I loved our first trip to Scotland so much that when I had a free weekend present itself, I jumped at the chance to plan a weekend girls trip to Glasgow, Scotland. Since it was a spur of the moment trip for all of us, we really wanted to make sure we kept it budget-friendly so it wouldn’t impact future trips we all have planned. In spite of how weak the dollar is to the pound right now, I have to say I was incredibly happy with how budget-friendly yet busy the trip was!
Here are the details of how we spent 48 hours in Glasgow on a budget!
Accommodations
First, we flew RyanAir. Not ideal, I know, but when you can fly roundtrip for under $100 you pack some snacks, bring your neck pillow, and suck it up. We weren’t willing to skimp on the location of our accommodations because time is money and if we stayed further away and had to use a cab or Uber to get into the city center, it just wouldn’t be as beneficial. We totally lucked out though with a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment-style hotel right next to George Square in the city center that came out to about $115pp (for the two nights)! The hotel was undergoing renovations in some parts (our room had already been renovated) and there was no maid service or breakfast but we only needed to eat breakfast there one day (since our flight was so early the last day) so we stopped at a local grocery store and picked up snacks and drinks for ourselves once we arrived.
Day One
At the end of the first day, I was amazed at the fact that everything we did and saw was completely free (other than food.) Our flight landed at 8am so we went straight to the hotel (via Uber) to drop our bags and explore. By 10am we were ready to head out and start our day but we were also starving so we scouted a local breakfast spot to chow down on a traditional Scottish breakfast! Cafe Wander was small, quaint, delicious, reasonably priced and the walls were covered with local art. 
We were able to snag the only open table and by the time we left there was a serious wait (always a good sign)! With full bellies we were ready to start the day by heading to the Glasgow Cathedral, the oldest medieval cathedral in the country, and home to a scene or two from Outlander! From there, we walked to the Necropolis behind the cathedral which is a crazy cemetery of statues and crypts dating hundreds of years back that also happened to offer some pretty impressive views of the city.
From there, we made our way to one of the local craft breweries for a drink and a snack to wait out some mid-day rain. Walking through the city can be an experience in itself because there is so much street art that you can discover around every corner!
After a relaxing snack, we caught an Uber to the Kelvingrove Museum on the other side of town. The museum is inside an old Palace and the building itself is almost as interesting as the art it contains. They had a wide-range of art from Scottish dinosaurs and Scottish artists to Monet, Suerat, and Van Gogh in its 22 different galleries.
The museum is set in front of beautiful gardens (or they would have been, if it wasn’t raining on us) that separate it from the Glasgow University that made you feel like you were a student at Hogwarts. The University is another free stop where you can wander the stunning outdoor halls and courtyards of the University as well as check out their free museum that was impressively large and filled with a vast amount of historical items. We were a bit museumed out though so we did not linger too long.
From there we walked down to Ashton Lane, which is just one of several quaint alleys filled with cute restaurants, bars, and boutiques. You could tell this is the place all the university kids probably hang out at night. From the lane we were able to catch the metro back to the area of our hotel. The Glasgow metro is just one big circle so it is beneficial for some spots but not as great for others which is why we used Uber earlier in the day. However, for less than 2 pounds per person, it was a great choice for getting back to our side of the city.
We were pretty tired from walking everywhere that first day so we wanted to stick to somewhere close for dinner. The street leading to our hotel had about a dozen burger joints so (for some reason) we were craving burgers and fries. Just a little time on Yelp and Google Maps led us to Bread Meats Bread – a small, incredibly reasonably priced burger joint that doesn’t take reservations. We called and realized we should go sooner than later and by the time we had been seated, the line to wait wrapped all the way inside the restaurant! We really lucked out with a serious locals hot spot and some delicious food too.
Day Two
Unlike Edinburgh, Glasgow is a much more industrial city and doesn’t lend itself to the same level of tourism so we booked a tour to get us out of the city and into the highlands for the day. We found a really great 10-hour tour that took us to Loch Lommond, Oban, Inveraray, and Glencoe that was under $70 per person. A rental car may or may not have been cheaper but it would not have been as convenient when you factor in all the street parking and gas you have to pay for. Our tour with Timberbush Tours was fantastic, mostly because our tour guide Charlie was so friendly and knowledgable. He would play music from artists from the villages we passed or songs that are essential to Scottish culture. When he wasn’t talking about the history of the land and the fascinating facts of every Glen and Loch we passed, he was filling us in on folklore and faeries.
The castle in Inveraray was closed but we were able to walk up to the outside and take some photos before exploring the rest of the town.
We had lunch in Oban on the tour. Since it is considered the seafood capital of Scotland (or so we were told) we decided it was worth it to really take the time and have a good meal. We decided on Ee-usk, where I had fabulously fresh oysters to start and then we all chose the pre-fixe meals. I had smoked haddock chowder with delicious pieces of fish followed by fried fish and chips (using sea bass) and ice cream for dessert (the others had sticky toffee pudding).
The whole meal took the full 1 1/2 hours we were given in the town so we didn’t do any exploring but we all decided it was well worth it. After lunch, we continued the drive through the highlands up to Glencoe along several more lochs to take in the sights.
The final stop on the trip was to Drover’s Inn – a haunted hotel dating back to the 1700s. I am not a fan of anything haunted and the hotel was certainly creepy so I don’t think I need to head back there. If you are into that, you can not only stay at the hotel but you can even request to stay in the main haunted bedroom and see if the little girl’s ghost messes with you!
If you truly only have 2 days in Glasgow, you absolutely need to get out of the city and explore the beauty of the Highlands. There is just something about the scenery that calls to your soul. We chose a tour that had less castles but more views, and while the bus ride was long at times, the changing scenery provided continued amazement.
After the tour returned us back to the city, we wandered around the main shopping street just checking out the scarves, tartan, and regular stores before heading to the coolest gin bar around – Gin 71. I was bummed that we missed out on a gin tour in Edinburgh on our previous trip (where we had our Scotch Whiskey Experience) so I didn’t want to miss out on a gin experience this time and I could not have been happier. Gin 71 has a massive menu of different gins and mixers and you can essentially pick your own gin and tonic concoction. I don’t know enough about gin so I went with the “Gin Tea Flight” that was an adorable presentation of 3 really unique gin cocktails in their own teapots. The bar only had bar food so we didn’t have much to eat and by the time we left it was getting so late that we just hit up a late night burrito spot (like their version of chipotle) and went back to the room to relax.
The flight out the next morning was early so there was no extra time to see anything. It was truly a full 48 hours in Glasgow and I think we all left feeling really satisfied about what we had seen and how budget-friendly it was as well!
How to do things differently
If you have more time, I would suggest renting a car and try to head to some more areas among the Highlands where you can get out and explore. The tour was great to see things quickly and get the history but it was also a lot of time in a van looking out the window.
One of the top tourist attractions in Glasgow is the Jacobite Steam Train, which I really would have loved to have done but it requires more time and logistics in order to know where to get off and how to get back. It’s another great option if you add another day to the trip.
So that was Glasgow! Have questions? Post them in the comments below!
Xx
Kali