Glasgow's Southside – Mackintosh, the Burrell and Pollok Park
A day on foot, from Dumbreck station to Shawlands.
The route
South of the Clyde, Glasgow keeps two of its most loved places in parkland, and this day walks from one to the other.
A short train ride from Central brings you to Dumbreck and Bellahouston Park, where House for an Art Lover stands, raised in the 1990s from drawings Charles Rennie Mackintosh made in 1901 and never saw built. Then it's south over the motorway into Pollok Park, Glasgow's largest, and down through its old North Wood to the Burrell Collection, a shipowner's gift of some 9,000 objects in a glass building among the trees. The way out calls on the park's Highland cattle and follows the White Cart Water down to Pollokshaws, and the evening is spent in Shawlands, with its bars and restaurants, before the train back into town. The walking comes to about 4 miles, much of it under trees.
Before you go
Book a bed near the city centre
The Southside has few beds for visitors, so stay near the city centre: Dumbreck is a 6-minute train ride from Glasgow Central, and Crossmyloof, near Shawlands, has trains back to Central four times an hour by day and twice an hour in the evening.
The nearest of ours is Moment Blythswood Street. Sleeps 2.
The day
Southside
A day of art in two of the Southside's parks, setting off from Dumbreck station at about 9.45am. It opens in Mackintosh's rooms at House for an Art Lover, then walks south through Pollok Park's woods to the Burrell for lunch and an afternoon among its collection. The way out calls on the Highland cattle and follows the White Cart to Pollokshaws, then on to Shawlands for the evening.
House for an Art Lover
An attraction
It's a 6-minute train ride from Glasgow Central to Dumbreck, every half hour, then 17 minutes' walk to House for an Art Lover. Mackintosh drew it in 1901 for a German magazine's competition, and his entry, disqualified for coming in late, won a prize anyway. It was built from his drawings between 1989 and 1996. The rooms' hours are set week by week, and are often mornings only, so check its website for your day. Pay £9.50 at the shop, under-10s free, and give it an hour.
3 min on foot
Bellahouston Park
An attraction
On the way out, find the sculptor Kenny Hunter's elephant just north-west of the house, cast partly from scrap from locomotives built in Glasgow and sent out across the Commonwealth. Then it's a 3-minute walk to Bellahouston Park's walled garden, with the ferns of Peter Barr, the Victorian 'Daffodil King' born in nearby Govan, and his daffodils in spring. The park held the Empire Exhibition of 1938, and only its Palace of Art still stands, just west of the house, now a sports centre. Twenty minutes is plenty.
36 min on foot
The Burrell Collection
An attraction
It's a 36-minute walk south along Dumbreck Road, over the busy M77 junction, and into Pollok Park by Lochinch Road, then down through the ancient trees of the North Wood. The Burrell Collection stands among the trees: Sir William Burrell's gift to Glasgow, some 9,000 objects, reopened in 2022 and free. Have lunch in its restaurant first, last orders 3.15pm. Then give the afternoon to Rodin's Thinker, the Warwick Vase, the medieval stained glass, the Chinese ceramics and the Wagner Garden Carpet.
12 min on foot
Pollok Country Park
An attraction
It's a 12-minute walk from the Burrell down Pollok Avenue to the gate. First, walk 5 minutes the other way to the fields of the Pollok fold, the Highland cattle the Maxwells of Pollok House brought here nearly 200 years ago. They move between fields through the year, so they may be further off, and graze behind a fence: watch from the path. Then follow the avenue beside the White Cart Water down to the gate on Pollokshaws Road, by the red sandstone Pollokshaws Burgh Hall. Shawlands is 19 minutes on, up Pollokshaws Road.
If it rains
The Burrell fills a wet day on its own: it's free, with a restaurant, coffee stops and indoor picnic areas, and there's easily a whole day among the collection. Keep House for an Art Lover for the morning, then leave out the 36-minute walk between the parks and the walk out past the cattle: take a taxi to the Burrell's door, about 15 minutes round by the Pollokshaws Road gate, since cars can no longer cross the park, and at the end of the day walk 16 minutes from the museum to Pollokshaws West for the train back to Central, four an hour and 9 minutes' ride.
Worth a detour
- Queen's Park
Queen's Park, laid out by Sir Joseph Paxton, is an 11-minute walk east of Shawlands Cross. Climb to the flagpole at the top for the view north over the city as the evening comes on. Its glasshouse is shut, and Queens Park station, 8 minutes from the flagpole, has trains back to Central.
- Moray Place
A 16-minute walk north of Shawlands Cross, in Strathbungo, Moray Place is Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's colonnaded terrace of 1859, where he lived at number 1. Walk its length, then take the lane behind it for a look at Strathbungo's back gardens.
Make it a weekend
More days out in Glasgow.
Photographs by houseforanartlover; Nioso S, Travis Watson and Kevin Zhang via Google