Weekend Break In Scotland

Last weekend I headed to Glasgow for a solo weekend trip and a much-needed break from my hometown of Belfast. The flight was only around 35 minutes long, so Glasgow seemed like a great choice for a short city break since I can’t take any time off work at the moment.

I left my house early Saturday morning, and when I landed in Glasgow I headed straight into the city centre. I had found out a few days before my flight that there was a dog show on at the Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC) in Glasgow, so naturally as a huge dog lover I had snapped up a ticket!

It wasn’t hard to get to the SEC, once I got off the airport bus I only needed to take the underground train for two stops. Once I reached the centre I was met by a crowd of a few hundred fellow dog lovers.

At the show there were loads of stalls, run by everyone from groomers to dog sanctuaries. There was also a show area with dog dancing, fly ball, and dog frisbee.

I had a fantastic time, and got to pet literally hundreds of dogs. Dream come true! I also picked up some cute goodies and treats for my own dog, Charlie, back at home. (Plus a couple of gorgeous t-shirts for myself.)

After the dog show, I headed back into Glasgow town centre and did some shopping. Since the Primark building in Belfast burned down, I practically ran to the Primark in Glasgow to stock up on false nails! Once I’d shopped till I’d dropped (or rather until my bank account was practically begging me to stop), I checked into my hotel and had a nice hot shower.

Once I had showered and felt much more like myself, I headed back out into the centre of Glasgow and had dinner at Zizzi. I ate al fresco as it was quite a warm evening, and got to people watch. It was wonderful!

Walking around Glasgow was an incredible experience, I accidentally found some incredible pieces of street art, and I was blown away by several buskers with incredible talent.

After a couple of drinks in the hotel bar, I headed to bed. My pedometer app on my phone said I’d clocked up over 17,000 steps, so I definitely deserved an early night!

On Sunday I got up early, checked out of my hotel room, and hopped on the train to Edinburgh. I was desperate to check out the Royal Botanic Gardens as I had heard from friends that they are beautiful. After the train journey, it was a short bus journey to the gardens.

Entrance to the garden themselves is free, however there is a small fee to go inside the glasshouses. In my opinion, the price is more than worth it! There were ten rooms, each with different varieties of plants and flowers but my favourite section contained breath-taking giant lily pads.

While the rest of the sections were incredible and really interesting, the lily pads just captivated me. I wanted to try and walk across them but just about managed to restrain myself!

After seeing the Botanic Gardens it was time for me to head back to Edinburgh’s Prince’s Street, where I had time to squeeze in a little more shopping before my train back to Glasgow so I could get back to the airport.

What’s your favourite city in the U.K for a short city break?

Until next time, Dani x