’m not traveling, I’m working on my blog Travels Afoot, trying new creative projects, or planning my next adventure.
