Glasgow street art walking tour: 5 must see city murals

This beautiful piece, painted by Smug, is on Ingram Street in the Merchant City. It shows the variety of wildlife in Glasgow, including birds, deer, foxes, squirrels, and our very favourite, the Highland cow.

It's a great reminder of all the wonderful creatures and wildlife that make their home in the green spaces and parks of the city. This is the final stop on our Street Art tour because we like to finish with a banger (and a badger!).

Explore more of the area in our Merchant City neighbourhood guide.

We couldn't talk about Glasgow's murals without mentioning at least one of the Billy Connolly ones. Three murals were created around the city to celebrate The Big Yin's 75th birthday and to recognise his impact on Glasgow and the comedy world.

We've chosen the one on the Gallowgate, heading towards the east end, designed by artist Rachel Maclean and entitled The Big Yin. It has a few hidden messages linking to some of his most famous jokes. See which ones you know and come on a tour to have a laugh as we reveal the full jokes. What a tribute to a Glasgow hero!

Created as part of COP26 in 2021, and in collaboration with local community organisations and Indigenous people in Glasgow, this mural activity was led by Fearless Collective; a South Asia-based public art and storytelling project, founded by Indian artist Shilo Shiv Suleman in 2012.

Its title is “Bow down, honour the roots” and it’s a good chance to reconnect with what street art is all about (being a source of art for everyone), and to remind ourselves of our diversity.

During COVID-19 and lockdown, a number of new murals appeared in the city, as creatives continued to be busy at work. In fact, you don't have to go very far to find new pieces of art that popped up and gave us all a boost.

The Rebel Bear is a local Glasgow artist who produces very Banksy-esque paste-up murals. They wear a pink bear costume when they’re doing their work! This mural portrays a couple falling literally through the air as they embrace one another. It’s painted midway down the building to convey the movement of the couple, who have already fallen past six stories as they plummet towards the ground. The couple’s clothes and hair are blowing upwards to indicate the speed at which they are moving.

We both love this mural not only because it's a beautiful piece but also because it represents Scotland's efforts in using clean energy sources. It was painted by Rogue and Art Pistol as part of the Open Doors Day festival in 2014. It is found on Mitchell Street, very close by to another famous piece, Honey... I Shrunk The Kids - both lovely additions to a busy city centre street.