Glasgow Museums: Kelvingrove, Riverside, Football Museums and Mackintosh
4 min read
Kelvingrove and the Riverside Museum are both free, so the tickets worth booking are the football museums and a Mackintosh guide. The one to start with is the Scottish Football Museum and Hampden Park stadium tour at €23.61 per person, rated 4.8/5 from 352 reviews.
| Option | What it is | Length | From | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum | art and natural history, run by Glasgow Life | your pace | free | – | – |
| Riverside Museum | transport and city history, run by Glasgow Life | your pace | free | – | – |
| Scottish Football Museum and Hampden Park | museum plus stadium tour | one day ticket | €23.61 | 4.8/5 | 352 |
| Rangers Football Club Museum | self-guided museum, timed entry | 1.5 h | €17.93 | 4.5/5 | 119 |
| Charles Rennie Mackintosh Private Tour | guided walk, private group | 2 to 6 h | €191.24 per group of up to 2 | 4.7/5 | 26 |
The free ones
Glasgow Life lists Kelvingrove, on Argyle Street, as free entry with donations welcome. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday, and 11am to 5pm on Friday and Sunday. Glasgow Life gives the same free entry and hours for the Riverside Museum, no booking needed. Hours change at Christmas and New Year: Glasgow Life’s festive opening page shows most of its museums closed on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 and 2 January, so check the entry for your museum before a winter visit.
Both are on the hop-on hop-off bus route, Riverside as stop 19 and Kelvingrove as stop 21 on the booking page’s list, which makes a good plan for a wet day: ride out, spend two hours inside, ride back.
Scottish Football Museum and Hampden
The page lists a visit to the museum and a stadium tour of Hampden Park on one ticket, valid for one day. Highlights include the Scottish Cup, the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, the dressing rooms and a run out of the tunnel. Meet at Hampden Park, Glasgow G42 9BA. The page says there is wheelchair access throughout the tour. Food and drink are not allowed on the visit. The operator calls it a day out for families, football fans and newcomers.
Rangers Museum
This is separate from the stadium tour. The museum is self-guided and free-flowing with a timed entry slot, at Edmiston House on Edmiston Drive. The page lists a trophy room and interactive screens where you build a dream team, and a cafe and shop at the end. Edmiston House takes card payments only, luggage and large bags are not allowed, and unaccompanied minors cannot enter. The page says the Ibrox stadium tour is not included. Our Celtic Park and Ibrox guide explains how the stadium tour and the museum ticket fit together.
Mackintosh with a guide
The private walk starts at the Clutha and Victoria Bar on Bridgegate. Named stops include Saint Enoch Square, Sloans, The Lighthouse, the Daily Record Building, the Savings Bank of Glasgow building, the Glasgow Art Club and Mackintosh at the Willow, which is an optional visit. It ends at Kelvingrove or Mackintosh at the Willow. The description talks of a 2-hour tour finishing at the Mackintosh Tearooms on Sauchiehall Street, and the booking page lists a ticket for the tearooms exhibition; the duration field says 2 to 6 hours, so confirm length and what is included when you book. The price is for a group of up to two.
Which one
- Everyone, any weather: Kelvingrove, then Riverside if you have another half day.
- Football fans: Hampden for the national story, the Rangers Museum for one club, or the stadium tours for Celtic Park and Ibrox.
- Architecture: the Mackintosh walk, or the street art walk on the walking tours page, which also passes The Lighthouse.
