Editor's Choice - Glorious Glasgow on a budget

I appreciate that not many people will choose to travel to Glasgow solely on my recommendation, but if you happen to find yourself passing through the city, take refuge from the inevitable rain shower with a pie, a play and a pint.

Glasgow takes it’s name from the Gaelic for dear, green place, Glasgu, and for me, is the city in which I grew up calling home. Often overlooked for it’s more regal neighbour, Edinburgh, I was delighted when friends told me they were planning to visit and asked what they visit.

Many of the cities charms are well documented in guide books but I chose to share my own favourite hiding hole for when the heavens open. Just a few stops from the town centre on the city’s underground system, know locally as the clockwork orange -  owing to the colour of the trains and the fact it only goes in a circle – is Òran Mór. What used to be an old church at the top end of Byres Road, has been converted into a delightful hostelry and is home to Glasgow’s first lunchtime theatre session, A pie, a play and a pint.

For the equivalent of about $18, you can enjoy the lunchtime shoe, often featuring some of Glasgow’s well known actors, a pint of heavy (dark ale) and a ‘scotch’ (mutton) pie. If the rain is still lashing down, then wander down to The Whiskey Bar, where there are more than 250 varieties of Scotland’s famous tipple to choose from.

As the warm amber nectar take effect, the atmosphere is relaxed and striking up a conversation with the locals is easy. Glaswegians love to take to anyone about anything: the weather, politics, financial markets, sport or what they had for sinner the night before. Getting them to stop is the real problem!

For more information, visit Òran Mór.