Vibrant and energetic, Glasgow enjoys a year-round buzz that visitors just love. This is particularly true of the city's arts scene. Over 200 arts organisations, including Scottish Ballet and Scottish Opera, are based there, creating the cutting-edge productions and attracting high-profile exhibitions that led to the city being crowned as a European City of Culture.

Glasgow was also the UK's City of Architecture and Design in 1999 and its architecture is certainly an attraction in itself. Central Glasgow's Manhattan-style town planning affords many sweeping vistas of the city's impressive Victorian buildings, dotted with little gems from the medieval to the present day. But it¿s the Art Nouveau 'Glasgow Style' for which the city has become famous, and no one should miss the work of Glasgow's most celebrated sons, architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Surrounding the city is some of the best of Scotland's scenery, from the rolling hills of the Clyde Valley to the beautiful walking country of East Dunbartonshire that borders the south-west Highlands. Exploring further, you'll find that many of the towns and villages in the area such as Paisley, Renfrew, Biggar, Greenock, Gourock and of course the breathtaking New Lanark World Heritage Site make great day excursions from the city and offer a range of attractions that make discoverng their rich history a real joy.