Visiting Glasgow botanic garden – Scotland

Mid-July Marcus and I spent a weekend in Erskine near Glasgow at my friend Tania. The Saturday I asked her if we could visit the botanic garden, which she agreed to and suggested that we could visit at the same time the West End area of Glasgow.

Read about our first time in Glasgow and our walk to Ben Lomond here.

Inside Kibble Palace

We parked in one of the car parks by the busy Byres Rd that we walked to reach the botanic garden.

Glasgow botanic garden was created in 1817 by Thomas Hopkirk a famous botanist from Glasgow. Currently the garden contains Kibble Palace, several glasshouses, a rose garden, an arboretum, kid play ground and park. It has also some great views of Glasgow city.

We started by the Kibble Palace that contains massive tropical trees and also some carnivorous plants. We then moved on to visit the glasshouse where we saw some beautiful orchids and succulent plants amongst other exotic trees. Both the Kibble Palace and the glasshouses are absolutely stunning.

We continued our visit by a short stop at the play ground for Marcus before visiting the rose garden. Unfortunately it wasn’t the right season as it was very empty or maybe it was in maintenance. We followed by the arboretum before walking back to the entrance near Byres Rd. That part of the garden was nice and I could see why it was very busy with family however I was less impressed. For me the glasshouses and palace are the highlight of the garden.

After our visit, we went for a bit of shopping. I found some delicious herbal teas at Napiers herbalist shop and some tasty Pastéis de nata pastries at Pastéis Lisboa shop. To finish our day, I asked my friend if we could stop to a Japanese restaurant to buy some takeaway food to eat at her place in the evening. She was very happy with my suggestion and recommended to stop at her favourite one, unfortunately I don’t remember the name.

That was the end of a great day visiting that area of Glasgow. We will definitely go back to visit my friend and discover a bit more of Glasgow and surrounding countryside.

Have you been to Glasgow Botanic Garden?


Useful information to visit Glasgow Botanic Garden:

  • Glasgow Botanic Garden – 730 Great Western Rd, Glasgow G12 0UE
  • Free of charge;
  • Pushchair and wheelchair friendly, however some sections of the glasshouse are not easy to access;
  • Kid play ground area
  • Dog friendly but not inside the Kibble Palace and the glasshouses;
  • No car park on-site. Need to park in the streets or car parks nearby;
  • Website

Read all our adventures in Scotland on this page.

34 thoughts on “Visiting Glasgow botanic garden – Scotland

  1. So many beautiful photos. I’ve been to Glasgow many times, but never to the Botanical Gardens. Those Victorian glasshouses are just plain beautiful. I find this place mesmerizing for the exterior alone, not to mention the beautiful layout, great light, wonderful statues and huge variety of palms. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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