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Glasgow’s centre for lovers of film, the Glasgow Film Theatre has been leading the way in specialised cinema for 36 years.

From art house cinema to late night cult screenings and from classics back on the big screen to independent documentaries, there’s something for everyone at GFT.

The Glasgow Film Theatre hosts a year-round screening programme of the classics of world cinema and contemporary art house films.

The GFT also has a learning programme, aiming to teach and cultivate an understanding of the moving image – in all its diversity.

For more information and to see what’s on at the GFT visit glasgowfilm.org.

Xscape sells itself as “the ultimate family entertainment destination” and we certainly can’t disagree with that.

The whole place is filled with things to do, to suit any age or interest.  For the energetic there are a huge number of activities including the ski slope, football, minigolf and a rock climbing wall.  There are plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry, including a whole host of restaurants and a ten pin bowling alley.  For the serious boarders there are a number of outdoor & boardwear stores.  And to wind down after hard day, there is the 12 screen cinema, with plenty of new movies to choose from.

Activities:

Climbzone
The climbzone includes use of the Rock Climbing Wall, Skypark, Fan Drop and professional instruction to those who need or want it.  Only those 8 years and older can use the Climbzone.

Sno!zone
Snozone at Xscape Braehead is the UK’s longest real snow ski hill at 200m long.  For the less experienced, and the tobogganers, there is also smaller hill.  Ski and snowboarding lessons are available either on a one to one basis or as a group.

Robocoaster (£4.50 per person)
The Robocoaster at Xscape, Braehead is the worlds first passenger carrying robot.  It is essentially a giant robotic arm which holds two people at a time.  There are five settings to choose from: from fun (a gentle-ish ride) to extreme (jerks you around and chucks you around upside-down at top speed).  Only those 8 years and older can use the Robocoaster, and there is also a height restriction.  Under 12′s cannot go above the second level.

Paradise Island Adventure Golf (Prices range from £3.50 – £7 per person)
Your tropical adventure will take on an expedition surrounded by palm trees, tiki huts and ancient ruins.  Putt through twists, turns and drops, before taking on the challenge of the 19th hole.

Soccer Circus (£12.50/£10 per adult/child)
For the football fanatics, Soccer Circus is just great.  The games engage visitors in a series of fun challenges culminating in an incredible final game, kicking footballs in a fully automated football shooting range.  Absorb the big match atmosphere and enjoy the on screen scoring and video action replays.  The experience has been designed to be inclusive of the whole family, footballers and non-footballers alike.

Bowlplex:

Prices: Adults £3.45 - £4.75 per game, Children £2.75 – £3.95 per game
Bowlplex offers you not only the obvious but also an array of arcade amusements, A bar and Grill, American Pool Pit, late licence sports bar and resident DJ and dance floor.

Cinema:

Price: Standard Odeon prices
A 12 screen Odeon cinema is in place with 2500 seats and all the latest blockbuster films available.

Shopping
If you are into your outdoor sports or even just into the snowboard/skater style fashion, you will find something to suit you here.  Stores include: Billabong, Quicksilver, Trespass, Blue Salamander. Ellis Brigham, Adrenaline Junkie and Evans Cycles.

Eating & Drinking:

There are a huge number of restaurants and food genres on offer in Xscape.  Restaurants available include: Tony Romas, China Buffet King, Frankie & Benny’s, Pizza Hut, TGI Fridays, Bella Italia, Nandos, Chiquito, Ma Potters, Fujimama and Pizza Express.

The Sno!Bar also sells food, but is more of a bar and isn’t as suitable for kids.  However it does look onto the ski slope if you are planning on having a coffee whilst watching the kids on the slope.  Lloyds No.1 Bar is there for those who really just want a drink.

For faster food, there is also an O’Briens sandwich shop and a Burger King.

Centre for Contemporary Arts

Tel:  0141 332 7521

Email: info@cca-glasgow.com
Website: www.cca-glasgow.com

Admission: Many of the art exhibitions are free, as are some other events.  For more information about ticketing please visit the CCA website.

Opening hours:  Events and exhibitions are on at various times, and each day is different at the CCA.  Please check the website for details.

The world reknowned Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) is an art gallery, performance space, cafe, and cinema on Sauchiehall Street, in Glasgow.

CCA is a unique contemporary arts organisation in the centre of Glasgow at the heart of the vibrant cultural community.

CCA’s artistic and educational programme primarily focuses on visual arts, contemporary music and film.  With it’s eclectic programme offering such varied exhibitions and events there is always something interesting going on at the CCA.

Housed in the restored Grecian Chambers, a category A listed building, designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson, the centre is established and recognised as one of Europe’s leading contemporary galleries.  It curates six major exhibitions a year, showing a wide range of Scottish and international contemporary art, as well as being home to Intermedia Gallery for emerging artists.  Fast developing a reputation for world class improvised, experimental and electronic music, CCA also screens unique independent short, dance and documentary films which can only be seen at the CCA.

For more information or to find out what’s on in the CCA Glasgow, visit the CCA website.

Tel: 0871 540 1000

Admission: Prices listed below

Opening hours: Daily 10am – 5pm

The Glasgow Science Centre is a brilliant day out for the whole family.

My kids absolutely love it, and I must admit, I enjoy it too!  There are 3 main attractions within the Science Centre, each of which I have written a bit about below.  These are the Science Mall (the interactive museum type bit which is home to the Scottish Power Planetarium), the Tower (sometimes called the Science Tower or the Glasgow Tower), and the IMAX cinema (Scotlands first 3-D cinema).  When you visit the Science Centre you can go to just 1 of these parts, pick 2 to visit, or enjoy all 3.

The Science Mall

This is the biggest part of the Science Centre, which contains 3 floors packed full of interactive exhibits, the Scottish Power Planetarium, Science Show Theatre and Climate Change Theatre.  The exhibits are such good fun for kids – mine just absolutely love playing with everything.  These aim to educate kids in a really interactive and fun way in many different scientific fields, although there does seem to be a bias towards physics and engineering (which as a biologist I definitely noticed).  The staff are really friendly and seem to love playing with the exhibits as much as the kids do.  The staff also run workshops throughout the day which again are really interactive and fun.  I took the kids on Easter weekend and they loved the Egg Drop Challenge workshop.  I think their favourite one is the cockroach workshop though; for some reason they love patting them!

There are shows on throughout the day which again are really good for kids; you could potentially see anything from a body being dissected in a rather gross way (a fake one obviously) or someone setting fire to stuff.  Some of the Science Shows are aimed at older kids though which can be a bit difficult, so make sure you check before you go to one of those.  The climate change shows are a fun movie that you through – they dont have a presenter.  But the kids still enjoyed that one with it’s cute sheep.

The Scottish Power Planetarium is amazing.  A show is well worth the extra £2.  You have to see it to understand what it’s like – it’s like getting taken away into space for half an hour.  For the kids – it’s a great adventure, and for the adults, it’s really relaxing.  The presenters are really nice and will happily answer your questions about their show or about the planetarium.  Again, there are various shows on which are aimed at different age ranges, so check which ones are suitable before you go.

Even if you don’t do anything else, you should definitely do the Science Mall.

Glasgow Tower

I love the Glasgow Tower.  It boasts being the tallest freestanding structure in the UK at more than 100m, and the only structure in the world (apart from windmills) that can fully rotate 360 degrees – by that I mean that entire structure can turn – the whole Tower.  The ride up in the lift is great fun – there are large windows so you can see out the whole way up which the kids seem to love.  As the icing on the cake, the staff in the Tower are so knowledgeable about the history and geography of Glasgow.  It really is a must for any tourist or interested resident.

It gets a bad name for not working and being closed all the time, but I think that’s a bit unfair.  The reason it’s often closed is partly because of the weather; we all know that the weather in Glasgow is quite unpredictable, and if wind speeds get above 20mph then people can’t go up the Tower anymore.  I think that is quite reasonable because the lifts are on the outside of the structure, and going up those for 2 and a half minutes in high winds would probably cause anyone to get pretty scared.

IMAX cinema

The IMAX is a 3-D cinema which also shows feature films like Transformers and Harry Potter.  The screen is massive – something like the length of 3 buses and the picture and sound is an amazing experience.  The 3-D movies are really good.  If you haven’t seen one before then it is well worth it (as long as you pick a good one).  And it’s great seeing the kids trying to catch stuff as it ‘comes out of the screen’.  Just brilliant – there isn’t much more I can say about a cinema!

The ticket prices are a bit complicated (they seem to have made it even more complicated with their new ticket pricing), and they are impossible to find on their website, so I have tried to simplify it as much as possible below.

* All of these ticket prices include an approximate £1 gift aid donation.  Gift aid allows tax relief on money donated to charities.  So any amount donated will be treated as if it has had basic tax deducted already.  Basically, charities like it and try to encourage you to gift aid.  The last time I was there you got a voucher to spend within the Science Centre which I think was slightly more than the amount donated.  Obviously you do have a choice, and if you don’t pay tax yourself then you cant gift aid.

** The season ticket prices are actually really good value.  The season ticket gets you into the science mall and planetarium as many times as you like in a year.  If you go 3/4 times in a year, you’ve pretty much made your money back.

Unfortunately they don’t have a deal for all 3 attractions.  They say it’s because they don’t advise you doing all 3 attractions in a day as there is just too much to do.  Although there is a lot to fit in, it is most definitely possible to do everything.  I think it’s a shame that if you’re a visitor in Glasgow and can only spend one day in the Science Centre, it can be extremely expensive to do all 3 attractions with the present ticket rates/packages.

Admission:  See cineworld website

Opening hours: Varies daily depending on show times.  Please visit the Cineworld website website to view what movies start when.

We Glaswegians do love ’going to the pictures’.

Glasgow, since around the 1940s has borne the proud title ”Cinema City”.  At that time, Glasgow had more than 130 cinemas; more cinemas per person than any other city outside America!

This is why the only place that could possibly boast the worlds tallest purpose built cinema could be Glasgow.  With its 203 foot high structure holding 6 floors (and actually more than 12 stories), 18 screens, a bar and a kids party room, at any one time the cinema can seat more than 4,300 people.  Despite this, it is always busy; there is always a queue, which always seems to straggle out the door and down the street…

And no wonder!  Formerly part of the UGC cinema group, the Renfrew St. Cineworld sits smack bang in the middle of one of Glasgows most popular shopping areas, being just a stones throw from the Buchanan Galleries, Buchanan St. and Sauchiehall St.  A brilliant location for a nice rest after a hard days shopping…

A wee tip - you can get a nice view from the top floor which has some comfy seats and a ‘viewing foyer’.