Glasgow on the right track

The image of Glasgow was once defined by the "Glasgow Kiss", a vicious headbutt delivered by a steelworker outside a grimy pub in the world's worst slum, the Gorbals. Thankfully the world has moved on.

That proverbial steelworker is now just as likely to be a mild-mannered barista or a high-tech operator in the Silicon Glen. Sometimes neglected in favour of the more obvious charms of Edinburgh, less than an hour along the road, Glasgow has a rich history and a bright future.

And the Commonwealth Games, starting in July, are giving the city a chance to shine.

In 1900 it was known as the "Second City of Empire", such was its importance as an industrial powerhouse. It was said you could get anything made there, from a toothbrush to a steam locomotive. Half the ships on the world's seas were built there.

But over the last few decades, most of that heavy industry has vanished. The massive ship- building sheds along the River Clyde have given way to urban- renewal projects with high-rise apartments and office blocks. New high-tech industries have sprung up and the city gives an impression of bustling affluence.

The City Centre

Buchanan Street is one of the best shopping drags in the UK, with all the big names of London's Oxford Street minus the chaos, plus Scottish institutions such as Pringle. Argyle Street has the popular discount stores such as TK Maxx and nearby is Merchant City, a cosy hub of restaurants and bars grouped around a glassed-over atrium. A welcome refuge on a wet Scottish day.

Just off Sauchiehall Street is the must-see Glasgow School of Art, the masterpiece of Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh and a turning point in world architecture. While you are here, head round the corner to the Tenement House, a truly fascinating glimpse of life at the turn of last century. This apartment, the home of a spinster tailor, remained more or less unchanged and has been restored to its original state.

The Gothic cathedral is also worth visiting, particularly for the Necropolis, the extensive hilltop graveyard next door which is similar to Paris' more-famous Pere Lachaise.

New projects are springing up in the city and the underground train circuit which serves the inner city and West End has had a facelift and is now even more user- friendly.

The West End

The buzzing West End area centred on Great Western and Byres roads is packed with trendy shops, up-market restaurants and student bars such as the Hillend Bookclub, housed in a fabulously quirky Victorian building, where you can eat burgers soundtracked by a hip DJ. Or have a pint at a traditional pub such as Tennent's Bar.

Another upcoming area, closer to the town centre, runs east along Argyle Street from the wonderful Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, with even groovier shops, bars and restaurants, such as the Kelvingrove Cafe.

Glasgow is a university town, with the sprawling Glasgow University - whose hilltop tower is a landmark - the Strathclyde University and the famous School of Art. So there is a vibrant nightlife, with student bars, cheap and cheerful restaurants and a legendary music scene.

Museums

Worth visiting for the OTT high Victorian architecture alone, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum also has a terrific selection of paintings by the so-called Glasgow Boys, a group of painters who brought impressionism to Scotland in the 1880s. There is also an iconic Christ by Salvador Dali and a lovely portrait Van Gogh made of a Scottish pal. Its basement restaurant (not the cafe), is worth seeking out for traditional Scottish fare.

The Hunterian Museum, on the campus of the Glasgow University, is also a delight. One of the oldest museums in the world, it still has the quality of a gentleman's cabinet of curiosities, with everything from Roman distance markers and James Watt's first machine to a model of a giant million-year-old millipede from the Isle of Arran and a prototype saxophone by Adolph Sax. A favourite is a set of beautifully carved Scottish stones about the size of billiard balls, whose exact age (about 4000 years) and use are still unknown.

River Clyde

The freeway-lined River Clyde is not exactly a thing of beauty, although it is getting better. One bright spot is the new building by "starchitect" Zaha Hadid. The Riverside Museum of Transport and Travel is bound to bring out the kid in most people, with racing cars, ships and trains of all shapes and sizes. Check out the 1900 tram known locally as a "Room and Kitchen" car because it was about the size of a working-class tenement flat.

Also near the river is the recently completed Clyde Auditorium, designed by Sir Norman Foster, which locals call "The Armadillo". The city is surprisingly green, with lots of parks. Even industrial streets are lined with trees. From the many hills you can see the surrounding countryside beyond the town.

However, within the stereotypes of Glasgow there is a grain of truth. The Gorbals reputation may well be overstated but there are still areas of very high unemployment in the east of the city. And it is still possible to see - as I did - a couple of blokes tumble out of a pub on to the sidewalk with fists flying in working-class Partick.

Although, of course, worse things happen back in Northbridge.