More than 3,000 athletes from 74 countries will descend on Scotland’s largest city when the 2026 Commonwealth Games take place in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2.
Kristen Angus, VisitBritain Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, said sport was a powerful driver of travel.
“More than a world-class sporting event, the Commonwealth Games are a gold-medal opportunity to showcase Glasgow’s energy, creativity and warm welcome to Aussie and Kiwi travellers,” she added.
Here are 10 reasons to put Glasgow on your travel radar:
- A global music capital: Glasgow was the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music, has more live music venues than any other UK city and is the birthplace of artists like Mark Knopfler and members of AC/DC.
- A mythical mascot: Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn symbolising purity, strength and independence. You’ll spot it proudly displayed across Glasgow’s architecture, the royal coat of arms and is the official mascot of the Games.
- A traffic cone icon: It’s a long-running tradition for locals to place a traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue and no matter how often it’s removed, it always comes back.
- A must-visit foodie hotspot: Whether it’s street eats or Michelin-starred dining, Glasgow’s culinary scene is among Britain’s best and it even lays claim to have invented chicken tikka masala. It has won the Curry Capital of Britain award four times and is a place where you can eat your way from a £3 morning roll to a £140 tasting menu within the same postcode.
- Older than dinosaurs: Glasgow is home to fossilised tree stumps that are around 330 million years old, twice as old as dinosaurs, in Fossil Grove.
- Meet the giants of Scotland: Just outside the city stand The Kelpies (above), the world’s largest equine sculptures at 30 metres high. They stand watch over the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal.
- City of parks: Glasgow is known as the ‘Dear Green Place’ and is home to more than 90 parks and gardens, giving it one of the most extensive networks of urban green spaces in the UK.
- Ride the ‘Clockwork Orange’: One of the oldest subway systems in the world, Glasgow’s underground, nicknamed the Clockwork Orange, has been running since 1896 and still runs on a simple circular loop.
- A Hollywood chameleon: Glasgow regularly doubles for other cities on screen thanks to its versatile architecture. The city has stood in for Gotham City in The Batman(2022), with scenes filmed in the Necropolis and has also featured in blockbusters such as World War Z, Fast & Furious 6 and Indiana Jones, often doubling as New York or other global cities.
- A design and creative hub: The city has produced renowned artists, designers and architects, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose work defines Glasgow’s unique style.
