Glasgow's Museums and Galleries: A Guide to the Best Free Collections

Few cities of its size offer as many free museums as Glasgow. Managed largely by Glasgow Life, the civic collections span fine art, natural history, transport and social history, and admission to the permanent displays is free.

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is the best known. Housed in a red sandstone building in the West End, it holds one of Europe's great civic art collections, including Salvador Dali's Christ of Saint John of the Cross, alongside natural history galleries and a pipe organ that is played daily. It is one of the most visited museums in the UK outside London.

On the banks of the Clyde, the Riverside Museum was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and tells the story of Glasgow's transport and shipbuilding past through trams, locomotives and vintage cars. The Tall Ship Glenlee is berthed outside and can be boarded free of charge.

In the city centre, the Gallery of Modern Art, known as GoMA, occupies a grand neoclassical building in Royal Exchange Square and shows contemporary art across several floors. The statue of the Duke of Wellington outside, famously crowned with a traffic cone, has become an unofficial city emblem.

On the Southside, the Burrell Collection sits within Pollok Country Park and reopened after a major refurbishment, displaying tapestries, stained glass and works by artists including Degas. Together with St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art and the Gallery of Modern Art, these venues make Glasgow one of the most accessible cities in Britain for anyone interested in art and history.