Glasgow East End

Glasgow's East End traditionally begins at the city's ancient heart, the long and rising thoroughfares of High Street and Castle Street, which are bookended by two of the city's oldest buildings, the medieval Cathedral and the Tron Steeple at Glasgow Cross.

It is a large, densely packed residential area which, although a little off the tourist trail, has a number of spectacular gems worth seeking out.

Three hundred yards down either London Road or Gallowgate from Glasgow Cross is The Barras, the city’s largest and most popular weekend market. The fast-talking traders, lively atmosphere and entertaining vignettes of Glasgow life make it an off-beat diversion from shopping-mall banality.

Between London Road and the River Clyde are the wide and tree-lined spaces of Glasgow Green. Reputedly the oldest public park in Britain, the Green has been common land since at least 1178, when it was first mentioned in records and is ideal for Sunday morning strolls or bike-rides. The Green's natural focal point is The People's Palace, a wonderfully haphazard evocation of the city's social history. As a museum, it's refreshingly unpretentious and visitors are almost always outnumbered by local families. Grafted onto the rear of the Palace is the Winter Gardens, a large Victorian glasshouse complete with café, water garden, twittering birds and assorted tropical plants and shrubs. Newly relocated to outside the museum is the wonderfully restored Doulton Fountain, a hugely ornate terracotta monument to the reach of the Victorian British Empire.