Known as the Oil Capital of Europe, Aberdeen offers so much more than just a transit point for fossil fuel. Scotland’s third largest city is built on solid, granite foundations that are brightened by bountiful parks and the best beach of any UK city.
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Why go to Aberdeen?
It is easy to ignore Aberdeen as it’s at the end of the line, not really on the way to anywhere else. Best known in the last half century for its connection to the oil and gas industry, this is also a city with real pedigree, which lends its vaulting streets a grand air. Indeed, local writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon felt Aberdeen the most beautiful city in Scotland. He had a point – many of its granite buildings, which has earned it the nickname the 'Granite City', are sheer works of art.
Beyond that granite, Aberdeen has a flurry of outdoor spaces, from the city beach to its green parks – it was even banned from competing in the ‘Britain in Bloom’ competition as it kept winning every year.
Aberdeen also overflows with cultural and heritage attractions. It swims in the legends of Scottish historical giants Robert the Bruce and William ‘Braveheart’ Wallace, and has been a major North Sea port for centuries. It boasts arguably the finest granite building in the world, Marischal College, as well as the recently revamped Aberdeen Art Gallery and similarly reworked Provost Skene’s House.
With oil and gas prices fluctuating in recent years, and green energy emerging, Aberdeen is pivoting to a cleaner, greener future in many ways, making now a thrilling time to visit. As Aberdeen turns away from this reliance on the fossil fuel industry, visitors are more welcome than ever – this is a city for savvy travellers and one you can enjoy without the crowds of Edinburgh.
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Top things to do in Aberdeen
Savour world-class art and views
Aberdeen Art Gallery should have reopened to massive fanfare, but that was darkened by the arrival of COVID-19, meaning it hasn't had the exposure it should have enjoyed. It is well worth the hype and has been an instant hit with Aberdonians – not least for the café that sits on its top floor and the brace of viewing platforms up here too. Grab a coffee and cake, then take in the changing face of Aberdeen unfurling below.
Aberdeen Art Gallery was the epic work of Hoskins Architects, who fashioned a copper roof onto the existing building and brought light and space to the interior. The 18 permanent collections feature an eclectic collage of Scottish art across a variety of media, as well as French Impressionism. Start from the sculpture on the ground floor and work up from there. There is plenty of space for an ever-changing array of temporary exhibitions too.
Enjoy coffee with the dolphins
The Torry Battery offers arguably the best shore-based dolphin viewing in the UK. The Greyhope Café opened here in 2022 and is an eco-friendly, low-impact structure with a whole wall of windows peering out in search of our cetacean friends. The charity that runs it has a five-year plan to sustainably develop the site and has already started up workshops and educational classes.
Chances are you'll see a part of the bottlenose dolphin pod that's the most northerly in the world. This large dolphin species is easy to spot as it comes to feed and play around on the surf. If you want to enjoy a more exclusive viewing, ease down the hill towards the water to get closer to them. If you continue south, you can keep an eye out for them as well as sea seals and seabirds, and see how Aberdeen’s massive new cruise terminal is taking shape.
Flit off to Fittie and the beach
Aberdeen is a modern city, but a timewarp awaits at the end of the city beach. Footdee (or Fittie to the locals) is a legacy of the days when fishing was the main industry. The cute stone cottages, joined by narrow cobbled lanes, huddle together against the worst the North Sea can throw at them. Artists and creatives have moved into these homes, which are real works of art in their own right.
The smell of the sea fills the air in Fittie. Follow it to the city’s beach, which spreads its sandy tentacles for over three miles (4.8km) all the way north from the River Dee to its northern cousin, the River Don. You can swim here or even surf, with local businesses like Scot Surf School catering to a new wave of surfers. Or just stroll the Esplanade which has been given a new lease of life because of the pandemic. A string of food vans sprung up when locals couldn’t travel and they’ve stayed on, selling everything from cheesecake to vegan fish and chips. One of the cafés is even housed in an old London bus.
Enjoy the park life
In a public vote in 2022 Seaton Park was named ‘Scotland’s Favourite Park’, beating other great Aberdeen civic spaces like Duthie Park and Hazlehead Park. It is awash with greenery, with rose and walled gardens, and benches where you can just gaze up at the myriad tree life. There is a wetland area with information boards flagging up the flora and fauna too. You might chance upon an otter on the wilder stretches of the park that snake along the banks of the River Don – here you'll feel like you're in the countryside rather than a UK city.
One of the great things about Seaton Park is what you'll find on its fringes. Delving down the cobbles across the 13th-century bridge at Brig o' Balgownie is like leafing through the musty pages of a historical novel. Don't miss St Machar’s Cathedral either – this vaulting edifice is truly remarkable, not least thanks to the unusual timber roof alive with crests, revealing Scotland’s deep connections with Europe through the centuries.
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Best Aberdeen cultural and musical attractions to visit
The old parts of the city are relics in themselves, once walked by everyone from Highland clansmen and British soldiers to kings and queens, but do delve into the city's museums to learn more about Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. There are concert venues that draw in local and international acts too, and the city’s pubs are gloriously informal venues for live music.
Provost Skene’s House
Aberdeen’s oldest private dwelling dates way back to 1545, but it’s no decaying old dame. Rather it has recently benefited from a colossal revamp that has made it an unmissable attraction. The focus is on delving back into the past through myriad local luminaries, including singer Annie Lennox and football manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Over one hundred figures are featured, using high wizardry to spice up the old stone walls. Look out for Nobel laureate Lord Boyd-Orr, who was instrumental in the city’s world-renowned Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health; operatic soprano Mary Garden; and legendary footballer Denis Law, famous for his dribbling. There are plenty of hands-on exhibits to keep kids engaged too.
Aberdeen Maritime Museum
Many visitors skip this museum. Don’t. The harbour is crucial to understanding Aberdeen and this collection peers right over it. The museum takes the story way back to when man first eked out a living here fishing and trading.
There are plenty of replica ships (from as far back as 1689) and even a complete lighthouse assembly and a steamer’s deck. Of course, there's a major section on the oil and gas industries complete with a massive replica oil rig: many people have strong opinions on the industry without even knowing how it works, so this provides real context.
You’ll learn too that Aberdeen built over 3,000 ships in the 19th and 20th centuries. The latest sections look towards the transition to green energy and are worth visiting.
The city’s finest granite building is the second-largest in the world and the largest in the UK. It shows that granite need not be dull and boring – think the Houses of Parliament stretched up to be topped by an elegant wedding cake. You’ll want to stand here with the massive statue of Robert the Bruce and take it all in.
There is a lot to appreciate – Archibald Simpson’s more austere style, carved from Rubislaw stone, is augmented by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie’s more fanciful Perpendicular Gothic from the 1890s, fashioned in Kemnay granite. You can usually get inside on weekdays, though it is very much in use by the local city council. It looks at its grandest from the outside.
Tolbooth Museum
One of the city’s oldest buildings lurks behind an elegant 19th-century granite exterior. It was recently closed for structural checks, but is slated to re-open soon. The Tolbooth Museum used to serve as a prison and swirls in dark tales from the 17th and 18th centuries.
It was opened in 1995 as a museum that sheds light on the harsh conditions and punishments of the day throughout various periods in the city’s history. It sends a chill down the spine eking through the darkened walls, imagining how doomed Jacobite prisoners would have felt as they were led to judgement and torture.
Best Aberdeen hotels
The Malmaison Aberdeen skilfully combines all the trappings of a modern boutique hotel with a grand granite setting. Think swish modern fabrics, power showers and eye-catching art. After a hard day pounding the streets, relax at the spa, enjoy a bar that mixes great cocktails and has a good range of whiskies or tuck into dinner at Chez Mal with its superb steaks cooked on a Josper grill. Signature Suites come with a lounge, king-size sleigh bed, a bath, as well as views of the city.
Another superb transformation of a historic building is a recent hotel opening, the Sandman Signature Aberdeen Hotel & Spa. This central bolthole is tucked within the former Robert Gordon University's St Andrews Street Campus. It’s no small-scale boutique gem, with 218 sleek rooms and two-bedroom suites that stay on the warm side of minimalism. For a local treat enjoy a dram in their cosy whisky bar, Freedom An’ Whisky. Look out for whiskies from Aberdeenshire distilleries Ardmore, Fettercairn and Royal Lochnagar.
If you want to stay right in the heart of the city around the Marischal Square area, check into the Residence Inn by Marriott Aberdeen. This slick, modern hotel has studios and suites, with kitchens and grocery delivery service for dining in. It’s also pet and family friendly. A neat touch is the jogging routes they’ve mapped out around the city and there's a 24-hour fitness centre too.
The most luxurious base out of the city centre is the legendary Marcliffe Hotel and & Spa. This haven of old world luxury is a Small Luxury Hotels of the World member and was opened by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. It is still the place to stay for visiting movers and shakers – King Charles III has also stayed here. Reclining in eight acres of manicured grounds, with a restaurant stocked with over 400 wines, it’s the perfect escape from the city.
What to eat in Aberdeen
For decades Aberdeen’s dining scene was geared towards expense-account-toting executives, but that has all changed in recent years as belt tightening in the industry has forced a re-focus. It’s been a positive change with a more eclectic array of dining options increasingly making use of local produce and letting the food do the talking.
For seafood it’s hard to look past Silver Darling. Peer out the windows at the comings and goings in the city’s harbour as you tuck into fresh white fish landed just to the north at Peterhead and Fraserburgh, and langoustines from Stonehaven in the south. Their seafood platters come laden with scallops, salmon, mussels and langoustines, with a la carte standouts including seared halibut in a seaweed crust, with roasted garlic and saffron mash, laced with a mussel and watercress sauce.
The Auld Alliance comes to the fore with a brace of superb French restaurants. Café 52 on the Green fuses Scottish dishes and produce with traditional French styles while Café Boheme Restaurant veers towards more traditional French fine dining.
An exciting new arrival is Six by Nico, a novel concept with their entire menu circling around a theme that changes regularly. At the time of writing they were taking guests off to the circus for a playful, palate tingling six-course treat – think courses like sole, smoked tomato compote, bergamot gel, crab tortellini and bisque. Do opt for the accompanying wines as they are well chosen. Other restaurants that show Aberdeen’s diversity are the two branches of Turkish-tinged Nargile and Japanese Yorokobi by CJ.
Pub culture is alive and well in Aberdeen with world-famous Brewdog having a choice of watering holes here – including their first-ever pub – and their brewery nearby in Ellon. Less well-known outside Scotland is Stonehaven-based six°north, who’ve opened a bar in Aberdeen. More traditional pubs include the Prince of Wales and The Grill. Fresh fish and chips is a highlight in Aberdeen’s pubs given the proximity to the fishing ports just to the north.
Map of Aberdeen
Discover all of our favourite places in Aberdeen with this handy map:
For more information about Aberdeen please visit the official tourist website.
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