Head to the Scottish city that has the edge on Edinburgh
"Really?" That's the usual response whenever I try to encourage friends to visit Glasgow rather than Scottish capital Edinburgh, but I mean it - Glasgow is Edinburgh's less showy, less pretentious younger brother
But I mean it. Glasgow is Edinburgh's less showy, less pretentious younger brother.
Take our tour of the Drygate Brewery, for instance, where the guide warns us: "Be prepared for the least professional brewery tour you will ever go on."
It's this self-deprecating humour which makes the city so special.
We are shown around by a man who embodies the Scottish craft beer scene — ginger, bearded and covered in tattoos.
The brewery, which produces gold medal-winning beer, is part of the massive regeneration of the city's east end that has happened since the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Along with drink, food is one of Glasgow's star attractions.
While we are in town, Justin Bieber pops into a local chippy, the Blue Lagoon, for a haggis supper and a can of Irn-Bru before his gig at the nearby SSE Hydro Arena.
Two years previously, Beyonce shared a snap on Instagram of a wall outside the Hanoi Bike Shop, a Vietnamese street food restaurant in the city's West End.
We go in to see what all the fuss is about and ten plates later — including sweet potato and shrimp cakes and coconut and coriander shellfish, washed down with a spiced gin — we understand.
Afternoon tea at central venue The Corinthian Club might make you feel elegant, but there is nowhere better to grab brunch and a coffee than the West End.
We wander along the charity shops on Byres Road and up Great Western Road, stopping for a pastrami panini at Il Cappuccino and a flat white at the Pocket next to Kelvinbridge station.
The highlight, however, is The Gannet — an award-winning restaurant built in an old tenement building in Finnieston.
The Champagne Sundays menu offers three courses and a glass of fizz for £30. The roasted Hebridean squid to start and Guinness ice cream for dessert are worth the price alone.
If it's a night out you're looking for then Glasgow has it made. Ease yourself in with a pub crawl starting at Glasgow University Union's Beer Bar (ask for their secret speciality, a Pint of Fun) before heading along to Dram! and The Drake on Woodlands Road for a whisky.
You will soon find yourself on the infamous strip of Sauchiehall Street, where the Irish charm of O'Neill's and six-room nightclub The Garage await.
The comfort of the Citizen M hotel is just two minutes up the road for when you're ready to call a night.
Just make sure you stop off for cone of Justin Bieber's favourite chips first.
Culture runs through Glasgow as much as the beer.
Nursing a hangover, we take in the House for An Art Lover in the grounds of Bellahouston Park — country mansion based on the designs by Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
But the must-do for any art lover is the Mackintosh tour at the Glasgow School of Art, where the iconic designer learned his trade.
Before heading back to London caught a movie at the Glasgow Film Theatre, then grabbed lunch at the trusty Cafe Gandolfi.
The Stornoway black pudding is so filling we box up our haggis main course for the train.
It means we get to take a bit of Scotland home with us.
GO: GLASGOW
GETTING THERE: Catch from London Euston from £20 one way. Fly from Gatwick from £34.99.
STAYING THERE: Citizen M has rooms from £75 per night. See . OUT & ABOUT: City Sightseeing Tour, £13 per adult per day or £15 for two days MORE INFO: .