=
Braehead Shopping Centre and Retail Park
=
I live about 20 miles or so from this huge indoor shopping centre. I done most of my Christmas shopping here and it has a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Braehead first opened its doors to the public in 1999. It also cost approximately £285 ... Read review
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: Shop for everything under one roof! Disadvantages: can spend a lot of money!
==================================
Braehead Shopping Centre and Retail Park
==================================
I live about 20 miles or so from this huge indoor shopping centre. I done most of my Christmas shopping here and it has a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Braehead first opened its doors to the public in 1999. It also cost approximately £285 million to build! It is the largest privately funded waterside ... ...very easy to get to Braehead by car, train, bus, even by boat if you so wish.
By car - It is based on Junction 26 (eastbound) of Glasgow's M8 motorway, Junction 25a provides dedicated westbound access roads to the centre and the eastern link road connect to the A8 dual carriageway. It is well signposted from all directions.
There are over 6500 FREE car parking spaces so you can spend more money on the things that matter ... more
============================ Braehead Shopping Centre and Retail Park ==================================
I live about 20 miles or so from this huge indoor shopping centre. I done most of my Christmas shopping here and it has a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Braehead first opened its doors to the public in 1999. It also cost approximately £285 million to build! It is the largest privately funded waterside regeneration project in the country!
There is over 1 million square feet of shopping and leisure facilities and there are more plans for the near future to build over 2000 new homes, a riverside park, new offices, and another 470,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space!
========== Getting to Braehead ================Now I don't drive but I am on good terms with my ex who fortunately does…I hate travelling on public transport especially if I am planning to buy a lot! First of all It is very easy to get to Braehead by car, train, bus, even by boat if you so wish.
By car - It is based on Junction 26 (eastbound) of Glasgow's M8 motorway, Junction 25a provides dedicated westbound access roads to the centre and the eastern link road connect to the A8 dual carriageway. It is well signposted from all directions.
There are over 6500 FREE car parking spaces so you can spend more money on the things that matter hehe.
By bus - where I live there is a bus service of one an hour going and coming from the centre, but there are many buses coming and going from many destinations…see your local bus company for details…or see www.arrivabus.co.uk
By train - The nearest train station is in Paisley - Gilmour St station. There are bus links to Braehead from the station regularly!
By boat - You can get to Braehead by boat too, The Clyde waterbus service is superb I've heard….I haven't used this yet but may take advantage of this in the summer months. You can even have a drink on board as you enjoy the journey between Glasgow's central station bridge and Braehead!
This costs £4 for an adult single and £7 for a return. An OAP or child can travel for £3 single and £5 return. For more information on this you can visit www.clydewaterbusservices.co.uk =========== What's in Braehead? =================
Well I won't go into detail about every single shop as I'd be here all day. But there is something to cater for everyone here I am sure!
Clothes stores such as - Ladies - Monsoon, New Look, Next, Kookai, Jane Norman, Topshop, Oasis to name a few!
Gents - Bank, Burton, Topman, Officers Club, USC.
Kids - Gap, Mackays, Next, Sphere.
There are also great sportswear shops such as - JD Sport, Freespirit, Sports World, Trespass.
Ladies? Fancy some new shoes? Try these out for size - Barratts, Clarks, Dune, Qube, Ravel, Timpsons. The one shop I love which is missing from here is Schuh!
There is also the cheapest place in town…Primark! This is a store I love to visit for all my little bargains.
If you are a fan of Glasgow Rangers football club then there is a store here you can buy all your footy memorabilia. Unfortunately there is no Celtic shop which my son is a fan of, although I'm quite happy about that as we would never get out of it lol.
Oh and not to forget the more risqué Ann Summers which every woman should visit at least once… ;-)
There are lots of health and beauty stores like The body shop, Boots, Superdrug, The perfume shop, But…..NO LUSH???? Why not I ask? Hmm need to ask lush that one I think!
You also get the usual selection of entertainment and department stores - Game, HMV, Waterstones, Wh Smith, Woolworths, Argos, BHS, M&S, etc
Jewellery shops and card shops are here too along with many others, If you check out their website (details at end) You will get a list of all the shops available.
If you have little ones or are just a big kid at heart then pay a visit to The bear Factory where you can choose your own personalised bear to be made on the premises…I have 3 of these and I always pop in to buy a new outfit for them every now and then.
======= Feeling hungry? =============Try visiting the many eateries available in the centre, there are so many to choose from -
The usual McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Subway (mmmm chicken mozzarella melt) Pizza Hut, Rollover Hotdog (not one of my favourites) if you want fast food.
Also give Di Maggios a try for delicious Italian food.
Fat jackets for a healthier option,
If you want a decent coffee try costa coffee,
Now you cannot leave Braehead shopping centre without buying a few of Millies Cookies! Mmmm the double choc chip is outta this world!!!
In the nicer summer weather the café's spill out onto the boardwalk for a beautiful view of the riverside, whilst you eat! ======================== What else is in and around the centre? ==============================
Braehead boasts it's very own Maritime Heritage Centre - Clydebuilt. This takes you through 300 years of the life of the River Clyde, From the early days of the Glasgow tobacco lords through the shipbuilding's heyday and right up to present time. Here you can try your hand at being a 17th century trader and have a go at piloting a ship in the interactive display. I have never been to this but my kids have with their dad and loved it. It is situated on the boardwalk near M&S.
You can also visit the oldest clyde built ship still afloat - the MV Kyles, which is permanently moored at the River Clyde at Braehead.
Don't forget about the Ice rink situated next to the café's and restaurant section of the centre, This is open 7 days a week and as well as an open skating session there is also opportunity to book skating lessons and individual lessons with qualified instructors. For prices and opening times please see the website (below)
There is also an 8 sheet curling rink, if that is to your liking…not to mine I'm afraid, so have never been.
There is also the Braehead Arena. This includes a live music arena, sports arena, business arena, ice arena and exhibition arena, again I've never been here so if you need more information please see website.
=============== Facilities within Braehead. =====================Now the thing I love about shopping in Braehead is the stress free shopping! Eh? I hear you say…what's so stress free about dragging 2 kids around a huge centre screaming I wanna new toy screeeeechhhh!!!!
Well… You can pop the kids into the playgroup! Kids between the age of 3 years and 7 years can play away whilst mummy shops and my 2 kiddies fit in here just perfectly and love it! The staff are lovely and I've never had a single complaint. This costs £2.50 for an hour and £4 for 2 hours. To contact the playgroup for more details you can call them on 0141 885 4610.
Toilets - These are situated near the café's the downstairs one is beside Millie's cookies and the upstairs one is beside Rollover hotdog. These have always been clean and tidy and comfortable whenever I've visited, and according to my son and ex partner the Gents are just as nice!
There are also a few cash dispensers within the centre should you find the need to get more cash at hand! As I regularly find, But be aware at peak times the queues for these are quite long and a pain.
================== My overall opinion of Braehead ======================== I love going somewhere where I can get everything under one roof, and Braehead fits the bill nicely, I can spend hours and hours just browsing the shops….but more often than not I spend a small fortune! The bonus of shopping somewhere like this is not having to go in and out of the cold in the winter, the only problem I have found is it can get a little warm and stuffy especially in summertime and I often find myself popping out into the fresh air for 5 minutes, and no not for a ciggy as I don't smoke lol.
This shopping centre also caters very well for less abled people with shopmobility wheelchairs available for loan FREE, but please phone ahead to book as you may get there (especially in peak times) and find there's none left.
The majority of the shops have wide aisles and are easy to manoeuvre with pram's and wheelchairs with the exception of one or two.
I will continue to visit Braehead for all my shopping needs in future as I enjoy getting away from my own local town centre mall which I have to say is pretty poor compared to this one.
Also one little note about Christmas 2005 at Braehead....The Santa's Grotto display was fantastic, I unfortunately forgot to take a photo of it :-( But for my 2 children to visit Santa Claus in the middle of December on a Wednesday evening about 6pm we only waited in the queue about 20 minutes and it cost us £3.50 per child and a further £3.50 for a photograph taken with santa. The children received a book and not a toy and were a bit disappointed as they were looking forward to a little toy! We did of course make it up to them by taking them to McDonalds and getting happy meals lol.
Braeheads own website - www.braehead.co.uk
I hope you have found this review helpful. Thanks for reading! Michelle x
Advantages: Get all your Christmas Shopping in one mall Disadvantages: No car park attendants to ensure noone parks in disabled spaces unless they have a disabled badge
...live just 10 miles from Braehead and have been a regular there ever since it opened. Lost count of the number of times I've popped in for one thing and been there all day. Thank goodness for plastic!!!!
No matter what your looking for, you'll find it here. Shops include Ravel, Barrets, Dune, BHS, M&S, Argos, HMV, Waterstones, Woolworths, WH Smith, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Monsoon, Topshop and Principles to name just a few! But possibly the best of ... ...Bear Factory. As well as the shops there is loads of places for eating or going for a coffee when your feet get tired, which will definately happen if your a shopaholic. Try Fat Jackets, their baked potatoes are to die for. There is also a large food hall newly opened although I havent yet sampled it. I just went there to buy a pair of shoes for all the Christmas Parties. Got the shoes straight away, but then went onto spend another 5 hours and 400 ...
lesleyanne2 01.12.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braehead (Shopping Centre)
Advantages: Convienient place for food and goods shopping Disadvantages: All that damn marketing
Braehead Shopping Centre lies in an old industrial area on the banks of the Clyde. Once a shipping yard, the collapse of Clydeside industry made this piece of land between Renfrew and Glasgow worthless. Until now that is. Braehead offers a Warner Brothers shop, Tiny (terrible) computer showroom, a Games Workshop, photography shops, clothes stores and more. It's a coninient place to shop. That being said, it's a shoppong mall. Expect to be thouroughly ... ...The original plan for Braehead was much larger in scale, and included ferries to take people across the Clyde to the centre. That idea was scrapped, but there are still car parks that you may need to stock up on provisions to get across. There are underground car parks, three storey carparks, acres wide car parks. I'd really rather have some trees. ...
Chaotic1 27.07.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braehead (Shopping Centre)
Advantages: Amazing shops Disadvantages: Aching feet from walking!
I've visited Braehead many times now, i only live 5 mins away by car!
I remember the excitement within the city when the Shopping Centre opened, and i can understand why. Before to go shopping all the best shops where in the City Centre, now it's not as far to travel for people like myself. There is a huge Marks and Spencers and BHS, along with C&A. For other clothes shops there is Topshop/Topman, New Look, Bay Trading, Dorothy Perkins, The Vestry, ... ...the Centre there is a retail park (still connected to Braehead) with Homebase Megastore, PC World, Harry Corry and Reid and Leather, with more shops to open!!
I think the Braehead Centre is just amazing, and we get people travelling from all the place to see it also! ...
bryans_claire 13.08.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braehead (Shopping Centre)
Advantages: open late Disadvantages: busy on saturday afternoons
Braehead is situated in the middle of renfrew near hillington. Just recently opened and can boast from having hundreds of shops to suit everyones taste. The shops range from D2 to BHS and with the recent closure of C & A a new American branch - Primark plans to open by the end of this month. The shops are great for last minnute shopping. wg the evening before a night out, as the shops are open until 9 pm every week day and 6.30 pm during the week. ... ...is plenty of things to keep the not so keen shoppers occupied when you are shopping, such as an ice rink and a huge food court with a mcdonalds and KFC and a nice pizza hut looking over the ice rink. Braehead is a great shopping day out. ...
Karla 23.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braehead (Shopping Centre)
Advantages: Everything you need under one roof, lots of parking(disabled spaces also) Disadvantages: trying to decide which shops for you! :-)
...FREE all day everyday!.
Braehead is based on the outskirts of Glasgow between the Govan area and Renfrew for those who are unsure of its location.
The shopping centre itself boasts most of the high street shops such as Marks and Spencer, Boots, WH Smith, Woolworths, Sainsbury's and many more but to name a few and the centre is open late some evenings aswell(some shops within may vary closing time)
The shopping centre also has a food court located ... ...should you wish to shop without your kids harrassing you!.
Overall I would give the Shopping Centre 10/10 for its general handiness and also for its parking. I also heard rumours that Braehead is also set to expand sometime in the near future aswell as the Ikea superstore. ...
NJFortune 28.02.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Braehead (Shopping Centre)
Is it worth visiting?
Transport links
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Braehead (Shopping Centre)"
Advantages: Beautiful scenery, lovely people good base to visit other cities Disadvantages: Scottish parliament let the area down in terms of funding, despite it's heritage value
Ayr to be a good base for travelling to other parts of Scotland. Glasgow is about 45 minutes away and Edinburgh is about 1 3/4 hours away. The Braeheadshoppingcentre near Glasgow is the best bet for serial shoppers. There is now also a large entertainment complex which has been built next door, so you can spend a day there. A short drive to the Ardrossan ferry terminal gets you on a boat to the Isle of Arran.
For those who have not visited the area for some years, it is worth pointing out that there has been a great deal of investment in the road network over the last five years, with a number of 'A' roads receiving extensions, upgrades and re-routes to speed up journey times.
To sum things up, I think Ayr is somewhere everyone should go to at least once in their lifetime. As I mentioned, we have been a number of times ...
Alslad36 19.09.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Ayr (Scotland)
Advantages: Great Food, Family Friendly, Relaxed atmosphere, Great Value. Disadvantages: Not very appealing from the exterior
feel as if you're in the film, difficult to put into words you really have to experience it, a definite must do.
Along Paisley Road towards the town you will find The Quay. A leisure park with a cinema, bowling alley, bingo hall and Brewster's pub. About 15 minutes walk from The Swallow, opposite the quay is Harry Ramsden's. Not my favorite place to eat a bit too pricy and formal for fish and chips.
If you travel in the opposite direction along Paisley Road West heading towards Renfrew and Paisley, you will find Braehead, A large very new shoppingcentre with all the major chain stores and escape a new leisure complex which hosts a snow zone where you can try your hand at skiing or snowboarding.
Value
The Glasgow Swallow Represents great value for money. If we go as a family it works out £100
For two rooms they usually work it ...
Glasgow is one of the best cities that i know. there's lots to see and do like The Transport Museum which shows different modes of transport used in Glasgow throuout the ages, accross the road from that is the Art Gallery and there is also the Modern Art Gallery in the centre of town, they are all amazing and the best thing is that all the museums do not have an enterance fee although your are asked for donations at the door. Glasgow boasts a whole range of Shops, it's three main shopping Precincts being Buchanan Galeries, St Enoch Centre and Braehead which is the newest they are all easy to access by public transport and there are also lhe main streets like Argyle Street, Suchihall Street and Bath Street which all have an extensive range of shops. glasgow has beautiful parks that are also easily accessed by public transpart, e ...
