Glasgow, the capital and largest city of Scotland, is a great starting point for learning about all that history. Glasgow’s many museums will satiate every taste and curiosity, whether you’re searching for general interest establishments or more specialized attractions. We’ve chosen a few of Glasgow’s top museums right now to help you get started.
1. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The Spanish Baroque-style red-sandstone jewel in Glasgow’s cultural crown draws well over a million people annually, so they must be doing something right. The massive establishment, which has been in operation since 1901 and received a £28 million refurbishment in the early 2000s, is neatly divided into two wings.
One of Europe’s most impressive examples of public art is to the right. A bizarre and amazing museum exhibit is to the left, and it begins with a Supermarine Spitfire that is dramatically draped from the ceiling above a collection of stuffed animals that includes Sir Roger the Indian Elephant, a favorite.
2. Glasgow Police Museum
In a city like Glasgow, which is so disobedient, a museum dedicated to “the polis,” as Glaswegians call it, may stand out. The first-ever professional police force in Britain, however, was based in Glasgow.
This small museum in the Merchant City is staffed entirely by volunteers, many of whom are former police officers, and is primarily focused on chronicling the 200-year history of the City of Glasgow Police and the colorful people that have served in its ranks. Insignia, headwear, and uniforms from all over the world are represented in the International Police Exhibition, which has more than 2,000 items in total.
3. Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery
Being hidden inside the neo-Gothic University of Glasgow building, Glasgow’s (and Scotland’s) oldest public museum is also one of the most difficult to find. However, it is completely worthwhile to make the trip to see the treasures that are worthy of the university’s reputation as one of Britain’s most illustrious centers of research and innovation, including some of the best Roman artifact collections in the country and scientific instruments owned by steam engine pioneer James Watt. Additionally, The Hunterian is housed in Mackintosh House, a clumsily designed monument to the city’s most adored architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
4. St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
It is one of the very few public museums in the world that is exclusively dedicated to religion in all of its manifestations. Visit a Zen garden, examine Islamic calligraphy, and gaze upon a bronze carving of the Hindu god Shiva Nataraja as you learn about the Catholic and Protestant religions—not football—that are most significant in the west of Scotland. The historic Glasgow Cathedral is close outside, where you can continue your journey.
5. Scottish Football Museum
Fun fact: Scotland and England played in Glasgow in 1872 in the first international football match. Even while Scottish football may have hit a rough patch in the early 21st century—the men’s national team hasn’t qualified for a major event since the 1998 World Cup—the country’s strong football history and the fact that Scots are still completely obsessed with the game cannot be disputed.
Thus, it only makes sense that Scotland’s national stadium would feature a museum devoted to the “beautiful game,” complete with displays showcasing anything from the sticker and strip collections to a Hall of Fame (Dalgleish, Stein, Ferguson, Law!) and a few balls. A visit to the Hampden Roar’s stadium, the scene of a few notable victories, should definitely be added.
6. Fossil Grove
If you inquire about the location of this little and, shall we say, niche historical site in Victoria Park in Glasgow’s West End, you could get the response, “Fossil what? ” even from a longtime resident. How many other tourist destinations, on the other hand, can make a claim to be 330 million years old and yet be in their original condition?
When the park was being manicured using the ruins of an old quarry in 1887, the 11 fossil tree stumps from the Carboniferous Period were found; a small but illuminating museum was subsequently constructed around them.
7. Riverside Museum
The spectacular 7,500 square meter Riverside Museum, built by Zaha Hadid, is a mixed-use building of zigzagging metal and glass that is dedicated in part to the rich heritage of Glasgow’s famous River Clyde and its now all but extinct shipbuilding industry. It is taking the place of Kelvin Hall’s previous Museum of Transport and is quickly growing into a landmark.
A wall of vintage automobiles, a faithful replica of a bygone Glasgow street, a magnificent 1940s steam engine, and the elegant 19th-century tall ship the Glenlee, docked on the river itself, are just a few of the attractions that stand out.
8. The Burrell Collection
In 1944, Sir William Burrell presented Glasgow with this enormous collection of over 9,000 items. Following a £68 million renovation that improved the museum’s building’s accessibility and sustainability, The Burrell Collection reopened in 2022. A tour of 6,000 years of history can be taken by visiting any one of the 225 exhibits spread across 24 galleries today.
Highlights include one of the largest collections of Chinese art in the UK, Roman sculpture, Egyptian pottery, and works of art by eminent nineteenth-century French painters like Manet, Cézanne, and Degas.
9. Scotland Street School Museum
Since 1979, when declining enrollment due to the shipbuilding industry’s demise (and the ensuing urban deterioration) took its final toll, the school has been out at this lovely Mackintosh-designed institution on Scotland Street. Since then, it has reopened as a museum that highlights the harsh methods used by the British educational system from the Victorian era through the 1960s.
10. Museum of Piping
There is no disputing that a good bagpipe strain can evoke strong feelings unlike anything else, despite the not-so-dulcet tones of Scotland’s national instrument. The National Piping Centre’s little-known Museum of Piping explores the three centuries of Scottish and international piping history.
Star exhibits include 18th-century bagpipes from Loch Aweside in Argyll, small pipes from Northumbria, a strong collection of Polish, Hungarian, Spanish, and Italian pipes, and an instrument that once belonged to John MacColl (1860-1943), one of the greatest figures from what is frequently regarded as piping’s golden age.
