What a difference a decade (and a year) makes. Back in 2014, while England boasted renowned coffee companies like Prufrock, Hasbean (now Ozone), and Square Mile, you could count the number of specialty roasters in Scotland on one hand. The first Glasgow Coffee Festival that year was a small gathering—to make up the numbers, founder Lisa Lawson of Dear Green Coffee invited a barbershop to give haircuts to attendees—but it helped kick off a coffee movement north of the border.
Fast forward to 2025, and Scotland’s specialty coffee scene is percolating nicely, dozens of roasters supplying hundreds of cafes from the cities to the Highlands and out to the Hebrides. This year’s Glasgow Coffee Festival will be the biggest yet, with visitors attending from far and wide to sample everything the country’s coffee industry has to offer.
This year’s festival takes place April 26 and 27 at the Briggait, an historic market hall in Glasgow’s city center. But outside the cuppings, the talks, the samples and the blether, the city itself has a lot to explore. If you’re visiting for the weekend, here’s a quick tour with some ideas to help you make the most of your time in the dear green place—with a few insider tips from Lawson.
While you’ll probably have more than enough to satisfy your caffeine cravings at the festival, it’s worth venturing further afield to really explore the city’s coffee offerings. Starting in the center, Laboratorio Espresso, Riverhill Coffee Bar, and Spitfire Coffee are relatively short walks away from the Briggait and make for good stops on the way to see some of the sights: a worthy place to start is Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis, an enormous Victorian cemetery that boasts an impressive view of the city. Then, soak up some culture at the Gallery of Modern Art or the People’s Palace museum, explore the bustle of Barras Market, and, if the weather’s nice, luxuriate in the 15th century greenery of Glasgow Green.
From the park, wander over the River Clyde via St Andrew’s suspension bridge and into the Southside, where more good coffee awaits. Everything is a bit more spread out here, so you might need to jump on a bus to reach The Good Coffee Cartel, Grain and Grind, or Cafe Strange Brew, which also serves a mean brunch (although get ready to wait for a table).
If you’re looking for something filling to tamp down your caffeine and sugar rush, there’s a lot of good food to be had south of the river: Ranjit’s Kitchen and Little Hoi An are local favorites, while Errol’s Hot Pizza has earned international acclaim. For those looking to wet their whistle, Lawson recommends Made From Grapes, a wine shop that transforms into a wine bar after hours. “From new age natural wine to French classics, this is a really special place.” Afterwards, why not stop by La Gelatessa for gelato?
The city has its very own subway—don’t worry you can’t get lost, it only has one line and goes in a loop—which makes for easy transportation out to Glasgow’s buzzy West End. Here the bustling Byers Road is punctuated by narrow alleyways full of antique shops and second-hand record stores, and the area is also home to some great coffee. There’s Kaf, 1841 Coffee, Papercup, as well as the spectacular interior of the Ottoman Coffeehouse.
There’s lots more culture on the west side: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum are well worth a visit—the Scottish colourists gallery is a must-see—while transport enthusiasts (what do you mean you’re not?) won’t want to miss the Zaha Hadid-designed Riverside Museum. Those looking for a little greenery won’t be disappointed: Kelvingrove also boasts an expansive park, while the Glasgow Botanic Gardens sit at the northernmost point of Byers Road.
If you get peckish, the West End has a lot to offer: Mother India has a cult following, while The Ubiquitous Chip is a popular and sprawling menagerie of restaurants, bars, and a roof terrace. Seafood lovers rave about Crabshakk in Finnieston, while Lawson also recommends the menu at Bar Brett. And of course those in the know (Anthony Bourdain, and also my mum) will tell you to go to the hundred-year-old Italian-Glaswegian University Cafe.
A trip to Scotland wouldn’t be complete without a whisky tour and tasting, and as luck would have it you can do that without even leaving the West End. The Clydeside Distillery, which opened in 2017 at the historic Queen’s Dock alongside the River Clyde, is the city’s first dedicated single malt whisky distillery in over a century.
As night falls, there’s much to keep you occupied. If you’re looking to catch some live music, you’re in luck—Glasgow is known for its music scene, so it’s time to head back to the city center and King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut. The steps down to this basement venue carry the names of acts who graced the stage before their big break: from Oasis to Radiohead, My Chemical Romance to Florence & The Machine and many more.
If all you want to do is dance the night away then perhaps the world-famous Sub Club is the place for you—it holds the record as the world’s longest-running underground dance club. Or perhaps you’d like to experience another record holder at the nearby Britannia Panopticon, the world’s oldest surviving music hall, with its monthly Drag-opticon. Another great choice is the Barrowland Ballroom’s retro design and sprung dancefloor. “No trip to Glasgow would be complete without taking in a gig at the Barrowlands Ballroom,” Lawson says. “Experience your favorite band with a Glasgow crowd making the dancefloor bounce—a night to remember!”
If you’d prefer something slightly more serene, directly across from the Ballroom is The Gate, a cocktail bar that Lawson describes as feeling “equally familiar and cosy as it does exclusive and decadent.” And if all of the above sounds a bit exhausting, the art deco Glasgow Film Theatre is worth a visit to enjoy an evening of arthouse and independent cinema (it also has its own bar).
Vibrant history, distinct neighborhoods, and deep cultural heritage—not to mention the sheer number of great coffee spots—means you probably need a week or more to really get to know Glasgow. But even if you’re just visiting for the coffee festival and want to experience a little of what the city has to offer, any one of the stops on this tour will have you booking a return trip.
Fionn Pooler is a journalist based in Scotland, and the publisher of The Pourover. Read more Fionn Pooler on Sprudge.
