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Kirkintilloch
Town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland

Kirkintilloch

Kirkintilloch is a town and a Burgh of Barony in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland.

Plan a trip to Kirkintilloch→From Ingliston, Edinburgh

It lies on the Forth and Clyde Canal and on the south side of Strathkelvin, about 8 miles (13 km) northeast of central Glasgow. Historically part of Dunbartonshire, the town is the administrative home of East Dunbartonshire council area, its population in 2009 was estimated at 19,700 and its population in 2011 was 19,689.

Get in

Getting to Kirkintilloch

Kirkintilloch is 8 miles northeast of Glasgow, by car leave M80 at junction 3 and follow A806 north for 3 miles. By bike follow the canal towpath or A803 north through Bishopbriggs. Parking in the town is generally easy and free. First Greater Glasgow Buses X85 and X87 run from Glasgow Buchanan station via M80 and Lenzie to Kirkintilloch twice an hour, taking 30 min.

  1. 01
    Lenzie is

    Trains from Glasgow Queen Street run every 30 min, taking 12 min and continuing north via Stirling to Alloa or Dunblane.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Kirkintilloch Town Hall

    This 1906 building is nowadays mostly an event space, but the first floor Heritage Centre has a small display.

  2. 02
    Inchterf Secret Bunker
Do

Things to do

Strathkelvin Railway Path runs south to Gartcosh and is suitable for bikes. It doesn't link into other cycleways, but there are plans to turn it into National Cycle Network Route 755 with links to Loch Lomond, the Campsie Fells and along the canal to Edinburgh. Narrowboat cruises occasionally explore the canal. Kirky is a community centre on Union St, and has a cinema.

Eat

Where to eat

  1. 01
    The Stables

    It's by the canal bridge, in former stables for the horses that towed the canal barges.

How locals move

Getting around Kirkintilloch the local way

  • Get inThere's a range of long-stay parks off-site, with transfer minibuses.
  • Get in(The airport is in "Local" zone, so the "City" zone fare isn't enough.) McGill's Bus 757 trundles every 30 min to Paisley Gilmour Street railway station, which has very frequent trains to Glasgow Central, and outbound to Gourock (for Dunoon ferry), Wemyss Bay (for Bute ferry), Ardrossan (for Arran ferry) and Ayr.
  • Get inThe fare is the same by any route: in 2024 a day trip is £15 and an open return is £20.
  • Get inFor a day trip, park up at one of the outlying railway stations, if you can find a space among all the commuter vehicles.
  • Get inThe crossing takes 2 hr 30 min, with almost a dozen car ferries a day.
  • Get inFrom Europe the nearest ferry port is Newcastle upon Tyne, with overnight ferries from IJmuiden near Amsterdam.
  • Get inFerries from the Clyde islands and Argyll peninsula sail to ports "doon the water" at Gourock, Wemyss Bay and Ardrossan.
  • Get inIn the twentieth century paddle steamers ran between Glasgow and other Clyde ports, this continues with occasional sailings of the PS Waverley but these are only a realistic option for a day trip from Glasgow.

From Wikivoyage: Glasgow, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.