Glasgow and Strathclyde - Scotland - Travel - Accommodation - Tourism

This area covers the city of Glasgow, as well as the counties of Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire and Lanarkshire. It is the most populous area of Scotland, and is where the bulk of the country's industry and commerce is located. But it is still well worth exploring, as much of Scotland's history was played out here, and there is much to see and do.

The scenery can be outstanding, from the upper reaches of the Clyde, where lonely hills and moorland make ideal walking country, to the grandeur of the upper reaches of the Firth of Clyde and, of course, the waters of Loch Lomond. Then there's Glasgow. Once a gritty, industrial place with an image problem, it has transformed itself into a clean, cosmopolitan European city with a burgeoning café society (at least once during a visit, do what the locals do - sit at a pavement café sipping coffee while people watch you watching them). There are art galleries and museums galore, sophist-icated bars, shops and shopping malls (it is reckoned to be the second best shopping centre in Britain), award winning restaurants, glitzy hotels, concert halls and night clubs. It is home to Scottish Opera, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Ballet, and a string of theatres where you can see everything from serious drama to variety shows. It is also one of Britain's best dressed cities, and it is reckoned that there are more Armani and Versace outfits worn here than anywhere else in Britain outside London.

And it's an easy place to get out of. Within half an hour of the city centre you can be admiring the grandeur of bens, glens and lochs, taking it easy in some wonderfully bucolic pastoral scenery, or strolling along a lonely beach which has a backdrop of magnificent hills.

Loch Lomond is renowned the world over for its beauty. A train from Glasgow's Central Station can take you straight to its bonnie banks in just under an hour, and it's a journey thousands of Glaswegians make. We're on the edge of the Highlands here. Indeed, the Highland Boundary Fault, which separates the Highland from the Lowlands, passes through the loch.

The River Clyde has traditionally been a working river, and its banks once rang to the sound of shipbuilding and heavy industry. But there is another Clyde, one which isn't so well known. The upper reaches of the river, in rural Lanarkshire, present an altogether different picture. Within the verdant Clyde Valley itself you'll find quiet orchards, green fields, woodland, small attractive villages and cosy pubs. And the lonely moorland and rounded hills where the river rises has a gaunt but compelling beauty.

The towns, too, have their attractions, from Helensburgh, Gourock and Dumbarton (once the capital of the Kingdom of Strathclyde) to Hamilton, Lanark, Motherwell and East Kilbride, where you'll find one of Scotland's largest indoor shopping centre. Yes, there are towns and areas where the excesses of industry blighted the landscape, but these are being cleaned up, and some places, such as Summerlee at Coatbridge, have taken this industrial heritage and turned it into a tourist attraction.

This whole area was once the powerhouse of Scotland, and is not ashamed of the fact, not should it be. Coal was mined here, steel was produced, heavy industry sent smoke pluming into the sky, ships were built, deals struck and lots of money made. And though most of it has long gone, to be replaced by electronics, banking, broadcasting and publishing, the area still takes a pride in its past.

courtesy of http://www.travelpublishing.co.uk