After my visit to the Fossil Grove I thought about where else I could go in the limited time I had left, especially as it was getting late in the afternoon. For me, the most obvious place was the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum which houses one of Europe’s great civic art collections and is only a short drive from the Fossil Grove. Since its 2003-2006 refurbishment, the museum has been the most popular free-to-enter visitor attraction in Scotland, and the most visited museum in the United Kingdom outside London.
Located on Argyle Street, which is in the West End of the city, and situated very close to the banks of the River Kelvin the art gallery has an impressive entrance. Now when I was a kid we usually entered from the other side of the building, which is on Argyle Street, as the entrance you see here was always closed. Just across Argyle Street is the architecturally similar Kelvin Hall, which was built in matching style some years later. From the entrance you see here you can walk into Kelvingrove Park and look up to the main campus of the University of Glasgow which is situated on Gilmorehill.
Inside the architecture is just as stunning as can be seen from the main hall.
Photography is allowed, but tripods are not. This image was taken by resting the camera on the balcony and firing the shutter by remote control. Normally I would have taken out all of the ghosted figures but I wanted to give you a sense of visitors walking around. When I took this image it was about ten minutes before the galleries closed, si was sort of rushing around to get some images I could use.
Wandering around I came across some amazing sculptures
Even Elvis gets a look here
Going back to when I was a kid, the museum housed great collections of armour, working models of engines, birds, insects, stuffed animals, many of which came from the Burrell Collection, I think….and of course just some of the great collection of art work that the City of Glasgow owned. In the short time I had to look around most of the galleries seemed to contain the art work but I couldn’t see great evidence of the other artefacts. Now I’ve been away from the city for a long time and I seem to remember reading way back when that a new museum was built to house the Burrell Collection. Anyway the following few images give you a tester of what the museum looks like and maybe give you some ideas for photo opportunities
Once again, I used the balcony to lean the camera on and just fired the shutter with my remote control. If you don’t have a remote control use your timer, most digital cameras have a count-down timer which enables you to press the shutter and then run round to the front to get in the picture.
By this time the museum was starting to close, so I’ll leave you with this last image taken from the gallery again.
I hope you enjoyed this very brief introduction to one of Glasgow’s great art gallery and museum and who knows, maybe you’ll find time to visit yourself.
Opening Hours – It is FREE to visit Kelvingrove
- Monday to Thursday 10am–5pm
- Friday 11am–5pm
- Saturday 10am–5pm
- Sunday 11am–5pm
Kelvingrove is open daily except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and 1 and 2 January. On Hogmanay, 31 December, the museum closes to the public at 12.30pm. We are open at all other times of the year, and are open on public holidays except those mentioned above.
How to get to Kelvingrove
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is in the west end of Glasgow. There is pay and display car parking at the venue, but space is limited. The car park has 10 spaces reserved for blue badge holders. These spaces are free of charge and there is no time restriction.
It is easy to reach the museum on public transport from the city centre:
By bus
First Bus services 9, 16, 23, 42 and 62 all stop directly outside Kelvingrove.
By subway
Kelvingrove is five minutes’ walk from Kelvinhall subway station and ten minutes’ walk from Kelvinbridge subway station.
By train
Kelvingrove is fifteen minutes’ walk from Partick train station and ten minutes’ walk from Charing Cross train station.
Use the Traveline Scotland journey planner to plan your trip by public transport.
Scottish Tourist Board Rating
Kelvingrove is a VisitScotland 5 Star Museum
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Say It With A Camera 
Very informative blog with cracking photos. Well done
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