One day in Glasgow: a self-guided walking itinerary

The cathedral precinct and the Necropolis

Glasgow began on this slope, and the morning works through the layers: the medieval house, the cathedral the bishops built, then the Victorian cemetery above them. Provand's Lordship opens at 10am (11am on Fridays and Sundays), so if you reach the hill earlier, take the cathedral first, since from April to September its doors open at 9:30am, Monday to Saturday. Go down into the lower church for Saint Mungo's shrine and the stained glass, and expect scaffolding on the spire while conservation work runs. Climb into the Necropolis from the Bridge of Sighs, pass the tiered Monteath mausoleum on the way up, and end at the John Knox column with the whole cathedral laid out below. Come down High Street afterwards for the city centre stretch.

• HoursGlasgow Cathedral is free to enter and opens 9:30am to 5pm Monday to Saturday from 1 April to 30 September; from 1 October to 31 March it opens 10am to 4pm. Sundays are 1pm to 5pm all year, and last entry is 45 minutes before closing.SourceHistoric Environment Scotland: Glasgow Cathedral
• HoursProvand's Lordship, built in 1471, is free to enter. It opens 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday, and 11am to 5pm Friday and Sunday.SourceGlasgow Life: Provand's Lordship
• AccessToilets and a shop are at the free St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, which faces Provand's Lordship. Provand's Lordship has ramp access to the ground floor but no lift to the upper floors, where two ground floor displays fill the gap.SourceGlasgow Life: St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art·Glasgow Life: Provand's Lordship floor plan

EatGrab a coffee and a snack from the shop at the St Mungo Museum before the climb into the cemetery, and save the proper meal for the Merchant City.

The city centre, the Merchant City and lunch

• 8Saint Mungo mural
• 7Tolbooth Steeple9 min
• 6Trongate 1033 min
• 5Keeper of Light2 min
• 4City Chambers6 min
• 3George Square2 min
• 2Gallery of Modern Art3 min
• 1Buchanan Street2 min

From the cathedral the route drops through the old burgh: Smug's Saint Mungo painted on a High Street gable end, the tolbooth steeple at Glasgow Cross, the Tron's blue clock and the galleries at Trongate 103, then the corner where Rogue One's butterflies and Smug's Keeper of Light meet at Candleriggs. Lunch sits here: Paesano on Miller Street for a fast pizza, or The Spanish Butcher on the same street if you want a proper table. After eating, head north to the City Chambers and its Carrara marble staircase, across to George Square, then to the Gallery of Modern Art, where the Duke of Wellington outside wears a traffic cone. The stretch finishes on Buchanan Street, where the Subway takes you west.

• HoursThe Gallery of Modern Art is free, opening 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday and 11am to 5pm Friday and Sunday.SourceGlasgow Life: Gallery of Modern Art
• EatPaesano on Miller Street is the quick pizza lunch in the Merchant City, and The Spanish Butcher on the same street is the longer sit-down option.SourceFoodie Explorers: where to eat in Glasgow

EatLunch at Paesano on Miller Street, a Neapolitan pizza stop a moment from the Candleriggs murals.

The West End: Kelvingrove, the university and the glasshouse

The Subway from Buchanan Street puts you at Kelvinhall for Kelvingrove, which closes at 5pm, and this block cannot hold both the museum and the Mackintosh House, whose last admission is 4:15pm. If the house matters more, get off at Hillhead instead and see it first. If the museum does, give it the hour to closing: the painting galleries and the Dalí. The daily organ recital is at 1pm (3pm on Sundays), so it is over by the time you arrive. Then walk up through the park past the Stewart Memorial Fountain to the university cloisters on Gilmorehill, on to Ashton Lane for the cobbles and the old picture house, and up Byres Road to Òran Mór, a church turned bar under Alasdair Gray's ceiling mural. End in the free Botanic Gardens; the Kibble Palace glasshouse keeps shorter hours in winter, when the gardens alone are the finish.

• HoursKelvingrove is free, opening 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and Saturday and 11am to 5pm Friday and Sunday, with a free organ recital daily on the 1901 Lewis organ and a café on the lower level.SourceGlasgow Life: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
• CostEntry to the Botanic Gardens is free, and the Friends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens run free guided tours through the season.SourceFriends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens

EatA drink at Òran Mór on Byres Road, a converted church whose ceiling is Alasdair Gray's mural; its late bar, Fonn Mór, opens on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Clyde and dinner in Finnieston

Come down from Byres Road to the river at the Clydeside Distillery, the city's first dedicated single malt distillery in over a century, whose visitor centre has closed by evening, then follow the north bank east past the Clyde Auditorium's shells and the Hydro, the arena that fills this district on show nights. The Finnieston Crane has leaned over the water since 1931, and it makes the best photograph of the evening. Dinner is on and just off Argyle Street: Ox and Finch on Sauchiehall Street for sharing plates, The Finnieston or Crabshakk on Argyle Street for seafood, or one of the Highland Triangle pubs for a whisky to finish. If your visit lands on the third Sunday of the month, the Finnieston Food Market takes over the street.

• EatFinnieston's established tables are Ox and Finch, The Finnieston and Crabshakk, and the Highland Triangle pubs (The Ben Nevis, The Islay Inn and The Park Bar) are the whisky end of the night.SourceVisit Glasgow: Finnieston
• Best timeThe Finnieston Food Market runs on the third Sunday of each month, and Dockyard Social trades at weekends with street food and live music.SourceVisit Glasgow: Finnieston

EatDinner at Crabshakk on Argyle Street for seafood, or Ox and Finch a street north on Sauchiehall Street for sharing plates.