Where to Stay in Aberdeen, Scotland

What is Aberdeen known for?

Aberdeen is known as a harbour city on the north-east coast of Scotland, the third-largest in the country and a hub of the North Sea oil trade. Its port lies where the Rivers Dee and Don meet the sea. St Machar's Cathedral crowns Old Aberdeen, and the Aberdeen Maritime Museum records the city's long life by the water.

The sea shaped it. Trade and fishing made Aberdeen the port it remains.

What are the main landmarks in Aberdeen?

Aberdeen's landmarks gather in grey stone. St Machar's Cathedral and the King's College Chapel crown Old Aberdeen to the north, while St Nicholas and the Aberdeen Art Gallery mark the centre. The Aberdeen Maritime Museum stands above the harbour on Shiprow, near Provost Ross's House and the Tolbooth Museum.

Provost Skene's House survives among the central streets. The Gordon Highlanders Museum and Codona's Amusement Park lie out toward the western streets and the shore.

What is the history of Aberdeen?

Aberdeen, established in 1175, grew into a port between two rivers. The harbour where the Dee reaches the North Sea drew trade and fishing from the start, and a second settlement rose to the north by the Don. Two towns became one.

Old Aberdeen kept its cathedral and college around St Machar's Cathedral and the King's College Chapel, while the harbour town spread along the Dee, and both were built in the hard grey stone quarried from the land around the city. The port carried the city through the centuries. Ships traded from the harbour, and the grey stone that built Aberdeen was cut and shipped from its quarries.

Provost Skene's House and Provost Ross's House survive from the days of the merchant provosts who ran the town. In later years the North Sea oil trade made the harbour a base for the rigs offshore, and the Aberdeen Maritime Museum now tells that story. The sea has always ruled here.

Aberdeen remains the third city of Scotland, its stone streets still turned toward the North Sea.

Where is Aberdeen?

Aberdeen lies on the north-east coast of Scotland, in the United Kingdom, a harbour city set where the Rivers Dee and Don meet the North Sea. The old core stands above the harbour by the Dee, and Old Aberdeen sits to the north near the Don. A long sandy beach runs along the shore between the two river mouths.

The coast is open to the sea. From the harbour Aberdeen spreads inland over low, gently rising ground.

What is the climate of Aberdeen?

Aberdeen has a cool oceanic climate, open to the winds off the North Sea. Winters are mild but wet and grey, with rain and long dark days blowing in off the water across the harbour and the long sandy beach. Even at their height, Aberdeen's summers rarely turn hot.

Bright spells come and go, and the sea air keeps the temperature even over the grey stone streets the year round.

How do you get to Aberdeen?

Aberdeen is reached by rail, road, sea, and air from Edinburgh and across Scotland. Trains run up the coast from Edinburgh and the south to the station near the harbour, and the port still takes ferries and ships from the North Sea. Roads follow the coast north.

From the station it is a short walk to Union Street, the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, and the harbour where the rivers meet the sea.