Glasgow, Scotland
Date Ideas in Glasgow: Art, Parks, Murals
Galleries, riverside walks and the Subway, plus how to get home in Scotland after dark.
For a first date in Glasgow that isn’t dinner, try Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and the park beside it, the riverside walk along the Kelvin to the Botanic Gardens, or the Riverside Museum on the Clyde. Glasgow Life’s galleries have no entry fee and close at 5pm.
Wikipedia calls Glasgow the rainiest city in the UK, with more than 170 days of rain a year, so most of this page works under a roof or an umbrella, and our guide to what to wear on a first date covers the rest. The date ideas hub has the other cities.
Nine places
Easy places for a first date in Glasgow
Each one is public, has something to look at and ends whenever the two of you decide it does.
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. No entry fee. The red sandstone building opened in 1901 and holds Dalí’s Christ of Saint John of the Cross, and a Spitfire hangs from the ceiling.
- Kelvingrove Park. A 34-hectare public park on the River Kelvin beside the gallery, with a bandstand from 1924. The Kelvin walkway carries on to the Botanic Gardens.
- The Botanic Gardens. The Kibble Palace glasshouse was designed for a house at Coulport on Loch Long in the 1860s and fully erected here in 1873.
- The Riverside Museum. No entry fee. Zaha Hadid Architects designed it, it opened in 2011, and the tall ship Glenlee berths alongside on the Clyde.
- The Gallery of Modern Art. No entry fee. It stands in Royal Exchange Square, where the Duke of Wellington statue has traditionally been capped with a traffic cone since at least the 1980s.
- The city centre mural trail. Huge murals on the sides of city buildings add up to a trail, and Visit Glasgow’s page has a map.
- Glasgow Green. The city’s oldest park, established in the 15th century on the Clyde’s north bank, with Nelson’s Monument from 1806.
- A ride on the Subway. It opened on 14 December 1896 and is the third-oldest underground metro in the world, with 15 stations on two circles.
- Ashton Lane. A cobbled backstreet in the West End, linked to Byres Road beside Hillhead Subway station and noted for its bars, restaurants and a licensed cinema.
Do and skip
Getting home in Scotland after dark
These arrangements are specific to Scotland. SPT runs the Subway, buses come from operators such as First Bus, and Glasgow City Council licenses the taxis.
Do
- Ride the Subway while it runs: SPT says 06:30 to 23:40 Monday to Saturday.
- Use First Bus’s night services from the city centre on Friday and Saturday evenings: N2, N18, N240 and N267.
- Take service 77 if you are between the West End and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital: it runs 24/7.
- Hail a taxi in the street or at a rank, and pre-book any private hire car.
Skip
- Counting on the Subway on a Sunday evening: it runs 10:00 to 18:12.
- Climbing into a private hire car you haven’t booked, because Glasgow City Council says these can only be pre-booked.
- Assuming a night bus goes your way, since each of the four runs to a set destination.
Before you go
Meeting someone from Forget Dinner
Forget Dinner has members in Glasgow. Police Scotland’s advice on meeting someone from a dating site is short and sound: meet in a public place, go during the day and bring a friend. A gallery in the afternoon covers the first two, and you can decide about the evening once you have met.
Stay in the site’s chat until you have met, and tell someone where you’ll be. If anything feels wrong, Police Scotland says you can report suspicious online behaviour online, by phone or in person. The safety page lists the site’s own tools, and you can meet singles near you whenever you are ready.
Below is the age mix for UK members. Around six in ten are aged 35 to 54, and the UK has about as many women as men.
Members in the UK by age, as shares of everyone listed.
Glasgow date questions
What can we do in Glasgow when it rains?
Go inside. Kelvingrove, the Riverside Museum and the Gallery of Modern Art all have no entry fee, and each closes at 5pm. Kelvingrove runs organ recitals daily, which makes a dry, slightly grand place to start.
Does the Glasgow Subway run late?
Not into the small hours. SPT says it is open 06:30 to 23:40 Monday to Saturday and 10:00 to 18:12 on Sundays. After that, First Bus runs night services from the city centre on Friday and Saturday evenings, and service 77 runs 24/7.
Can you hail a taxi in Glasgow?
Yes. In Scotland, Glasgow City Council licenses taxis, and only a taxi can be flagged down on the street or taken from a licensed rank. Private hire cars can only be pre-booked through a booking office, so never get into one you haven’t booked.
Is the West End good for a first date?
It suits an afternoon. Kelvingrove Park, the gallery and the Botanic Gardens are joined by the Kelvin walkway, and Ashton Lane is a short walk from Hillhead Subway station if you want a drink afterwards. Choose somewhere busy and keep your own way home.
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