Museums & Galleries in Glasgow

Glasgow is famous for its arts, housing many world-class installations across the city. You will be able to go and view some awe-inspiring displays. Ticket prices can vary depending on what you want, but they are usually cheap. The museums and galleries are dotted around the city centre, so access to them from our self-catering accommodation is quick and cheap. Many of the city's collections were donated by influential figures over the years, and most are free to visit. However, all of them are fascinating places to see and will enlighten your knowledge of art and Scottish history.

The Gallery of Modern Art

Situated in the city centre near Buchanan Street, accessible from Buchanan Street and St Enoch underground stations or Argyll Street and Queen Street railway stations, the Gallery of Modern Art is a relatively recent addition to Glasgow's art scene. The gallery is housed in a neoclassical building in the Royal Exchange Square. Built in 1778 as the townhouse of William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, a wealthy tobacco lord, the building has been used for several different purposes. In 1954, Glasgow District Libraries moved Stirling's Library into the building. Upon the return of the library to Miller Street, the building was refurbished to house the city's contemporary art collection. Opened in 1996, it is the second most visited contemporary art gallery outside London, offering exhibitions and workshops.

The Burrell Collection

The collection was put together by Sir William Burrell, a wealthy industrialist, shop owner and art collector who gifted it to the city in 1944. The gift was bestowed upon the city on the condition that the collection was to be kept 16 miles from Glasgow's city centre to avoid the damaging effects of air pollution at the time. The newly appointed trustees spent over 20 years trying to find a suitable home for the collection, which was a daunting meeting all the criteria set out in the Trust Deeds. However, when The Pollock Estate was gifted to the city in 1967, the trustees decided to use the new building after waiving some of the clauses, allowing the collection to be housed only 3 miles from the city centre.

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery

William Hunter, in 1783, gifted the collection to the University of Glasgow. His instructions were "…to be well and carefully packed up and safely conveyed to Glasgow and delivered to the Principal and Faculty of the College of Glasgow to whom I give the same to be kept and preserved by them and their successors forever, in such sort, way, manner and form as shall seem most fit and most conducive to the improvement of the students of the said University of Glasgow". The museum first opened in 1807 in a specially constructed building just off Glasgow's High Street, near the original location of the university campus. When the university moved to its new site at Gilmorehill (to escape overcrowding and pollution in the city centre at the time), the museum moved too. The Hunterian Collection was transferred to the university's present site and assigned halls in Sir George Gilbert Scott's neo-gothic building.

Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum

Overlooked by Glasgow University is the Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, situated in a large formal park which includes the meandering River Kelvin. Kelvingrove is an internationally respected gallery and museum housing one of Europe's greatest civic collections, including the famous painting, Christ of St. John of the Cross by Salvador Dali.