Wikivoyage:Past events/Glasgow 2014

The Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport games competed by national teams from countries in the Commonwealth. The games are similar in format to the Summer Olympics, and are held every four years, two years apart from the Olympics. The first games were held in 1930 as the British Empire Games.
The Commonwealth mainly consists of countries which used to be part of the British Empire, and 53 nations are members. However as the home nations of the UK and British Overseas Territories have their own teams there are 71 teams.
The Glasgow games were the sixth to be held in the UK and the third to be held in Scotland. The games were held in Edinburgh in 1970 and 1986, and in Manchester in 2002. A few of the venues used this year were used for earlier Edinburgh games, particularly the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh which is being used for diving for the third games.

Tickets

Most tickets were sold in the initial draw in September 2013. There are some tickets for sale for some sports such as Rugby Sevens and Weightlifting. No tickets are required to watch the Marathon or Road Cycling.

See the Glasgow article for details.

See the Glasgow article for general information on getting around the city. The information here focuses on the games venues.

By rail

Glasgow has a fairly extensive suburban rail network, with most lines running three or six carriage electric trains. Many of the services run twice per hour between 07:00 and 22:00 or longer. Usually this is on a fairly predictable timetable with trains leaving at the same minutes after every hour. At the bigger stations you should buy a ticket before getting on the train, whilst at some smaller ones there are no ticket facilities and tickets (to anywhere in Scotland, England or Wales) are bought from staff on the train.

By underground

Glasgow has a small underground railway, called the Subway. This runs in a single loop, connecting the city centre and west end. It may be useful for going to Ibrox and Kelvingrove.

By road

Generally it is best to avoid driving to any of the venues, unless any of the party are disabled and have a UK blue disabled badge. Much of the parking normally available at venues is likely to be used for official parking or temporary facilities.

By bus

There is an extensive but confusing variety of buses in Glasgow. Journeys can be planned online using the National Journey Planner. Visitors unfamiliar with the city may find it easier to travel by train or subway.

East End Cluster

• Commonwealth Sports Arena (Emirates Arena)Seating 5000, it will house 12 badminton courts.

• Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome250m indoor track and room for 4500 specators.

• Glasgow Green Hockey CentreTwo hockey pitches in the city's oldest park, given to the people in 1450.

• Tollcross International Swimming CentreSeating 5000

• Celtic Park60,000 seat football ground being used for the opening ceremony.

South Side Cluster

• Hampden ParkNational football stadium, being used for athletics during the games. Seats 46,000.

• IbroxRangers' football stadium, being used for rugby sevens. Seats 50,000.

• Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails

  address: Cathkin Road

West End Cluster

• Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre

  address: Exhibition Way, Finnieston, Glasgow, G3 8YW

• Clyde Auditorium

  address: Finnieston Street, Glasgow, G3 8YW

• The Hydro

  address: Exhibition Way, Finnieston, Glasgow, G3 8YW
  Seats 13,000. Venue for Netball and Gymnastics

• Scotstoun Stadium

  address: 72 Danes Drive, Glasgow, G14 9HD

• Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre

Satellite Venues

• Barry Buddon Shooting Centre

  address: Barry, Angus

• Royal Commonwealth Pool

  address: 21 Dalkeith Rd, Edinburgh, EH16 5BB
  The pool was built for the 1970 Edinburgh Commonwealth games, used for the 1986 Edinburgh Games, and was used in 2014 for diving.

• Strathclyde Country Park

See the Glasgow article for all the city's attractions, but a few sights near to games venues are mentioned here.

East End Cluster

• People's Palace and Winter Gardens

  phone: +44 141 276 0788
  address: Glasgow Green
  Near the Glasgow Green Hockey Centre, the People's Palace is a great folk museum, telling the history of Glasgow and its people, from various perspectives, displaying details of Glasgow life. The Winter Gardens, adjacent, is a pleasant greenhouse with a reasonable cafe.

• Glasgow GreenThe most famous of the Glasgow parks, Glasgow Green was founded by Royal grant in 1450 and has slowly been enclosed by the city and evolved from grazing land into a modern public park. "The Green" as its known to the locals is one of the major venues for concerts and open air events in Glasgow. Among the highlights are the People's Palace and Winter Gardens (covered above), Nelson's Memorial, an obelisk or needle: built to commemorate Nelson's victory at the battle of Trafalgar, the Templeton Carpet Factory, with its ornate brick work (now a business centre), and the Doulton Fountain, the largest terracotta fountain in the world.

South Side Cluster

• House for an Art Lover

  phone: +44 141 353 4770
  address: Bellahouston Park
  Built in the 1990s to Mackintosh's original 1901 entry for a design competition.

• Burrell Collection

  phone: +44 141 287 2550
  address: 2060 Pollokshaws Rd, Pollok Country Park
  This is a collection of over 9,000 artworks gifted to the city of Glasgow by Sir William Burrell and housed in a purpose-built museum in the Pollok Estate in the south of the city.

West End Cluster

• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

  phone: +44 141 276 9599
  address: Argyle Street
  Next door to the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre. The city's grandest public museum, with one of the finest civic collections in Europe housed within this Glasgow Victorian landmark. The collection is quite varied, with artworks, biological displays and anthropological artifacts. The museum as a whole is well-geared towards children and families and has a cafe.

• Glasgow Science Centre

  phone: +44 141 420 5000
  address: 50 Pacific Quay
  Has hundreds of interactive science exhibits for children, an IMAX cinema, and the 125-meter Glasgow Tower, the only tower in the world which can rotate 360 degrees from its base.

• Riverside Museum

  phone: +44 141 287 2720
  address: 100 Pointhouse Place
  Near the Hydro, Clyde Auditorium and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, A recently reopened museum with an excellent collection of vehicles and models to tell the story of transport by land and sea, with a unique Glasgow flavour. Besides the usual rail locomotives, buses, trams, cars and planes, the museum also includes a recreated subway station and a street scene of old Glasgow. Behind the museum is the Tall Ship, the Glenlee, built in 1896 and one of only five Clydebuilt sailing ships that remain afloat in the world today, now restored and open to the public.

• Kelvingrove ParkThe most prominent landmark here is the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (covered above) on the banks of the River Kelvin which runs through the park. It also contains a recently constructed skate park.

• Queen's ParkPublic Park near Hampden.

• Tollcross Park

In addition to the games there are various cultural activities which have been arranged to coincide with the games.

• Glasgow's Wee Doors Open DayOn the opening day of the games, there is a taster of the Doors Open day held in September. 18 buildings were open to the public, with some free buses from the city centre.

Glasgow has many places to eat, for listings see Glasgow. This section only covers places to eat in the venues, or a short walk away.

East End Cluster

This part of Glasgow has a somewhat limited selection of places near the venues, and you may wish instead to eat in the city centre.

• The Forge Shopping CentreIndoor shopping centre, with 8 places to eat. Across the road is The Forge Retail Park, an outdoor outlet centre with KFC and Pizza Hut. Behind this is a Tesco Extra.

South Side Cluster

West End Cluster

There is a cultural programme to accompany the games and over the rest of 2014.

See the Glasgow article for details.
Some hotel prices in Glasgow have increased considerably from the normal summer levels. It may be sensible to look at accommodation outside the city, at other places in the Central Belt, or South West.
There are not many places to sleep near the East End Cluster, but the West End and South Side both have a reasonable selection of Hotels, B&Bs and Hostels.

• Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia
• Wikivoyage:Past_events/Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in February 2014.
• Wikivoyage:Past_events/Rio 2016 Summer Olympics
• Wikivoyage:Past_events/Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics
• Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics