Lying just 45 miles apart, Scotland’s two largest cities enjoy a healthy rivalry and are often contrasted with each other in a bid to determine superiority. Whether it’s the friendliness of their citizens, the quality of their shops or the prowess of their rugby teams, each city will proudly attempt to claim supremacy. But it’s the quality of their architecture that we are highlighting in this tour, not in an attempt to determine that one is better than the other (they are equally magnificent in their own way), but to illustrate the difference between the two cities and how they developed. In broad terms, Glasgow’s city centre architecture is predominantly Victorian, vast edifices built on a grand scale to reflect its status as the ‘Second City of the Empire’. In contrast, Edinburgh is most noted for its Georgian architecture, in particular the elegant terraces and wide streets of the New Town, though it also boasts a historic Old Town. 

Visits in Edinburgh include the 500-year-old Gladstone’s Land, the controversial Scottish Parliament building and the fascinating Georgian House, while in Glasgow we explore the impressive City Chambers, the humble Tenement House and the city’s social history at the much-loved People’s Palace.