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Destination Guide

Close up view of Aberdeen city centre & busy harbour a wide range of hotels and tourist destinations.

Aberdeen

Tourist Information

Things to see & do in Aberdeen

Aberdeen - 5 day weather forecast

Aberdeen or "the Granite City" is Scotland's third largest city with a population of around 210,000. As the centre of the North Sea energy industry, it is also the "Oil Capital of Europe". Aberdeen has been dubbed as Britain's "Flower Capital " because it has won the Beautiful Britain in Bloom title no less than 10 times. There are fabulous floral displays throughout the city - arising from a base of 2.5 million roses, 11 million daffodils and 3 million crocuses.

Aberdeen is located on Scotland’s North East Coast between the Grampian Mountains & Royal Deeside to the west and the coast. The beautiful coastline around Aberdeen with it’s cliffs and beaches is great walking country, and also scattered with some of Scotland’s top class golf courses. There is plenty for all the family to see and do. There is an abundance of wild life and just off the coast you can spot dolphins and other marine wildlife. There are daily wildlife boat trips departing from Aberdeen harbour.

To the west of Aberdeen lies, steeped in history is Royal Deeside and further on the Cairngorm National Park. From here, you can book on one of the many guided walks. They are all graded and normally take about 4-6 hours. They are great for getting out into the Scottish outdoors, see some amazing scenery and look out for red deer, caparceilidh, golden eagles, red squirrels & pine martens. Royal Deeside has plenty other things to see and do including some beautiful small towns and villages which are all worth a browse around – Banchory, Aboyne and Ballater, to name but a few. The Queens Scottish Royal Residence – Balmoral Castle is less than an hours drive away from Aberdeen, and is open to the public until early August.
To the North and North West, there is the Moray Coastline scattered with Scottish fishing villages like Banff, Buckie, Macduff and others. A visit to the Smokehouse by the 17th century harbour in Portsoy is worthy of a trip to buy the most tasty Smoked Salmon – all of which have been caught locally. The 50 mile castle trail, which is definitely worth seeing has more castles per acre than anywhere else in the UK – Craigievar, Houghton, Fraser, Drum and perhaps the most well known Crathes castle & Gardens. All are open to the public.

The city of Aberdeen itself is a vibrant modern city, home to a superb university, top class shopping with an abundance of nightlife, and of course Aberdeen FC, one of Scotland’s most successful Premier league football clubs. As explained, Aberdeen is blessed by being surrounded by a hinterland as tourism rich as anywhere in Scotland, featuring the superb Grampian Whisky, Victorian Heritage and Grampian Castle Trails, glorious Royal Deeside, the lovely fishing villages and towns of the North East – and not far away the delightful Moray Coast with superb beaches, wildlife and dolphin watching opportunities. It is an area definitely worth exploring on a short break, as it is very different to other areas of Scotland, much of it is totally unspoilt.

Enjoy the site and discover the delights of touring and travelling around Aberdeen and the Grampians. For short breaks, weekend leisure breaks and holidays and vacations in Scotland with a difference – it might just be for you.