Glasgow travel guide

Walking

The city centre is compact and laid out on a grid. George Square, Buchanan Street, the Merchant City and both main stations, Glasgow Central and Glasgow Queen Street, are within 10 to 15 minutes' walk of each other. Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis are about 15 minutes' walk east of George Square. The West End, Kelvingrove and the Riverside Museum are further out, so most visitors use the Subway or a bus for those.

Subway

The Glasgow Subway, run by SPT, is a single circular line of 15 stations linking the city centre, the West End and the south side of the river. A full circuit takes 24 minutes, with trains every four minutes at peak times and every six to eight minutes off peak. It runs from 6.30am to 11.40pm Monday to Saturday, but only from 10am to about 6.10pm on Sundays, so plan Sunday evenings around buses or taxis. Useful stops for visitors include Buchanan Street and St Enoch for the centre, Kelvinhall for Kelvingrove, Hillhead for the University of Glasgow and Byres Road, and Govan for the Riverside Museum across the river.

Subway fares and contactless

Since March 2026 you can tap a contactless bank card or phone on the Subway gates when you enter and exit. A single journey costs £1.80, travel is capped at £3.40 a day and £15.50 for a Monday to Sunday week, as long as you use the same card or device every time. Paper tickets are still sold at stations (a single is £1.85, a return £3.50 and an all-day ticket £4.45). Contactless covers one person per card, so buy separate tickets for others in your group.

Buses

First Glasgow runs most city bus routes. Since 7 September 2026 single bus fares across Glasgow and the Strathclyde area have been capped at £2 under the Scottish Government's fare cap scheme, and First no longer sells return tickets, so buy two singles. With First's Tap On, Tap Off, you tap your contactless card or phone on the reader when you board and again when you get off, and you will not pay more than £6.60 a day for travel in the City and Local zones (£8.60 on the wider Network), or £28 in a week. Other operators, including McGill's and Stagecoach, run some routes and have their own tickets.

Trains

ScotRail runs suburban and intercity trains from two main stations. Glasgow Central serves the south side, Ayrshire and the Clyde coast, and trains from England; Glasgow Queen Street serves Edinburgh, Stirling, Loch Lomond and the Highlands. The two are about ten minutes' walk apart, and ScotRail's station link bus connects them with Buchanan Bus Station. Glasgow Central fully reopened on 17 July 2026 after the Union Street fire in March, with all entrances back in use.

Airport transfers

From Glasgow Airport, the Glasgow Airport Express (First Glasgow service 500) runs 24 hours a day, from every 10 minutes during the day and less often at night, between the airport (stance 1) and Buchanan Bus Station (stance 46), stopping in the city centre near Central and Queen Street stations. The journey takes from 15 minutes and an adult single costs £2 under the fare cap, paid on board by contactless or in the First Bus app. The slower local bus 77 also links the airport and Buchanan Bus Station via Partick.

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