Scotland: The Architecture of Glasgow and Edinburgh 7865

We depart from our designated pick-up points (Glasgow, Edinburgh) and travel to central Edinburgh, where we begin with a tour of the Old Town, the historic area either side of the Royal Mile that runs from Edinburgh Castle down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Included is a visit to Gladstone’s Land, one of the oldest buildings on the Royal Mile which has been a commercial and social hub for more than 500 years. It has witnessed momentous social and political change as well as war, fire and disease. Look out for the beautiful hand-painted ceilings from 1620.
Continuing on a short walk from here and down the High Street, we will visit St Giles’ Cathedral, the scene of Her Majesty The Queen’s lying-in-state in September 2022 and the ‘Scottish Coronation’ of His Majesty The King in May 2023. The history of St Giles’ has spanned 900 years, from early beginnings as a Romanesque church in 1124 to its current standing as a modern Presbyterian church.  It has seen the seeds of civil war sown and been the centre of the Scottish Reformation as John Knox’s Parish church.
Following our visit here we depart for our hotel.

After breakfast we return to the centre of Edinburgh and conclude our exploration of the Old Town at the foot of the Royal Mile with a tour the Scottish Parliament building, which was built to a bold design by the Spanish architect Enric Miralles, who died before its completion. Though the building and its construction attracted great controversy at the time, it has since won numerous design awards. The branch-shaped design has references to Scottish architectural history and was created to mirror the landscape. The building was opened by Her Majesty The Queen in 2004.
We then walk a short distance to the official royal residence of The King when in Edinburgh, the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It has been associated with notable figures throughout history including Mary Queen of Scots and Bonnie Prince Charlie. On our visit we can explore the 14 historic and state apartments, the ruins of the 12th century Holyrood Abbey and the manicured gardens.
After an opportunity for lunch (not included) our attention turns to the New Town, actually over 250 years old, having been built in stages between 1767 and around 1850. A design competition was held in January 1766 to find a suitably modern layout for the new suburb. It was won by 26-year-old James Craig, who, following the natural contours of the land, proposed a simple axial grid, with a principal thoroughfare along the ridge linking two garden squares. After a panoramic tour taking in the principal buildings and elegant terraces such as Great King Street we arrive at Charlotte Square, which was completed in 1820. Built to a design by Robert Adam, it is the only unified section of the New Town. The north side features Bute House, formerly the official residence of the Secretary of State for Scotland and, since the introduction of devolution in Scotland, the official residence of the First Minister.
Here we visit The Georgian House, restored by National Trust for Scotland to reflect the lives of those who lived and worked here in the late 18th and early 19th century. Also designed by Robert Adam, this grand townhouse was at the heart of Edinburgh’s New Town development and was a true statement of luxury in an era of enlightenment. We will explore the grand, ornately decorated family rooms, where the Lamont family would have entertained guests surrounded by the works of renowned Scottish artists Allan Ramsay, Henry Raeburn and Alexander Nasmyth; discover the lives of the servants who lived and worked ‘below stairs’ to support the lavish lifestyle of the family upstairs and view the unique collection of 18th-century household items, from the everyday to the curious.
We continue along Princes Street, which, it must be said, presents a rather less harmonious selection of architectural styles, to The Mound, where we find the Royal Scottish Academy and the National Gallery of Scotland, whose neo-classical design by William Playfair helped to transform Edinburgh into the so-called ‘Athens of the North’. There will be time here to visit the National Gallery whose collection includes masterpieces by Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt and Van Gogh, along with works by many of Scotland’s most famous artists, now presented as a single collection in the recently completed suite of galleries that extends beneath the two original buildings.
We return to our hotel later in the afternoon.

This morning we head for Glasgow, less than an hour’s drive from Edinburgh but with a look and feel that is altogether different, characterised by huge Victorian edifices built from red or blond sandstone. We begin with a walking tour of the Merchant City, one of Glasgow’s oldest quarters dating back to the 1750s when it was home to the warehouses of wealthy merchants who shipped tobacco, sugar and tea. In the 19th century, the area became home to Glasgow’s central fruit, vegetable and cheese markets.
We then have a private guided tour of the Glasgow City Chambers, a grand edifice completed in 1888 as a symbol of Glasgow’s wealth. The building is in the Beaux Arts style, an interpretation of Renaissance Classicism incorporating Italianate styles with a vast range of ornate decoration, used to express the industrial export-led economic prosperity of the ‘Second City of the Empire’.
We continue with a panoramic tour of the city picking out some architectural highlights both old and new, such as Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson’s classical church in St Vincent Street and Sir Norman Foster’s Clyde Auditorium known as the ‘Armadillo’. This is followed with a visit to Mackintosh at the Willow, the famous tea rooms on Sauchiehall Street that are now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. Here we will enjoy afternoon tea in the unique surroundings that have been faithfully restored to the original designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald.
We conclude today at The Tenement House. At first glance, this appears to be an ordinary middle-class tenement from the late 19th century. However, when you step inside, the faithfully restored four rooms appear as if frozen in time and provide a rare glimpse into life in Glasgow in the early 20th century. Shorthand typist Miss Agnes Toward lived here from 1911 until 1965, and preserved her furniture and possessions with love and care. She held on to all sorts of things that most people would have thrown away, and this extensive personal archive has become a valuable time capsule for visitors today. The Tenement House also reveals what it meant to be an ‘independent woman’ at that time.
We return to our hotel.

Returning to Glasgow once more, we begin with a look at Templeton on the Green, a unique mixed use ‘lifestyle village’ overlooking the historic Glasgow Green. Templeton, originally a carpet factory until 1980, is one of Glasgow’s best-known landmarks. It includes a collection of Grade A listed buildings, constructed through the late 1800s and early 1900s and arranged around a courtyard. The principal decorative building by Sir William Lieper is believed  to have been based on the design of the Doges Palace in Venice and is regarded by many as one of the finest decorative brick buildings in the world.
Adjacent to this is the People’s Palace, Glasgow’s social history museum, located on Glasgow Green, one of the city’s oldest green spaces. The collection offers a wide range of objects and unique displays from Billy Connolly’s ‘Banana Boots’, to a recreation of a ‘single end’ room which reveals how Glaswegians lived in tenement flats. It also shows how citizens spent their social time whether dancing at venues like the Barrowland Ballroom, or going ‘doon the watter’ on holiday, to a recreation of an air raid shelter and a jail.
Our final visit is to the Riverside Museum, built to a striking design by internationally renowned architect, Dame Zaha Hadid. Inside the museum, visitors can explore a vast collection of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, trams, buses, and even a steam locomotive. One of the highlights of the museum is the recreated street scene, which provides a glimpse into Glasgow’s past. Visitors can stroll along a cobbled street lined with shops, houses, and even a subway station, all authentically recreated to transport visitors back in time. Lunch is available here (not included).
Following our visit we return to our original pick-up points.