Buchanan Street

Sweeping through the heart of the Style Mile in Glasgow city center, Buchanan Street hosts some of Scotland’s best shopping, bars, restaurants and cafes.
A hodgepodge of high street and designer names tucked inside some of Glasgow’s grandest Victorian buildings, Buchanan Street is especially busy on Saturdays, when the young and glamorous hunt out new fashions and street performers entertain the crowds.  
At the north end is the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and the Buchanan Galleries shopping mall, which hosts more than 90 brand-name stores. Toward the southern end, the refined Art Nouveau atmosphere and designer goods of Princes Square draw ladies who lunch. One of the most upmarket retail streets in the United Kingdom, Buchanan Street is also home to the flagship House of Fraser department store, which boasts Scotland’s largest beauty hall and is conveniently located right across the street from Princes Square.
Fans of the late Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh will love Buchanan Street’s Willow Tea Rooms, replete with the iconic designer’s signature high-backed chairs. Look out for Nelson Mandela Place as you shop ‘til you drop; in 1986, the handsome square was named after Mandela in protest of his imprisonment by the South African Apartheid regime.

Practical Info

A pleasant half-mile stroll from north to south, Buchanan Street is car-free and open to foot traffic, except at intersections. The shopping hub is easy to reach and served by two subway stations: Buchanan Street station at the northern end and St. Enoch to the south. If coming to Buchanan Street by train, it is a three-minute walk from Glasgow Central Station heading east along Gordon Street.