Location & Travel

Our hotels for 2027 are familiar Crowne Plaza and Hilton Garden Inn in Glasgow. Located on the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) near the distinctive shapes of the SEC Armadillo and OVO Hydro event venues, these two hotels sit on the north bank of the River Clyde about a seven minute walk apart and are pretty easy to find. We also have a shuttle bus, nicknamed The Wallace Line, that provides a regular service between them.

We realise that our attendees will arrive via a wide variety of transport options and we’ve assembled travel guidance for some of the main ones below. Please be aware that these are provided for guidance only and you should use your own judgement and discretion accordingly when travelling as routes can be unexpectedly disrupted by roadworks, cancellations, and so on.

Arriving by Car

If using sat nav to arrive at the Crowne Plaza, use the postcode G3 8QT to bring you to the front of the hotel and car parking facility. If travelling to the Hilton Garden Inn, use the postcode G3 8HN. Please use your discretion when navigating and ensure you follow all relevant directions and signage.

The following descriptive directions are provided as guidance only and you should use your own judgement and discretion as you follow them, obeying local signage and regulation as you travel. The directions listed are to the Crowne Plaza, with adjustments posted beneath them to direct you to the Hilton Garden Inn if that is your destination instead. If you are travelling to a destination other than our partner hotels as your accommodation, you will need to adjust these directions accordingly.

From the west, on the M8

Leave the M8 at Junction 21 and follow the slip road, taking the left fork and then turning left onto Seaward Street. Go through two sets of traffic lights and at the third set, turn left on the A8 (Paisley Road). Almost immediately the road will fork; take the right hand fork and follow Govan Road. Cross one roundabout and, at the next set of traffic lights, turn right onto Finnieston Street. This will take you across the bridge over the river. Immediately after the bridge, at the traffic lights, turn left onto Finnieston Quay. After a short distance this road will start to bear right; take the left turn here on to Congress Road and continue to bear left, following signage to the Crowne Plaza hotel which should be straight in front of you. The car park is just past the entrance of the hotel.

From the southeast, on the M74

Leave the M74 at Junction 1 and follow the slip road, turning right at the end of the slip road on to Carnoustie Street. Follow this for about 400m until the road forks and take the left hand fork to join the A8 (Paisley Road). Travel through two intersections, both controlled by traffic lights, and then the road will fork; take the right hand fork and follow Govan Road. Cross one roundabout and, at the next set of traffic lights, turn right onto Finnieston Street. This will take you across the bridge over the river. Immediately after the bridge, at the traffic lights, turn left on to Finnieston Quay. After a short distance this road will start to bear right; take the left turn here on to Congress Road and continue to bear left, following signage to the Crowne Plaza hotel which should be straight in front of you. The car park is just past the entrance of the hotel.

From the northeast, on the M8

Leave the M8 at Junction 19. At the intersection at the end of the slip road you need to turn right on to the A814. Please be cautious at this interchange as it is complicated; there are three roads to the right at this interchange and you must take the third; the first is for opposing traffic, the second will lead back to the northbound M8, and the third will lead on to the A814, which is where you need to be. Take the first exit off the A814, peeling away to the left and turning left at the traffic lights at the end of the slip road onto Finnieston Street. Almost immediately, turn right at the next set of traffic lights and then left at the following set of traffic lights onto Congress Way. Almost immediately you will see another set of traffic lights; you should turn right here on to Congress Road. From here bear left as you follow the road, following signage to the Crowne Plaza hotel which should be straight in front of you. The car park is just past the entrance of the hotel.

Travelling to the Hilton Garden Inn

If you are driving to the Hilton Garden Inn, follow your preferred directions above, with the following changes:

If you are travelling from the west or south east, you will see the Hilton Garden Inn on the left immediately as you turn on to Finnieston Quay and the car park is just past the hotel, again on the left.

If you are travelling from the north-east, as you turn left on to Finnieston Street after leaving the A814, do not turn right at the traffic lights on to Congress Road and, instead, continue to follow Finnieston Street to the crossroads just before the bridge. Here you should turn right on to Finnieston Quay and the Hilton Garden Inn is immediately on your left with the car park just past the hotel, again on the left.

Arriving by Train

The SEC has its own dedicated train station; Exhibition Centre. Longer distance services are likely to arrive in Glasgow at Glasgow Central station, from which local services depart every few minutes to Exhibition Centre.

There is a covered walkway that leads from Exhibition Central over the road into the SEC. From here walk between the SEC Armadillo and OVO Hydro buildings to the footpath leading along the river, then turn right and follow the footpath along the river until you see the Crowne Plaza on your right.

Arriving by Coach

Most coach services to Glasgow arrive at Buchanan Bus Station. From here you will need to either use a local taxi service or walk a short distance to a local bus stop or Glasgow Central Train Station in order to catch a local service to the hotel; please see the relevant other sections on this page for details on local bus and train services.

Arriving by Local Bus

The local bus service running closest to the SEC is the X19 run by Stagecoach. We recommend using the Stagecoach Journey Planner https://www.stagecoachbus.com/plan-a-journey to view the timetable and plot the most effective journey to the hotel. You can use the postcode G3 8QT to locate the Crowne Plaza hotel or the postcode G3 8HN to locate the Hilton Garden Inn on the Journey Planner.

Arriving by Air

The closest airport to our venue is Glasgow Airport, which is approximately 15-20 minutes away from our hotel by taxi in good traffic. Alternatively you can catch the Airport Express bus service to the centre of Glasgow and then use local bus or train services to make the rest of the journey; please see the other relevant sections on this page for details on these.

Travel Between Crowne Plaza and Hilton Garden Inn

If you are travelling from the Crowne Plaza to the Hilton Garden Inn, turn left out of the hotel reception and follow the river for approximately 500m. The Hilton Garden Inn will be on your right hand side, right on the riverside.

If you are travelling from the Hilton Garden Inn to the Crowne Plaza, from the entrance facing the road, turn left and follow the road around, keeping left whenever you have an option, following the river for approximately 500m. The Crowne Plaza will be on your right hand side as you approach and should be visible for the entire length of the walk.

Arriving by Kaiju

We have agreed with Glasgow City Council and local military forces that we will try to minimise any collateral damage across the city by the arrival of our attendees. Therefore, if you are arriving via kaiju, or as a kaiju, please try to follow the road network, be mindful not to trip over any cars underfoot, and please refrain from using any breath weapons within the city boundaries.

Should you be concerned that you or your kaiju’s hips are too girthy to fit between the buildings, please approach along the River Clyde at wading depth, bearing in mind to keep a slow speed so that the adjoining river banks are not flooded when passing by them. Please note that we do not have kaiju-sized towels or drying facilities available at our venues and this approach is undertaken at your own risk.

In the event that you or your kaiju is capable of flight, we do not allow for roof access to our venue hotels and would recommend touching down in the overflow car park adjoining the Crowne Plaza car park, being careful not to land on top of any vehicles that may be present. We have no facilities to house kaiju-sized transport or attendees, but we are working with the Tech Team to develop temporary size-adjustment laser technology so that such arrivals can be safely housed within our standard hotel rooms.

We have no facilities to house kaiju-sized transport or attendees, but we are working with the Tech Team to develop temporary size-adjustment laser technology so that such arrivals can be safely housed within our standard hotel rooms.