A few hours in Glasgow

[NorthWestRover]

I've got a TPE Club55 first class return from Preston to Glasgow on Saturday 3rd December (£36!!). Notwithstanding the possibility that most of the trains might not run on that day as TPE are not the most reliable of operators at present...

What suggestions do people have for 11.30am or maybe 12.30pm until 5pm on a December afternoon in Glasgow? I don't know Glasgow at all...

Any railway-based ideas? I do record units for "haulage" and other than a couple of Scotrail 156s, my red pen has not been used

Good restaurant for vegetarian lunch?

Sightseeing? City walk?

 

[jfollows]

Good restaurant for vegetarian lunch?

The Ubiquitous Chip, I'm not a vegetarian but it has plenty of vegetarian options and I've had good meals there in the past.

Ashton Lane Restaurants | Brasserie | Ubiquitous Chip

The perfect West End spot for great brasserie food and conversation. Ubiquitous Chip provides a contemporary take on fine dining - check out our menu.

ubiquitouschip.co.uk

12 Ashton Lane
Glasgow, G12 8SJ
Hillhead subway station

 

[xotGD]

You could have run down to Wemyss Bay. By all accounts the station architecture is a sight to behold.

Funnily enough, I had half planned to do that the week after next, but my work trip to Glasgow has been cancelled.

 

[Amos]

Riverside Museum has a transport collection.Free entry and open Saturday 10-5.

 

[Techniquest]

100% recommend The Glasvegan for lunch, they have some amazing food there. Not the cheapest place to go, but it is incredible food. I've just checked on Google for their address, 50 St Enoch Square. It is literally a couple of minutes' walk from the Subway, and from Central station even at a slow pace you'd be there within 10 minutes. I've been a few times and always had amazing food. If I've still got the photos, I'll attach some here to give you some ideas of what they serve, but I popped in for breakfast last week and had a hash brown and fake bacon pieces breakfast bap. Absolutely incredible! Sadly, I deleted the other photos but last week's breakfast is still on here

As for train stuff to do, there's plenty of interest in Glasgow, you'll want to have booked more time there! The Subway absolutely needs to feature in your day if possible, it's a rather fun little system. New trains are on their way for it too. There's lots of 318s and 320s for BR-era EMU enjoyment, and the noise off them in the tunnels on the low-level lines is brilliant.

A Roundabout ticket will take you past the depot at Cowlairs, but also the new depot at Cadder. There's lots of 385s, both 3-car and 4-car, to sample out of Queen Street, and there's the stopping service from Queen Street to Anniesland which is usually a 156 or 158.

A non-stop ride to Gilmour Street on a 380 is usually fun, and you could do the walk to Canal for that branch line back to Central.

As others have said, there's also the lines to places like Gourock and Wemyss Bay you could do, I'd also recommend investigating the likes of Ardrossan Harbour or Largs. It depends on whether you want to go for track coverage or maximum red-pennage!

There's plenty to do in Glasgow apart from the railway too, but most of which I'd recommend for warmer days. It's a great city to go and explore, too cold to live in for my tastes but great to visit!

 

[NorthWestRover]

As for train stuff to do, there's plenty of interest in Glasgow, you'll want to have booked more time there!

My usual approach to tourism is to do a few hours in a place and then return for 48 or 72 hours if I like it. I've done that with Lichfield and Lincoln in the past year or so. And indeed I'm off to Lincoln the week after next for my 3rd visit in 12 months. I just couldn't resist the TPE Club 55 bargain.

 

[geoffk]

I did this with a similar ticket from Manchester a few years ago and just had time to ride the Cathcart Circle, stopping off at a few stations en route as they have interesting architecture. I think you would have to do the line in stages as nothing seems to go all the way round any more and it's only hourly on the west side.

 

[Ianigsy]

The Subway is a must as there’s nothing else quite like it and you might not get another chance to ride on the 1970s cars.

There are a couple of locations like Dalmuir where you can go out and back from the city centre by two routes and potentially on different classed of unit. I think the 318s are the oldest units in service now.

 

[Techniquest]

My usual approach to tourism is to do a few hours in a place and then return for 48 or 72 hours if I like it. I've done that with Lichfield and Lincoln in the past year or so. And indeed I'm off to Lincoln the week after next for my 3rd visit in 12 months. I just couldn't resist the TPE Club 55 bargain.

Fair enough. Lincoln must be decent enough then, I haven't been for a proper visit yet but it is absolutely on my list to do. Lichfield's not ever featured on said list, but then I've only ever used the Trent Valley station a couple of times and City only once to tick it off many years back. Perhaps I've been overlooking it all these years!

 

[NorthWestRover]

Lichfield was a pleasant surprise. In March I did a WM Day Ranger and from Wigan had got to Lichfield TV in time for the 09.20 to City. Decided to wander into the city itself to see what it was like. Very attractive place, small outdoor market, fantastic looking cathedral. I only had time to have a quick look-see, but did manage to have some Staffordshire Oatcakes with a coffee. 10.54 train to Brum. There are two museums of interest - Samuel Johnson Birthplace and Erasmus Darwin. So, I went back in September to do cathedral tour (and Choral Evensong) and the Samuel Johnson museum. A few hours is enough as it's not a large city, but certainly worth a visit.

 

[D6130]

The Ubiquitous Chip, I'm not a vegetarian but it has plenty of vegetarian options and I've had good meals there in the past.

Unfortunately The Chip has just been sold by founder Colin Clydesdale to a national chain, so I would imagine that the jury will still be out on the new regime and menu....however, if you want to give it a try, it's only two minutes walk from Hillhead subway station and there are plenty of other restaurants nearby on or off the Byres Road. Be aware though that this is the city's main 'trendy' area and prices are not cheap.

Glasgow is justly famed for its curry houses, all of which have a good vegetarian choice and many of which are open at lunchtime. If you're pushed for time, I can recommend Bombay Blues in Hope Street - diagonally opposite one of the side entrances to Central station, the one to the left as you leave the platforms. They do a four course buffet lunch for £12.99, with at least two veggie dishes for each course. If you have time to wander a little further, Rishi's Indian Aroma, 61 Bath Street is even better, with a lot of South Indian veggie dishes on their a-la-carte menu.

As well as the afore-mentioned Riverside Museum (nearest station Partick) - with its comprehensive railway, subway and shipbuilding exhibitions, the City has many other places of tourist interest, including the cathedral and adjacent museum, Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, the Peoples' Palace Museum and the Tenament House.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Thanks for all the ideas. I'm thinking at the moment to do Glasvegan for lunch, subway, Riverside Museum. I love South Indian food, so I'll save that for when I have a longer stay. And the other museums.

 

[dave87016]

If you fancy a tipple the Toby jug outside central station does pints of Tuborg , bitter and sommersby cider for £1:99 each

The blue lagoon chippy also outside central station is good I was in Glasgow over the weekend and had my meals from there

 

[D6130]

The blue lagoon chippy also outside central station is good I was in Glasgow over the weekend and had my meals from there

Deep-fried Mars Bars are available there for the connoisseurs of Scottish haute cuisine!

 

[Vespa]

The subway is quite unique 4ft gauge system with a smaller train than most underground trains, I would recommend staying on the train to do a full circuit, it takes about 25 minutes to go all the way round.

At the Riverside museum there is a reconstructed subway station with an older train, there's trolleybuses and trams to look at.

 

[nlogax]

Subway to Hillhead and on to the Chip per @jfollows ' recommendation. It's a must.

 

[NorthWestRover]

@Techniquest it appears that Glasvegan closed (for good) this last Sunday.

 

[Techniquest]

@Techniquest it appears that Glasvegan closed (for good) this last Sunday.

No! Gutted It always seemed to do a really good trade when I was there. I can only hope they're moving to a bigger place. A look on Facebook however reveals that is not the case, the owner is giving up the lease and looking for someone to take it over. Things must be grim as they're even giving away the name of the place. If I had known my visit earlier this month would be my last, I'd have enjoyed it so much more.

Heart breaking news, and I can only be glad to have had the chance to sample such a fantastic place. And yes, if I had the finances to do so I'd be up there to take the baton and keep it going. Sadly, that just isn't the case.

Thank you for letting me know

 

[SteveM70]

Stereo - Menus

Stereo. Home, Food & Drink, Menus, Book, Live Events, Clubs, Hire, About Us and Vacancies

www.stereocafebar.com

Stereo has good veggie food

 

[NorthWestRover]

That looks excellent, thanks

 

[NorthWestRover]

Stereo - Menus

Stereo. Home, Food & Drink, Menus, Book, Live Events, Clubs, Hire, About Us and Vacancies

www.stereocafebar.com

Stereo has good veggie food

Longer report to follow, but just to confirm Stereo is excellent. It's vegan, @Techniquest - I saw Glasvegan BTW.

 

[Retorus]

Glad you had a nice time. It's a great city.

 

[SteveM70]

Longer report to follow, but just to confirm Stereo is excellent. It's vegan, @Techniquest - I saw Glasvegan BTW.

Glad you liked it

 

[Techniquest]

Longer report to follow, but just to confirm Stereo is excellent. It's vegan, @Techniquest - I saw Glasvegan BTW.

Fantastic, I'll bear that in mind for my next trip to Glasgow. Looking forward to your trip report in due course!

 

[route101]

If you fancy a tipple the Toby jug outside central station does pints of Tuborg , bitter and sommersby cider for £1:99 each

The blue lagoon chippy also outside central station is good I was in Glasgow over the weekend and had my meals from there

Blue Lagoon divides opinions in Glasgow!

 

[Techniquest]

Blue Lagoon divides opinions in Glasgow!

I'm not a fan of Blue Lagoon, much more likely to find me going to a local supermarket and stocking up on far superior food there instead.

For what it's worth, I'm similarly not in favour of a local-ish chippy (The Fish House I think it's called in Moreton-on-Lugg) that's currently serving up deep-fried mince pies. I haven't ever visited, as they don't open at times which work for me annoyingly, but just the ludicrous idea of deep-frying a mince pie puts me off going anyway!

 

[D6130]

I haven't ever visited, as they don't open at times which work for me annoyingly, but just the ludicrous idea of deep-frying a mince pie puts me off going anyway!

Is that really any more ludicrous than the idea of deep-frying a Mars Bar?

 

[route101]

I'm not a fan of Blue Lagoon, much more likely to find me going to a local supermarket and stocking up on far superior food there instead.

For what it's worth, I'm similarly not in favour of a local-ish chippy (The Fish House I think it's called in Moreton-on-Lugg) that's currently serving up deep-fried mince pies. I haven't ever visited, as they don't open at times which work for me annoyingly, but just the ludicrous idea of deep-frying a mince pie puts me off going anyway!

Blue Lagoon is a chippy chain that has been expanding in the last few years. You can do much better for a chippy though.

 

[Techniquest]

Is that really any more ludicrous than the idea of deep-frying a Mars Bar?

I'd say a deep fried mince pie is even worse!

Blue Lagoon is a chippy chain that has been expanding in the last few years. You can do much better for a chippy though.

Oh indeed, I'd rather get a salad than go for a Blue Lagoon meal

 

[SteveM70]

I deliberately didn’t mention the Blue Lagoon, the smell just walking past turns my stomach.

It’s a shame Via Italia has closed, it was a nice little cheap and cheerful thrown together pasta and pizza place on the corner of Central station