Glasgow vs Edinburgh

Guest   Sat Dec 26, 2009 7:29 am GMT
Which city is better to visit? Glasgow seems to be larger and funner, whereas Edinburgh has more to offer culturally. Is this a correct evaluation of the two? Which has a more understandable English? LOL, just kidding ;)

Are there other, non-tourist spots in Scotland that are worth visiting?
Damian in Edinburgh   Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:33 am GMT
Well, I am in great danger of being afflicted with a chronic case of bias on this one, as you may expect.

Edinburgh IS, after all, Scotland's capital city, it is the seat of Scottish Government, it is the city which contains all of Scotland's foreign consulates (as distinct from embassies all of which are located in London, this being the UK's overall capital city) and Edinburgh is also where many of Scotland's most well known historic sites are situated, such as the Castle way up there on its rocky heights overlooking the entire city, both the Auld Toon (town) and the New Toon, and of course the Palace of Holyrood, which is where the Queen has one of her two Scottish homes, the other being up there in Balmoral.

Close to the Palace of Holyrood is of course the Scottish Parliament complex.

Edinburgh is also the base for Scotland's financial and commercial markets.

Edinburgh is indeed, as you say, a great cultural centre, not only that with a clear Scottish flavour, but also that with great international appeal, all of which makes Edinburgh Scotland's most prominent tourist attraction, to which many thousands of tourists flock from all over the world, throughout the year and more especially in August when it is the scene of the Edinburgh International Festival which draws performers of all kinds from literally all parts of the world. Many of Britain's most well known actors, comedians,musicians and singers first made their appearance at the famous Edinburgh Fringe during the Festival.

Forty miles to the west of Edinburgh is Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, and formerly Scotland's main heavy industrial base and the nearby former docks at Clydebank, and the third largest city in the UK - it is indeed a fun city from the point of view of all its clubs, bars and restaurants and places of entertainment, and although it contains some really lovely architecture (Kelvingrove and George Square as just two examples off the top of my head) and interesting cultural pursuits and sites (the Roman remains at Bearsden are well worth a visit) when it comes to sheer aesthetic attractivenss and urban style and beauty, well, there is no doubt at all that Edinburgh wins the trophy there.

Furthermore, the Edinburgh Scottish accent is a lot more easy on the ear of the beholder from outside of Scotland than is the Glaswegian version, but of course that can well be a matter of opinion for some people.

Just compare the speech of Edinburgh born Sean Connery with the Glasgow born Big Yin (Billy Connolly) if you require proof of this. So in response to you - which city offers the more understandable English to the visitor? Do I really have to spell it out? ;-)

It also rains more often in Glasgow than it does in Edinburgh, and they also eat deep fried mars bars in Glasgow which would make us here in "posher", more "genteel up-market" Edinburgh feel quite nauseous just to think of doing such a thing..... ;-)

Actually, I have had some great times in Glasgow.....
Malcolm McPhaughan   Sat Dec 26, 2009 5:53 pm GMT
<<Forty miles to the west of Edinburgh is Glasgow>>

Maybe you could see both of them -- it's not like having to choose between Shanghai and Beijing.