Travel Guides | Glasgow Travel Guide
Glasgow Travel Guide
There’s an old saying that Edinburgh is the capital but Glasgow has the capital. This dates back to the late 19th century, when Glasgow proclaimed itself the ‘Second City of the Empire’. It was a thriving, cultivated city, grown rich on the profits from its cotton mills, coal mines and shipyards, and a city that knew how to flaunt its wealth. The legacy of Glasgow’s prosperous past is all around: in the City Chambers in George Square; the neoclassical architecture of the Merchant City; the sweeping terraces of the West End and honey-coloured villas of South Side; and its galleries full to bursting with priceless art treasures, from Rodin to Rembrandt.
Better by design
Glasgow is unusual among great cities in that it has no single defining monument: no Eiffel Tower; no Trafalgar Square; no Empire State Building; or Edinburgh Castle. Ironically though, this, the world’s first successful post-industrial city, has picked itself up from the near terminal trauma of economic wipe-out and re-invented itself as a major European tourist attraction, thanks mainly to its buildings. Glasgow’s great architects have risen from the grave to breathe new life back into the city; their monuments standing as testimony to the city’s former glories.
Glasgow smiles better
It may be a cliché to say that Glasgow people are friendly, but it’s true. Writer William McIlvanney once said that Glasgow wasn’t a city, it was a twenty-four hour cabaret, and this sums up perfectly one of the city’s greatest attractions – its sense of humour. The city that gave us Billy Connolly, Jerry Sadowitz and Rab C Nesbit does not take itself too seriously – and cannot be serious for very long. Humour is integral to life here and Glaswegians find it in everything – particularly people from Edinburgh, who they traditionally see as humourless.
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