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Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Civic museum that opened in 1901, with natural history, Egyptian antiquities, arms and armor, design and fine art collections.
Directions Website Report a problem with Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
A mini guide to
West End & Kelvingrove
A free museum, Scotland's oldest university museum and the cobbled lanes off Byres Road
Photos
1 / 7Welcome to the area
A free museum, Scotland's oldest university museum and the cobbled lanes off Byres Road
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum stands in Kelvingrove Park, beside the River Kelvin. It opened in 1901 and is one of Scotland's most popular free attractions, with collections that run from natural history and Egyptian antiquities to arms and armor, design and fine art. The University of Glasgow, founded in 1451, sits to the north, and its Hunterian is the oldest museum in Scotland.
Byres Road is the central street of the West End, and Ashton Lane, a cobbled backstreet beside Hillhead subway station, is noted for its bars, restaurants and a licensed movie theater. Glasgow Botanic Gardens and its Kibble Palace glasshouse lie at the northern end, with a riverside walkway along the Kelvin linking them to Kelvingrove Park.
Highlights
Start here
If you only have a few hours, these are good places to begin.
Park
Kelvingrove Park
Public park on the River Kelvin, in the West End, that contains Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
Museum
The Hunterian
The oldest museum in Scotland, run by the university; it includes the Hunterian Museum, Art Gallery and the Mackintosh House.
University
University of Glasgow
Founded in 1451, the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with its main campus in the West End.
Directions Website Report a problem with University of Glasgow
Chapel
University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Category A listed chapel consecrated in 1929 in memory of university students and staff who died in the First World War.
Directions Report a problem with University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel
Landmark
Lion and Unicorn Staircase
Two-flight stone staircase beside the Memorial Chapel, with a unicorn and a lion on its balustrade.
Find your way
On the map
The map shows West End & Kelvingrove and the streets around it. The Getting there page lists nearby stops and stations.
Insider tips
Before you go
1
Take the Subway
The Subway runs round fifteen stations and SPT says a full circuit takes 24 minutes. Hillhead is the stop for Byres Road and the university; check SPT's schedule page for hours.
2
Kelvingrove is free
Glasgow Life describes Kelvingrove as one of Scotland's most popular free attractions. Check its page for opening times and any charged exhibitions.
3
Walk the Kelvin
The river walkway runs between Glasgow Botanic Gardens and Kelvingrove Park without crossing a road, so the two can be linked on foot.
4
Plan the Hunterian
The Hunterian is a group of university museums and galleries in different buildings. Its website says what is open before you set out.
Tips from the Britlens editors
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Open the mini guide →Photo credits
- West End & Kelvingrove (area photo): Suicasmo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kelvingrove Park: Michael Dibb, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- The Hunterian: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- University of Glasgow: Diliff, CC BY 3.0, source
- University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel: Johnhousefriday, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lion and Unicorn Staircase: Johnhousefriday, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Glasgow Botanic Gardens: No machine-readable author provided. Finlay McWalter assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kibble Palace: LornaMCampbell, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ashton Lane: No machine-readable author provided. Whancam assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY 3.0, source
- Òran Mór: Anonasister, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Byres Road: Original uploader was StaraBlazkova at cs.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kelvin Hall: Finlay McWalter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wellington Church: Mymuk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Merchant City & City Centre: Michael D Beckwith, CC0, source
- Finnieston, Clydeside & the Riverside: Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- The Southside: Gordon Brown, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cathedral Precinct, Necropolis & Dennistoun: 瑞丽江的河水, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Glasgow Green & the East End: dun_deagh, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Partick & Hyndland: James Petts, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shawlands & Langside: Richard Sutcliffe, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Charing Cross & Garnethill: Sonictiller, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, used under the licences shown. All photo credits
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