City Centre, Glasgow Green & the East End

Best time: Any day from noon. Start at Shilling around noon to 1pm so you cross Glasgow Green in daylight, which matters in winter when it's dark by 4.30pm, and finish at Drygate, which stays open latest (1am on Friday and Saturday). Avoid Celtic home match days if you want a seat at WEST. Opening hours change, so check each venue before you set off.

The stops

1. 

   Shilling Brewing Co.

   92 West George Street, Glasgow G2 1PJ

   City-centre brewpub in a former Bank of Scotland banking hall, with the brewhouse on show and 30-plus draught lines, several brewed on site, plus stone-baked pizza. Open noon to 11pm Sunday to Thursday, noon to midnight Friday and Saturday.

   Open in Google Maps

2. 

   Republic Bier Halle

   9 Gordon Street, Glasgow G1 3PL

   Underground Czech- and German-style beer hall, open since 1999, with over 100 draught and bottled beers from around the world, thin-crust pizza and bratwurst, and a covered, heated terrace along Gordon Street. Open noon to midnight daily.

   Open in Google Maps

3. 

   WEST on the Green

   Templeton Building, 15 Binnie Place, Glasgow Green, Glasgow G40 1AW

   WEST's brewery, beer hall and restaurant in the Templeton carpet factory, modelled on the Doge's Palace in Venice. Lagers and wheat beers brewed to the German purity law, German-Scottish food and one of the city's biggest beer gardens, facing Glasgow Green. Open 11am to 11pm Sunday to Thursday, 11am to midnight Friday and Saturday.

   Open in Google Maps

4. 

   Babbity Bowster

   16–18 Blackfriars Street, Glasgow G1 1PE

   Pub, restaurant and small hotel in an 18th-century Merchant City townhouse, listed in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide. Usually three cask ales, mostly from Scottish breweries, plus Scottish cooking and a sheltered courtyard beer garden. Open daily from noon to midnight.

   Open in Google Maps

5. 

   Drygate Brewing Co.

   85 Drygate, Glasgow G4 0UT

   Glasgow's 'experiential' brewery in a converted box factory next to Tennent's Wellpark Brewery, below the Necropolis: about 24 taps led by Drygate's own beers, a brasserie, a rooftop terrace and brewery tours. Open noon to midnight Sunday to Thursday, noon to 1am Friday and Saturday.

   Open in Google Maps

Getting there: Shilling is on the corner of West George Street and West Nile Street, about 3 minutes from Buchanan Street Subway and 5 minutes from Queen Street station. Bier Halle is next to Central Station. To get home from Drygate, High Street station is about 10 minutes' walk; Buchanan Street Subway and Queen Street are about 20 minutes, or take a taxi.

Bier Halle to WEST (about 2.2 km, 25–30 minutes) is the long leg. Walk down to the Clyde and along the riverside walkway to Glasgow Green, or go via Argyle Street, the Trongate and Saltmarket. Bridgeton station is about 10 minutes from WEST if you want to break the route here.

WEST to Babbity Bowster (about 1.3 km) goes back across the Green. After dark, take the lit streets (London Road and Saltmarket) rather than cutting across the park.

Optional extras: Tennent's Wellpark Brewery visitor centre (161 Duke Street) is next door to Drygate and runs tours seven days a week. The Laurieston Bar (58 Bridge Street), an unchanged 1960s pub, is about 1 km south of Bier Halle across the river.

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