If you’re visiting Glasgow, you’re going to be boozing. Teetotalers beware.
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Anyone who has read my travel content before knows that I consider alcohol to be cultural—and that I consider cultural excursions as a prerequisite to a great trip. In short, it’s appropriate to drink when traveling because, just like you’ll eat the food, you should be sipping the cocktails, liquors, wines, and more.
You don’t need to get drunk—a hangover will shave precious time off your trip. The older you are, the harder that hangover will hit. (I’m sure you’ve already learned this the hard way.)
But you absolutely need to sample the most popular alcoholic specialties while you’re in town—and the best way to do that is by booking the best distillery tours in Glasgow. Start with these top picks, which showcase a different part of Glasgow’s long, drink-loving history. I hope you like whisky.
(If you’re looking for a place to stay, check out my favorite boutique hotels in Glasgow.)
5 drinking tours led by locals in Glasgow
- Go drinking with a Scotsman in Glasgow: Join a Scotsman with a passion for whisky. On this casual tour, you’ll learn what makes Scottish whisky different, along with what makes Glasgow a whisky capital. It comes with four different tastings.
- Rogue whisky walking tour: This pub crawl isn’t quite like the others—it’s an ode to whisky, Glasgow, and its most famous whisky pubs. This is another tour from a passionate local who wants to ferry you around the city while showcasing whisky facts and samples that you might otherwise miss.
- Wee walk and a whisky: Part walking tour and part whisky-tasting tour, this adventure lets you check out landmarks like Glasgow Cathedral and the Necropolis. After, you’ll head to beloved local pubs for a dram or two.
- Walking food tour with whisky tastings: Follow a local around the city as they teach you about Glasgow’s favorite dishes and drinks. Unsurprisingly, that includes a few whisky tastings, along with a rundown of what makes whisky so important to Scottish culture and identity.
- Glasgow pubs & history walking tour with beer tasting: Explore the New Town neighborhood as you hear about Glasgow’s rollercoaster history. Along the way, you’ll learn about Glasgow’s breweries, brewing history, and have the chance to sample its top beers. Great for anyone who prefers craft beer to whisky.
Highly rated whisky distillery tours in Glasgow
- The Clydesdale Tour: Get in on the ground floor with Glasgow’s single-malt whiskey distillery. Clydesdale Distillery is the first to create single-malt whisky in the city in a century. After the tour finishes, you’ll get to sample some of Clydesdale’s best whiskies.
- Tennent’s Brewery tour: This brewery tour lets you learn about one of Scotland’s most popular beers. You get to learn how it’s made, and even sample a dram of unpasteurized Tennent’s beer. The tour also includes a few artifacts from Scotland’s brewing history that date back to the Middle Ages.
Top whisky distillery tours around Glasgow
- Glengoyne malt master experience: Get outside the city to explore Glengoyne Distillery. It’s one of the region’s most famous whisky producers. The tour showcases how they do things differently, and you’ll have the chance to taste it for yourself. As a perk, you even get to personalize a small single-malt whisky that you take home.
- Glengoyne Distillery tour with chocolate pairings: Who knew you could pair chocolate with whisky? This Glengoyne tour (the same distillery listed above) ends with a highly unique chance to learn how to pair malt whisky with different types of chocolates. This short tour runs for 90 minutes.
- 4-day Islay whisky tour: Leave Glasgow behind for a few days to strike out into Whisky country—aka Islay. This curated tour includes insane offers like stays at whisky bed-and-breakfasts, VIP distillery, and ‘tutored tastings’ from local experts. When it’s all said and done, you’ll have sampled whisky at every single Islay distillery.
- Scottish whisky distillery tours: Drive out of Glasgow to explore three of the area’s top whisky distilleries. Along the way, you’ll learn about what makes distillation different between the Scottish Lowlands vs Highlands. You can also ask your guide to visit specific sites, in case you have a must-see on your distillery list.
- Private Stirling Castle tour + Deanston Distillery tour: Enjoy a short historical tour at the famous Stirling Castle on this day tour. Once you’ve toured the castle and surrounding grounds, you’ll head for the nearby Deanston Distillery for another tour and whisky sampling.
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