Shopping
Byres Road is home to some of the finest established and independent traders around serving the demanding needs of local residents and visitors from both in and outside of Glasgow. It’s boutique, bespoke and original. Most of the shops in the West End you won’t find anywhere else.
You really can find all you need in the West End. Byres Road and it’s lanes plays host to almost three hundred businesses including jewellers, bike, watch and shoe repair specialists, charity shops, stationers, salons, heritage art shops and new and retro clothes outlets.
The bottom of Byres Road are where many of the street’s estate agents, mortgage lenders and barbers have set up shop.
Starry Starry Night in Ruthven Lane
George Mewes Cheese
Feeling foodie?
Byres Road includes supermarkets, independent butchers, fishmongers, cheesemongers as well as various deli’s selling artisan bread, rare spirits, wines and gourmet food products. Just a few minutes further down the road, you’ll find Mansfield Park, where a Farmer’s Market is hosted every 2nd and 4th Saturday for the month (10am-2pm).
Byres Road has enough to keep you entertained around the clock. Apart from its broad selection of restaurants and bars, it is a great place to catch a film, theatre performance or a concert. For more inspiration, have a look at our food & drink listings.
Night life
Byres Road and its surrounding streets and lanes plays host to probably the best night life the city has to offer. BeGIN, Grosvenor Cafe, Hillhead Bookclub and The Parlour have DJs each week at their venues. Aragon Bar, Curlers Rest and The Gardener have weekly pub quizzes.
Innis & Gunn Beer Kitchen, BeGIN, Western Baths and Ubiquitous Chip each have frequent beer, gin, wine and whisky tasting events.
Whether it’s food from a variety of cuisines you’re after, great cocktails, craft ales or friendly chat, there are so many unique restaurants, bars, pubs and clubs you’ll be spoilt for choice. Fancy a few wee drams and don’t want to drive? The road is easily accessed by Kelvinhall or Hillhead Subway stations.
Ashton Lane
Ubiquitous Chip jazz lunch
Live music
Several bars and restaurants in the area that have music performances. One of the most popular bars in Ashton Lane, Jinty McGuinty’s, also hosts live music every single night of the week. The Bothy keeps their dinner guests entertained on Fridays and Saturdays. The first Sunday of each month Aragon Bar has traditional Scottish folk music. The first Saturday of each month Ubiquitous Chip hosts jazz lunches. Every Thursday and Sunday at 7pm there is free live music in the corner bar at Ubiquitous Chip.
Òran Mór
This converted church has become a Glasgow landmark and offers a creative injection to the West End. A Play, A Pie and A Pint, founded in 2004, and has been named the UK’s most popular lunchtime theatre. Plays are performed from Monday to Saturday, with a new piece put on each week of the season. The lunchtime theatre draws a huge crowd, and is popular with both locals and tourists. Òran Mór also hosts concerts on an almost daily basis, and is one of the official venues participating in the popular Celtic Connections. Check out their live music programme for upcoming shows.
Òran Mór
Grosvenor Cinema
Grosvenor Cinema
The Grosvenor Cinema, located in Ashton Lane, is one of two independent cinemas in Glasgow and has two screens showing new and classic films, often collaborating with Glasgow event organisers, such as the Comedy Festival. The cinema has a relaxed atmosphere and a few comfy seats at the back of the salon – make sure to arrive early if you want to grab those popular seats. The cinema is licensed, allowing you to purchase an alcoholic drink to enjoy during the film. For the younger generation, there is a dedicated family programme during the day.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The West End is spoilt for choice when it comes to museums. Nearby Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is the busiest in Britain outside of London, and has an incredible art collection as well as family friendly exhibitions on natural history, architecture and aviation. There is also a free organ recital at 1pm every day, which was made famous after the organist performed Life on Mars in tribute of David Bowie after his death in January 2016.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Hunterian Museum
University of Glasgow Museums
Located within the university campus is the Hunterian Museum, The Mackintosh House, The Hunterian Art Gallery, Anatomy Museum, Country Surgeon Micro Museum, Kelvin Hall and the Zoology Museum. William Hunter, a keen collector, bequeathed his entire lifework to the university after his death in 1783. Each museum has its own specialty, with many hidden gems to be found. In the Hunterian Museums, you can find the world’s smallest dinosaur footprint, found between the toes of a much larger footprint!
Riverside and Tall Ship Museums
A 15-minute walk from Byres Road is the Riverside Museum and adjacent The Tall Ship, a real treasure of a museum that seems to entertain the young as well as the old. In this museum, dedicated to transport, you can play around in old trains and look at cars, motorcycles and other vehicles. There is also an old street that has been recreated, allowing you to visit pubs, cobblers and photographers in order to learn about Glasgow in the past. Next to the museum, you’ll find the restored Clyde-built sailing ship Glenlee, which can be entered and explored from on board.
Riverside and Tall Ship Museums