Things To Do in Glasgow: Glasgow Central Station tour

Whether you live in Glasgow or are coming to visit, we want to highlight the biggest, best and no-to-be-missed spots around the city. 

For our next stop in the series, we took a tour around Glasgow Central Station in the city centre. 

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What is Glasgow Central Station?

Glasgow Central Railway Station is 17 platforms of gobsmacking architectural detail and rich history. 

Having been built in 1879, the station is the busiest in Scotland and the second busiest outside of London, with over 38 million people using it annually.

The station runs services to England, the southern suburbs of Greater Glasgow and the Ayrshire and Clyde coasts. 

With two levels for current train use and underground platforms dating back to a time before ourselves, walking through the main gates is just the tip of the iceberg. 

If you are a bit of a history nerd like myself or enjoy having fake rats chucked at you - this jokingly happened on my tour - you'll swoon for this delightful experience right in the heart of the city. 

Where can you find Glasgow Central Station? 

Glasgow Central Station is located at 79 Gordon Street in the city centre of Glasgow. 

The famous landmark is attached to the very renowned Grand Central Hotel and is close to the likes of Buchanan Street, various historical attractions and busy shopping centres. 

The station is open from around 4am until 12.30am every day, according to the Network Rail site.

What can you expect from the Glasgow Central Station tour? 

From an unused Victorian platform and war mortuary for Glasgow soldiers to a museum of old artefacts and once-used station clocks, you will be thoroughly entertained from the start of this tour till the very end.

With plenty to see and do, as well as interesting and sometimes agonising stories of times past, every corner turned in the building is like folding down the page and turning to an even more exciting chapter of history.

There's a section of the tour where you will learn about the station's place in Glasgow's war history. You will see soldiers' wheelchairs and photographs, and discover the names and regiments of some Glasgow soldiers'.

It is perhaps this discovery of Glasgow Central's connection with the war that captivated me the most. 

These little unknown historical sound bites will show even the infamous Glasgow granny a thing or two.

How long does it take to explore Glasgow Central Station?

The Glasgow Central Station tour takes around 1 hour and 45 minutes.

However, as you will be provided with safety headgear and a vest that you have to put on one by one, your visit may take around or over two hours to complete. 

Tickets for the tour cost £15, and children under the age of 12 years old are not permitted.

Children aged 12 to 15 must be accompanied by an adult, and there is a maximum of three 12-15-year-olds per accompanying adult.

To purchase tickets, you can click HERE

It should be noted that there is a lot of walking and steps to climb during this tour, so sturdy shoes and a decent level of fitness are essential. 

Also, make sure that you do not wear extensive layers for this tour, as when you go underground, it can get rather hot. 

What are the highlights? 

All that can be hoped for when going on a tour is that you learn some interesting and perhaps even quirky facts that you never knew before. 

If it's really something special, you will want to tell everyone and their granny about everything you learnt and I certainly left the tour with a mouth on fire. 

I found myself fascinated with the Glasgow railway's links with war, architecture and food transportation and I left swooning for the city a little extra as I walked back out onto Gordon Street. 

It is perhaps the things that I never expected to learn and see, such as old papers left on trains over time, the Victorian platform and the mortuary for Glasgow soldiers, that are the most interesting parts of this tour. 

But, for me, one of the biggest highlights was our tour guide, Paul Lyons. 

Armed with quirky facts, sensational jokes and amazing stories, the enthusiasm, intelligence and outstanding humour from this man made the tour the enjoyment that it was. 

It is worth doing the tour just for Paul's company, and he even has a few tricks up his beard too. 

How do we rate it?

The Glasgow Central Station tour is an absolute joy from start to finish. 

For years and even going into the tour, I couldn't help but wonder; how interesting can a railway tour really be? But in the confines of underground rooms and hidden platforms, I was completely proven wrong.

This tour is worth all the pennies and the stairs to get to this little haven of Glasgow's largely unknown history. 

I think what we have found here may, in fact, be the city's best-kept secret.