This blog post was updated on November 2, 2018.
Got plans to visit Glasgow? You will after reading this comprehensive list of all its great museums in this compact and culturally rich city.
The Burrell Collection
Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, G43 1AT
A unique collection on display in an award-winning building in a beautiful woodland setting. Pieces in the collection range from work by major artists including Rodin, Degas and Cézanne, to important examples of late medieval art, Chinese and Islamic art, Ancient Civilizations and more. The collection is named after its donor, the shipping magnate Sir William Burrell and is comprised of over 8,000 objects.
Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA)
Royal Exchange Square, G1 3AH
GoMA is housed in the iconic Royal Exchange in the heart of Glasgow, which is shared with the city center library. GoMA plays an important part in the city’s rich heritage. For over 100 years the Royal Exchange was a center for business and commerce where information and goods were traded. Today, GoMA uses its home to share collections and borrows works that highlights the interests, influences and working methods artists both local and from around the world.
Glasgow Police Museum
30 Bell Street, G1 1LG
This small privately owned museum tells the story of Britain’s first police force formed in 1800.
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC)
200 Woodhead Road, South Nitshill Industrial Estate, G53 7NN
The GMRC is the store for a number of Glaswegian museums’ collections when they’re not on display.
It’s a vast building with rooms full of fantastic objects, from animals to armor, fine art to fossils and much more. The main collections stored here are Archaeology, Art and Painting, Arms and Armor, Natural History, Transport and Technology and World Cultures. It’s free and open to the public!
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery
Venues through the University of Glasgow campus
The University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery is the oldest public museum in Scotland. Museum, Hunterian Art Gallery (home to The Mackintosh House), the Zoology Museum and the Anatomy Museum.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Argyle Street, G3 8AG
One of Scotland’s most popular free attractions, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum have 22 themes, state-of-the-art galleries displaying 8,000 objects. The collections are extensive, wide-ranging and include items of natural history, arms and armor, art from many movements and periods of history and much, much more.
The National Piping Centre
30-34 McPhater Street, G4 0HW
Three-hundred years of piping heritage! Celebrate the Highland bagpipe and its Celtic cousins with artifacts from the rich collections of National Museums of Scotland.
People’s Palace and Winter Gardens
Glasgow Green, G40 1AT
Set within the oldest public space in Glasgow, the People’s Palace tells the story of the people and city of Glasgow from 1750 to the end of the 20th century. Here you can explore Glasgow’s social history through a variety of historic artifacts, paintings, prints and photographs, film and interactive computer displays and wonder among the palms and exotic plants in the adjacent Winter Gardens.
Provand’s Lordship
3 Castle Street, Glasgow G4 0RB
Provand’s Lordship was built in 1471. It was originally part of a hospital and is one of only four medieval buildings remaining in Glasgow today. The house has been extensively restored and houses a donation of 17th century furniture by Sir William Burrell.
Riverside Museum
100 Pointhouse Place, G3 8RS
Scotland’s museum of transport and travel, the Riverside Museum has more than 3,000 objects on display including a recently acquired South African locomotive. Visitors here can not only touch a number of the exhibits but actually climb aboard some of them for a “real feel” of vintage public transport by accessing four locomotive footplates, three trams, two subway cars, one train carriage, a bus and even the Tall Ship Glenlee.
St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
2 Castle Street, G4 0RH
This museum is named after Glasgow’s patron saint, who brought the Christian faith to Scotland in the sixth century. Its galleries are full of displays, artifacts and stunning works of art, all exploring the importance of religion in peoples’ lives across the world and through the years.
Scotland Street School Museum (in photo)
225 Scotland Street, G5 8QB
Scotland Street School was designed by Glasgow’s most celebrated architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, between 1902-1906.
Now a museum, it tells the story of education in Scotland over a hundred years, from the late 19th century to the late 20th century.
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