Glasgow makes art and history easy to reach, since many major museums are free. Begin at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for Salvador Dalí's Christ of St. John of the Cross, a hanging Spitfire, and daily organ recitals.

The Burrell Collection adds Degas, Manet, and Roman sculpture in Pollok Country Park, while the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) shows work made since 1945.

For older stories, visit Glasgow Cathedral, the only medieval cathedral on the Scottish mainland to survive the Reformation virtually intact, then climb the Glasgow Necropolis behind it. The Mackintosh House at the Hunterian reassembles Charles Rennie Mackintosh's home.

Glasgow is the UK's first UNESCO City of Music, and evenings here often revolve around a gig. The Barrowland Ballroom and the OVO Hydro are regularly voted among the UK's best live venues, while King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Saint Luke's, and The Glad Café keep the calendar full.

For traditional sounds, Sloans runs a Friday night ceilidh, and The Ben Nevis and The Islay Inn host weekly trad sessions. Celtic Connections brings folk, roots, and world music every January, and the Britannia Panopticon, the world's oldest surviving music hall, adds a historic stop. Plan a Subway, bus, or taxi ride home if you stay outside the center.

Buchanan Street is the heart of Glasgow's shopping scene, linking Sauchiehall Street and Argyle Street, and home to House of Fraser, a department store founded in Glasgow in 1849. Princes Square adds a luxury shopping center on the same street, while Buchanan Galleries and the St. Enoch Centre anchor either end.

Argyll Arcade, one of Europe's oldest shopping arcades, is lined with jewelers, and Ingram Street gathers designer labels. Royal Exchange Square adds boutique browsing under canopy lights. On Saturdays and Sundays, The Barras market in the East End brings secondhand fashion, collectibles, fresh food, and one-of-a-kind local goods.