Kyla and I love each other, but we also love our freedom when we travel! We were both pretty independent travellers when we met, and we try to work in solo travel time, even when we travel together. Depending on where we are, that might mean a few hours to a couple of days.

In Scotland, it worked nicely into our plans for her to rent a car and take a dream road trip up to Skye, while I got a much-needed dose of city exploration time in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I only had a few hours in Glasgow, but I was so impressed with the city! Some quick Googling showed me that there was an epic mural trail there, so that’s how I spent my afternoon. It was a great way to see different parts of the city, and I stumbled on TWO festivals along the way (involving drinking and live music, carnival rides, and a family ceilidh)!

The main website about the murals is City Centre Mural Trail. It has a thorough map of the trail, and you can click on each number to get a picture and more information about it.

The only issue I had was accessing the map without data on my phone. I couldn’t find a good app to download when I had access to wi-fi, so I just decided ahead of time on a general idea of what I wanted to see most, since I didn’t have time to do the whole thing while still giving myself the flexibility to wander down random streets and into markets and cafes and ceilidhs! I mapped it out on Google Maps beforehand, so that I could cross-reference it with the mural map (#nerdy), but I still had to find wi-fi a couple times. Usually, this was my own fault for reading the map wrong or just not looking UP at the right wall! But if you’re flexible and happy to get a little lost, you’ll have no problem! If you’d prefer to know exactly where you are to make sure you don’t miss any murals, I’d recommend downloading an offline map app, like Maps.me.

Self-guided tours not your thing? Glasgow offers guided street art tours for 10 pounds! https://www.walkingtoursin.com/street-art-tour

Here are the pieces I saw:

By row from top, left to right: Wind Power, Glasgow’s Tiger, Glasgow Panda, The World’s Most Economical Taxi, Honey… I shrunk the Kids, Dr Connolly I Presume?, Fellow Glasgow Residents, Are Ye Askin, St Enoch and Child, Fellow Glasgow Residents, Are Ye Askin, Fellow Glasgow Residents, Saint Mungo

Staying in Edinburgh? No doubt Glasgow deserves more time, but if you have limited days, it’s an easy day or half day trip. It’s an hourish-long train ride from Edinburgh, or about an hour and a half by bus, with multiple trips on each per hour.

Happy (mural) trails! Have you been? Let me know your favourite piece of art!