Information from the Local Chairs

The CHI 2019 Local Chairs look forward to welcoming to you all to Glasgow in May 2019! Here are some local tips for eating, socialising, touring, and getting the best out of Glasgow before, during and after the conference.

• Near the Conference
• Scottish Experiences
• Hotels
• Venues
• Food and Drink
• Pubs
• Clubs
• Things to Do

Near the Conference

This is a great site for finding things by ‘neighbourhood’: https://peoplemakeglasgow.com/neighbourhoods 

• The conference venue is in a neighbourhood called ‘Finnieston’.
• You might want to also check out places in and around the ‘city centre’. You can easily get a taxi or Uber to the city centre, or walk along Argyle Street (between 30 and 50 mins).
• The ‘Merchant City’ is also really popular with locals for eating and drinking – some consider this a much ‘trendier’ place for socialising than the city centre.
• The ‘West end ‘of Glasgow is where the historic University of Glasgow is situated and also has many trendy pubs and eateries.
• Glasgow City also offers conference delegate discounts (see this link). The website also has the Glasgow Taxis code for discounted fares to and from the airport.

Scottish Experiences

Want to experience something Scottish when visiting Glasgow?

1. Try our national delicacy: haggis!

If you want to experience Scotland’s most famous dish then you want to find somewhere that sells haggis. Haggis is a Scottish dish consisting of a sheep’s or calf’s offal, mixed with suet, oatmeal, and seasoning, then boiled in a bag traditionally made from the animal’s stomach. You can get vegetarian options too – just check with the restaurant/server beforehand.

We can recommend haggis dishes from the following restaurants:

• The Bothy – https://www.bothyglasgow.co.uk/menus/
• Sloans – https://www.sloansglasgow.com/menus
• Rab Ha’s – https://rabhas.co.uk/

2. Drink Whisky with the locals

Scotch whisky (Scottish Gaelic: uisge-beatha na h-Alba; often simply called Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky made in Scotland. Scotch whisky must be made in a manner specified by the law.

We recommend visiting The Pot Still (http://thepotstill.co.uk/) or Ben Nevis (https://www.facebook.com/TheBenNevisBar/) for a dram of whisky.

You could also venture further afield with new friends and colleagues to visit a whisy distillery. We recommend:

• The Glasgow Distillery – https://glasgowdistillery.com/
• The Clydeside Distillery – http://www.theclydeside.com/
• The Glengoyne Distillery – https://www.glengoyne.com/our-whisky

3. Go Ceilidh Dancing

A Ceilidh is a social event with Scottish or Irish folk music and singing, traditional dancing, and storytelling. There are places you can go to experience ceilidh dancing. Some offer paying at the door – but we recommend for group bookings to call the venues in advance. This might make a nice post-workshop event with new friends! Try out Sloans – https://www.sloansglasgow.com/ceilidh

Hotels

Conference hotels, with rooms at special rates, are available here.

Other nearby hotels you might want to consider are:

1. Radisson Red (near conference good restaurants and bars)
2. Glasgow Pacific Quay (SECC) hotel (across river, easy access to conference across bridge)
3. Lorne Hotel Glasgow (reasonably priced, still walkable to conference)
4. Argyll Hotel (budget)
5. Ibis Budget Glasgow (budget)
6. Lancefield Quay (apartment)
7. Pacific Quay (apartment)

Venues (Live music, space for hire, exhibits, food and drink)

Other cool places that have live music, exhibits and spaces for hire (e.g., for parties) include:

1. Comedy Club at Rotunda (next to conference site) – https://www.rotundacomedy.club/
2. St Luke’s (live music and food) – http://www.stlukesglasgow.com/
3. Clydeside Distillery – http://www.theclydeside.com/
4. SWG3 (Arts venue, performances, exhibits and gigs) – https://swg3.tv/
5. West Brewery – http://www.westbeer.com/
6. The Arches – https://argylestarches.com/
7. Grand Ole Opry (country venue, saloon bar/food) – http://www.glasgowsgrandoleopry.co.uk/

Food and Drink

Please see the Glasgow City Food and Drink recommendations here.

Other nearby restaurants you might want to consider are:

1. Six by Nico (very reasonable taster menus, popular so book in advance) – https://www.sixbynico.co.uk/
2. No. 16 – (fairly high end and really popular) – http://www.number16.co.uk
3. Cottiers (restaurant set in a church) – https://cottiers.com/
4. Ox and Finch (Award-winning, trendy venue with a casual vibe, contemporary tapas-style dishes, typically 4 week waiting list) – https://www.oxandfinch.com/
5. Crabshakk (fish, crab and lobster from Scotland’s Western Isles) – http://www.crabshakk.com/

There are some great Indian and Persian restaurants in Glasgow and many of these are Halal. We recommend trying:

1. Kama Sutra
2. KoolBa
3. Bukhara
4. Ashoka Finnieston (very near conference site)
5. TukTuk Indian Street food

Pubs

There are many nice pubs in Glasgow city centre, the West End, The Merchant city and in Finnieston itself (the conference area). Some that we recommend are:

1. Brew Dog (Famous Scottish brewer) – https://www.brewdog.com/bars/uk/glasgow
2. Lebowskis – http://www.lebowskis.co.uk/glasgow-west/
3. Innis and Gunn beer – https://www.innisandgunn.com/bars
4. Sloans (Scottish pub with traditional music and good cheap Scottish food) – https://www.sloansglasgow.com/

Clubs

There are many clubs in Glasgow, listed here. This site also has a pretty accurate summary of the style of some top clubs.

Other ones to consider, that are popular with locals, are:

1. The Garage (popular music, youngish crowd but oldies fit in too) – https://garageglasgow.co.uk/
2. The Sub Club (more of a dance vibe) – http://subclub.co.uk/
3. The Cat House (more rock music) – https://cathouse.co.uk/
4. Nice n Sleazy (popular dingy gig type venue) – https://www.nicensleazy.com/

Things to Do in and Around Glasgow

Please see the Glasgow City guide here. Save money on your visit to Glasgow’s Leading Attractions – get vouchers here for some fab discounts and for your free city map.

Local sites and places to visit that are close by to the conference venue that you might want to consider:

1. Glasgow University
2. Botanic Gardens
3. Ashton Lane (visit Ginty McGinty’s for food and live traditional music)
4. Kelvin Grove Art Gallery and Museum
   1-4 all do-able in one day (nearby each other)
5. Glasgow Green
6. Peoples’ Palace
7. West Brewery (stop here for food and a nice pint)
8. The ‘Barras’ Old market Place (a must see in Glasgow)
   5-8 all do-able in one day (nearby each other)
9. Merchant City (bars and restaurants areas)
10. George Square (site seeing, central)
11. Princess Street (shopping)
12. Necropolis (site seeing, historical)
    9-12 all do able together (nearby each other)

Other sites and places to visit that are further outside of Glasgow you might want to consider include:

1. Loch Lomond
2. Stirling Castle
3. Edinburgh Castle
4. Hampden Park (National Football team play here, 30 mins away from conf site by taxi, they do tours)