Malcolm Jack

For all of the stick we give the UK – the grey skies, the pigeons, the Greggs sausage roll packets littering the pavements – it’s actually a pretty gorgeous country. In London alone, you can be goggling over the Barbican’s brutalist beauty one moment, the next, you might be basking in the tranquility of Hampstead Ponds. Add the turquoise coasts of Cornwall, the rugged mountains of Snowdonia and the fairytale wonder of Scotland’s highlands and islands to the mix, and you’ve got a country which is as good looking as they come.  When we set about curating this list of the most beautiful places in the UK, we called on our network of expert travel writers. These guys have have personally experienced the pinch-me moment of seeing every place on this list IRL – so we can guarantee you there is no catfishing going on here. Of course, you’ll find the usual suspects – you can’t argue with the magic of the Isle of Skye, after all – but you’ll also find some more surprising beauty spots to add to your travel bucket list.  Chiara Wilkinson is Time Out’s UK features editor, based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts.RECOMMENDED:🚂 The UK’s 12 most beautiful train stations🇬🇧 The 35 best things to do in the UK🏝 The 30 most beautiful places in the world

Growing up in Scotland, incredible beauty was so close at hand that I almost took it for granted. It was only when I hit my teens and twenties and started travelling that I began to truly understand why so many tourists – around three million a year – flock to my homeland from all over the world and are endlessly enraptured. It’s pretty uncommon, it turns out, to find a country where you can wake up in an ancient capital city, walk rugged coastline and admire historic engineering wonders, plunge into a misty Highland glen or climb a snow-flecked mountain all in the space of about 24 hours. Capped with a whisky, of course. Scotland’s finest attractions both natural and manmade are not only abundant and extraordinary but amazingly accessible. At less than 31,000 square miles, Scotland is smaller than most American states and you can drive coast to coast in less than a day. And yet it packs in so much, from sweeping lochs and peatlands to sleepy fishing villages, cities steeped in culture, mountains stacked on mountains and castles enough to give you castle fatigue. Finding beauty in Scotland isn’t a case of where to look, so much as where to start. Here’s my pick of the most beautiful places in Scotland.  RECOMMENDED:🏩The best Airbnbs in the Scottish Highlands🎭The best things to do in Glasgow🌲The best road trips in the UK🏞️The most breathtaking hikes in the UK🌤️The best places to visit in the UK Malcolm Jack is a writer from Scotland. At Time Out, all of our travel guides 

Glasgow is a perfect blanace of a city. Cracking live music venues and nightclubs. Bars full of character. An ever-growing young creative community keeping the party going. But then it’s stuffed full of Victorian architecture, museums and history.  Here you’ll find fantastic restaurants, great attractions and scenic strolls for days. In fact, you might just find yourself wanting to move here full time (everyone else is doing it). From green space to vintage shops, here are the best things to do in Glasgow right now.  RECOMMENDED:🍔 The best restaurants in Glasgow🍸 The best pubs in Glasgow🏨 The best hotels in Glasgow🏩 The best Airbnbs in Glasgow This guide was recently updated by Glasgow-based writer Laura Menéndez. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines. 

What’s the deal with Kelvinbridge? Walking westwards across the Kelvin Bridge by night, the glowing apex of the illuminated university spire just visible behind the Hillhead tenement skyline, the moonlight rippling on the typically rain-swollen waters of the river as it roars beneath your feet – can there be any more quintessential or enchanting view anywhere in Glasgow? The point where Great Western Road spans the River Kelvin (technically the Great Western Bridge, but nobody calls it that) has been a key nexus of the West End for centuries. And in recent years, as Byres Road’s fortunes have faded and Finnieston has reached trendiness saturation point, the Kelvinbridge area has seen a flurry of new openings – shops, bars, restaurants, cafés, arts venues and even a radio station – helping to reinvigorate what was already one of the prettiest, most historic and most happening neighbourhoods in the city. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the 50 coolest neighbourhoods in the world If you only do one thing... Go vintage. The Kelvinbridge area is one of the best in Glasgow for retro retail therapy of every kind – be it vintage clothes at Glasgow Vintage Co or Retro, furniture at Authentics, books at Thistle Books or vinyl from Mixed Up. Go off the beaten track Find the leafy riverside footpath beneath Kelvin Bridge and follow your feet. Head south through Kelvingrove Park or north past the Botanic Gardens – two of the city’s most gorgeous green spaces. Fancy exploring a little further? H

Scott Hughes, 46, thinks men need more places where they can just rock up and chat – and says barbers like his, Soul Barber Room, are the perfect fit. So, what else has he learned styling hair in Glasgow’s Finnieston?  It’s all about the chat‘Cutting hair is the middle ground to a good conversation. The amount of people you meet, from every walk of life, is the great thing with this profession. I’ve worked everywhere from London to San Francisco and Dublin. But Scottish people will talk about anything.’ Barbering has enjoyed a big renaissance in recent years‘A massive hole developed in barbering in the 1980s, for the simple fact that a lot of older barbers were dying off. A lot of guys started visiting ladies’ hair salons, because it was a much more pleasing environment. Now there are loads of new barbers, doing super-cool cuts, which is great. Men need more places where they can come and just chat. There should be a barber shop or hairdressers for everybody.’ Some men will open up to their barber more than they would to a therapist‘There’s not a desk between us, a barrier. We’re in close proximity, there’s contact, it’s a pretty personal thing. I’ve had people who have told me about coming into hundreds of thousands of pounds and going to some exotic destination and squandering it all. An elderly gent who had been in the shop bequeathed me his northern soul record collection after he passed away – it turned out he had been a DJ at Wigan Casino.’ Boring conversation is the

Pubs, glorious pubs. Whether you're after somewhere for a cosy evening with some pals, or a massive celebration with all your nearest and dearest, the Scots certainly know what they're doing as Glasgow's many gorgeous pubs are ideal for any occasion.  There are traditional joints, up-and-coming hotspots, spaces that double as music venues, and places that are all about the scran. Glasgow will definitely cater to your needs, with that charming local patter firmly in tow. Here’s our list of the best pubs in the city right now.  RECOMMENDED:🍸The best bars in Glasgow right now🍔The best restaurants in Glasgow right now🏩The best Airbnbs in Glasgow🚞The best road trips to take in the UK🚴The most beautiful cycle routes in the UK At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

The Scots love to celebrate, and doing so with a drink in hand is pretty much the norm. As a city steeped in history, there's plenty of traditional candlelit Glaswegian pubs, but also a popular university town, this Scottish city is also brimming with a vibrant nightlife too. So, it's not that surprising that the streets of the nation's largest city are bustling with absolutely brilliant bars. From secluded cellars for a cosy evening to vibrant party spots where you can dance into the night, there's no lack of places to try in Glasgow. Here are our top picks for the best bars in the city right now.  RECOMMENDED:🍔The best restaurants in Glasgow right now🏩The best Airbnbs in Glasgow🚞The best road trips to take in the UK🚴The most beautiful cycle routes in the UK☀️The very best things to do in the UK At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Scotland is responsible for many of the world’s most significant inventions, from the television to the telephone. And as the nation’s biggest city, Glasgow is naturally a terrific place to begin exploring all that history. Whether you’re looking for general interest institutions or more specialist attractions, Glasgow’s many museums will satisfy every taste and curiosity. From the striking Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum and the grand Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to the more intimate Glasgow Police Museum, you can spend plenty of time learning all about pioneering figures in art, music and literature and more. To help get you started, we’ve picked out some of the best museums in Glasgow right now. You’ll be able to trace not just the story of the city itself, but also find out how it’s helped shape the world in ways that are often under-appreciated. RECOMMENDED: Full guide to the best things to do in Glasgow

Flushed by the success of his other two establishments – flagship 111 by Nico in Kelvindale and its younger sister Six by Nico in Finnieston – it’s with justifiable swagger that Scots-Italian restaurateur Nico Simeone takes over the former premises of The Mallard for his new, rustic-yet-refined gastropub. The idea may have been knocking around for a while. High-end (yet still affordable) chippy food was a theme of Six by Nico, and Public House similarly plays on elevating unassuming Scottish classics. Indeed, some flourishes, such as serving one dish – smoked chicken ‘sandwich’ cock-a-leekie – under a smoke-filled transparent cloche for a theatrical reveal, are recycled from the Six repertoire. But in terms of value for money, Public House doesn’t compete with Six. The standard of cooking is consistently high (try the fish pie with dulse seaweed butter, and the flat iron steak with chimmichuri) but you’re paying gastropub main prices for small dishes. Somewhere between the delicious, yet lonely-looking, burger, or the beer-battered haddock on mushy peas, sans chips (they’re extra), you may yearn for the comfort of tradition: filling, rib-sticking portions, bang for your buck and a few pints (not schooners as they serve here). The chestnut gnocchi diced up with sprout tops and smoked pancetta or tender lamb faggots with zingy mint sauce may leave you wanting more, but not necessarily ina good way.

When Angaddeep Singh Vig arrived in Glasgow from India as an 18-year-old asylum seeker in January 2020, without any of his beloved musical instruments, he remembers feeling like ‘a guy without a soul’. Singh Vig is now 21 and his accent heavily tinged by Glasgow (just named the fourth best city in the world according to Time Out readers, fyi). ‘Music is part and parcel of my life,’ he says, and it has been ever since his father bought him a set of tabla hand drums aged just four. By his mid-teens Singh Vig had mastered not only that instrument but also the harmonium and flute, as well as singing. He had even begun teaching music. But when he and his parents were forced to flee India due to violent persecution by criminal gangs, they left with next to nothing, arriving in a strange and faraway land unable to work, study or begin rebuilding their lives. More than two years later, Singh Vig lives with his mother and father in temporary accommodation in Govan, as they continue their long and agonising wait for leave to remain in the UK. But thanks to Musicians In Exile – Glasgow’s asylum seeker and refugee orchestra – he has got his soul back, and then some. Instead of looking for musicians in the Middle East, I look for Middle Eastern musicians in Govan Started in 2019, the project is the brainchild of Paul MacAlindin, a freelance conductor who has worked with orchestras and ensembles all over the world, from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to the Armenian Philharmonic and t