Who needs Edinburgh? Why Glasgow should be your next city break

Glasgow may not be the first destination you think of when you hear the word "art", but October in Scotland’s largest city is "Mackintosh Month" –  a celebration of the great architecht Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

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This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the great Glasgow architect. Despite a second fire at his Glasgow School of Art in June, the city remains home to many of his finest works. October is designated “Mackintosh Month” and sees the seventh annual Mackintosh Festival (glasgowmackintosh.com). 

Stay here

Principal Blythswood Square (1) (telegraph.co.uk/tt-blythswood-square), overlooking a private garden square in the city centre, has luxurious rooms and a large spa. Doubles from ￡150 room only. More affordable but still central, the Z Glasgow (2) (telegraph.co.uk/tt-z-hotel-glasgow) has funky compact doubles from ￡60 room only. 

Walk here

Stroll through the Botanic Gardens (3) (glasgowbotanicgardens.com), home to one of the UK’s greatest plant collections and the Kibble Palace, a glasshouse to rival those at Kew. Then head south through fashionable Hillhead, calling in to The Mackintosh House (4) (gla.ac.uk), a meticulous recreation of Mackintosh’s Glasgow home. On reaching Kelvingrove Park (5) follow the path along the Kelvin river and visit the Kelvingrove Museum (6) (glasgowlife.org.uk), home to the world’s largest permanent Mackintosh exhibition.

See this

The Riverside Museum (7), on the banks of the river Clyde, is the city’s transport museum and has been dubbed “Glasgow’s Guggenheim” for its punchy design by Zaha Hadid (glasgowlife.org.uk).

Try this

Take the lift up to the top of the Glasgow Tower (8), Scotland’s tallest free-standing building. It rotates 360 degrees and affords matchless views of the city; Admission is ￡6.50 (glasgowsciencecentre.org). 

Shop here

Wander through the Merchant City (9), where Georgian merchants built their warehouses, and is today home to the city’s best designer shopping. Ingram Street is the epicentre.

Drink here

Time for tea? The original Willow Tea Rooms (10), designed by Mackintosh, reopened this summer (mackintoshatthewillow.com). For something stronger, head to Finnieston, Glasgow’s hippest district. The Finnieston Bar is the place for cocktails made with Scottish gins and a collection of whiskies (thefinniestonbar.com). 

Eat here

Also in Finnieston, Crabshakk (11) has superb Scottish seafood. They serve an ever-changing line-up of daily specials, plus shellfish platters that can keep two people cracking claws and shelling langoustines for hours for ￡90. Or try the pasta with clams for ￡14.75 (crabshakk.com).

Off the map

House for An Art Lover in Bellahouston Park was built to Mackintosh’s designs and is now an arts centre and café. There’s another Mackintosh exhibition here and a souvenir shop. Admission is ￡6 (houseforanartlover.co.uk).