Getting Around Glasgow: City Centre

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The City Centre (known as "Town" to locals) is laid out on an American style grid plan and is bounded by the M8 motorway to the north and west, High Street to the east, and the River Clyde to the south. This is the area where most visitors will start.

The main arteries of the City Centre are Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street which both run on an east-west axis. They are linked by Buchanan Street which runs north-south. Together, these three streets form the main shopping thoroughfare. Argyle Street is effectively divided in two by the glass walled bridge (known as Hielanman's Umbrella) of Central Station – the city’s principal railway terminus. Exiting the station, and heading eastwards along Gordon Street and arriving onto Buchanan Street, turn left towards the north, you encounter St Vincent Street which intersects the south side of George Square. Heading in the other direction will lead you back to Argyle Street and St Enoch Square – now dominated by the huge St Enoch Centre shopping mall, although its most famous landmark is the quaint St Enoch Subway Station – now used as a coffee shop. If you continue east along Argyle Street, and walk beyond the pedestrianised area you will have arrived on Trongate, and the beginning of the Merchant City.

The Merchant City is a sub-district of the City Centre which contains Glasgow’s original medieval core, and charts its beginnings as an industrial city. The Victorian tobacco lairds and merchants of the 19th Century used their wealth from international trade to build the network of streets which formed the basis of the modern city as we see it today. Most of their ornate churches, houses and office buildings have survived to the present day. Trongate is the site of the Tron Theatre (itself a former church), just before the junction of the Trongate, A8 Saltmarket (north/south), Gallowgate and London Road (east/west). This junction is known as Glasgow Cross and marks the original medieval centre of the city. It is dominated by the clock tower of the original City Chambers (destroyed by fire in 1926), and the small hexagonal building known as the Tolbooth. High Street runs directly north from Glasgow Cross and is the main artery of Old Glasgow, leading up to the Cathedral of Saint Mungo (or Glasgow Cathedral), and the Necropolis cemetery – dominated by the statue of John Knox and described by Victorians as a literal “City of The Dead”.

Heading northward along Queen Street you will enter George Square – the city’s notional centre, which is dominated by the city's spectacular City Chambers, the headquarters of Glasgow City Council – the city’s local government. On the north side of the square is Queen Street Railway Station, on the east side is the start of the Strathclyde University Campus. The Square itself is populated by several statues of civic leaders and famous figures from history, and is often used for outdoor events. Continuing south from George Square, you will find yourself on Ingram Street, which in recent years has become a haven for upmarket designer shops. Heading west along Ingram Street is the magnificent Royal Exchange Square – dominated by the Doric-style Gallery of Modern Art, and the square itself is lined with cafes, restaurants and bars. Beyond the gallery, you will pass Borders bookstore to arrive back on Buchanan Street.

Just after Buchanan Street Subway station you will cross Bath Street. Running parallel to Sauchiehall Street, this is the main route to the western area of the city centre, containing the city’s core commercial and business district. As you walk westward up Bath Street, past its rich mix of quirky independent shops and ‘style bars’ you will gradually notice the distinctive Georgian town house style architecture – most of the buildings have now been converted to offices. Blythswood Square, as you reach the top of the drumlin you have just climbed is the area’s centrepiece, and is dominated on its eastern side by the old Royal Scottish Automobile Club – now an upmarket hotel. From the Square and heading south down Blythswood Street (a very steep hill!), the new meets the old as state of the art modern glass and steel office buildings stand alongside their classical counterparts. This is the heart of Glasgow’s financial district, known irreverently as “Wall Street on Clyde”. At the foot of the hill, you will be back on Argyle Street. Continue south onto the Broomielaw, which sits on the north bank of the River Clyde. You will now be in the district of Anderston, formerly a dockland area, but now being redeveloped as a residential and commercial area. The Tradeston Pedestrian Bridge crosses the river and is nicknamed the “Squiggly Bridge” by locals owing to its distinctive S-shape. Staying on the north bank the remaining curiosity of the area is the Renfrew Ferry – a decommissioned pedestrian ferry which is now permanently moored on the riverbank and is used as a nightclub.