Glasgow is surrounded by beautiful Scottish countryside and there are a variety of towns, castles and nearby attractions that can make a visit outside the city worthwhile.

Nearby attractions

Loch Lomond

This stunning lake is part of the massive Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park which has contrasting scenery including mountains, woodland, lakes and rivers.

The bottom end of the lake is only 20 miles north from Glasgow and it is largest lake in terms of surface area in the UK. It has numerous islands within the lake, some with castles and burial sites on them. The 974-meter high mountain, Ben Lomand overlooks the lake and villages such as Luss, Balloch and Balmaha on the southern part of the lake are most accessible from Glasgow.

New Lanark World Heritage Site

This is an unusual an interesting attraction that is based around a living and working community that aim to maintain the history of the cotton mill village. The village’s interesting story begins in the 18th century when Robert Owen, a mill manager and social reformer, transformed life for the villagers.

He cared about the welfare of his workers and so provided them with decent homes, schools and evening classes, free health care, and affordable food. This also resulted in the creation of the first nursery school in the world.

The village has been restored to authentically represent the 18th century and visitors can now easily imagine how life was in the time of Owen. It became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2001 and the village is also the gateway to the Falls of Clyde Wildlife Reserve.

Auchentoshan Distillery

A few miles from Glasgow centre, a tour of this early 19th century distillery provides a chance to see how one of Scotland’s primary exports, whiskey, is produced. All stages of the process are covered including malting, milling, fermenting, distilling and finally the longest phase lasting five years or more, maturing.

Newark Castle

This well-preserved and striking castle on Glasgow Port has a fascinating history. The structure is 15th century and was built by the Maxwell family – Lords of Newark at the time. In particular it was Patrick Maxwell who beautifully extended the castle at the turn of the 17th century in order to accommodate his eventually sixteen children. On the other hand he had an exceptionally violent personal life involving murdering rivals and wife beating.

A century later and all the Maxwells had died out resulting in the castle being sold and rented out, one tenant in particular dealt in wild animals and used the cellars to keep big cats and bears he acquired from incoming ships.

Dumbarton Castle

The town of Dumbarton is approximately twenty miles from central Glasgow. Overlooking the town and the Firth of Clyde, it is dominated by Dumbarton Rock, volcanic rock that is also home to Dumbarton Castle.

The rock was once a fortress and home to a crammed settlement when it was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde.

Whilst it is no longer a castle in the traditional sense due subsequent phases of buildings taking over in the 17th and 18th centuries, some older parts did manage to survive such as the guard house and it is still an interesting site.

Bothwell Castle

In an attractive setting by the river Clyde approximately 10 miles southeast of Glasgow, there are enough remains of this red sandstone medieval castle to be impressed by.

The original design of the 1200’s was never completed due to continuous sieges by the English, instead the surviving structure dates back to the 1400’s and the Earl of Douglas. A couple of centuries later and the castle was abandoned by the then owners. They instead opted to live in a large mansion built next to the castle.

Ironically, the mansion had to eventually be demolished due to subsidence whilst the castle still stands today.

The David Livingstone Centre

This centre is approximately 10 miles southeast of Glasgow in Blantyre, the birthplace of this world famous Scottish son. The block of flats or tenements where Dr. Livingstone spent his childhood has been converted to commemorate his life. The flat he lived in consisted of only one room and gives an idea of the life he came from whilst the rest of the museum documents his life as an explorer. Interesting relics from his life on display including diaries, African artefacts, navigational and medical equipment and even the shirt he was wearing when he famously met HM Stanley.

Nearby Towns

Paisley – This large town approximately eight miles west from Glasgow became famous in the nineteenth century for its production of textiles and the Paisley pattern, the distinctive Kashmiri teardrop pattern it mass produced on shawls. There is a collection of them to view at Paisley Museum and Art Galleries. The town offers good examples of architecture with several beautiful churches, in particular Paisley Abbey, dating back to the twelfth century and where many Scottish kings were laid to rest.

Hamilton – Located approximately eleven miles south east of Glasgow, this town was named after the family who essentially founded the town and were responsible for creating most of its major landmarks there including the mausoleum. They also built a palace that unfortunately was dismantled in the early part of the twentieth century. Current landmarks include the town hall, parish churches, the large mausoleum and Cadzow Castle only a couple of miles away.

Biggar – this is an attractive town with ancient origins located thirty miles away from Glasgow. In the nineteenth century it thrived on the gas industry, producing gas from coal for heating, lighting and cooking. When this closed down, the gas works was converted into a museum. There are also several other museums in the town including a puppet museum.

Biggar Kirk is a notable attraction of the town and this lovely stone church’s origins go back to the early days of Christianity in Scotland.

Greenock – this port town is located 22 miles north west of Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde and stunning panoramas of the Firth are possible to view from this area. Starting off as a fishing village, it became prominent in shipbuilding starting around s the 1600’s. As it grew it became a key port for trade with the Americas in the 19th century with sugar refineries set up to process the sugar imports from the Caribbean. Wealth generated from its successes resulted in the building of excellent structures such as the Town Hall with its 245 ft high Victoria tower, Custom House, Sheriff Court, Watt Monument Library as well as churches and various mansions.

Gourock – only a few miles down from Greenock, this town is smaller and more residential. However it does some have some appealing points such as its views over the firth, the pretty Cloch Lighthouse, St Johns Church and interestingly, one of the few remaining outdoor swimming pools in Scotland – mercifully it is heated.