Wellington and his cone
The photo every Glasgow visitor takes, right outside the entrance, free and at any hour.
Glasgow's most famous sculpture is not inside this museum but in front of its door: the Duke of Wellington on horseback, cast by Carlo Marochetti in 1844, wearing an orange traffic cone. Locals put it back every time it is removed, and when the council tried in 2013 to raise the plinth to stop them, a petition of thousands made it back down; the cone became the city's unofficial emblem of its own sense of humour. Stop, take the photo, then decide whether to go in. The building is the second argument for a visit. It began in 1778 as the mansion of tobacco merchant William Cunninghame, and between 1827 and 1832 David Hamilton turned it into the Royal Exchange, adding the vast Corinthian portico and a grand hall with an ornate ceiling. GoMA has occupied it since 1996, which means the most elegant thing in the place predates the art by a century and a half. The art itself is contemporary in the strict sense: four floors of rotating shows by Scottish and international artists, Turner Prize winners among them, with more installation and video than painting. There is no celebrated permanent collection to aim for; what you see today may be gone in three months, and long video pieces can leave the uninitiated restless. Check the programme before making it a priority. The basement holds a public library and a modest café, and there is a dedicated prayer room for visitors, not something every British museum offers and handy if you are spending the day on neighbouring Buchanan Street. Entry is free with an optional donation, and a lift serves every floor, so pushchairs and wheelchairs meet no obstacles. Children enjoy the cone more than the exhibitions, though the Saturday Art Club welcomes families. It sits under five minutes on foot from Queen Street station and the Buchanan Street and St Enoch subway stops, and makes a good refuge from Glasgow rain, which needs no particular season.
The photo every Glasgow visitor takes, right outside the entrance, free and at any hour.
The Corinthian portico and 1832 grand hall justify stepping inside even if the art leaves you cold.
A visitor prayer room and a public library downstairs make it a practical rest stop mid-shopping.
Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow city centre G1 3AH
If contemporary art is not your thing, the photo and the portico are enough, and half an hour in the grand hall does justice to the building. Kelvingrove, a short subway ride away, is far richer for families.
Practically yes: a lift to every floor, baby-changing facilities and a family art club on Saturdays. The exhibitions themselves rarely hold small children, though, so plan on a short visit.