Free things to do in Aberdeen

9 places in Aberdeen with free entry or no charge, based on guide listings and map data.

Ranked with the travel guide's picks and well-known places first.

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Aberdeen Art Gallery
The Aberdeen Art Gallery is set in a Victorian building with an exquisite marble and granite main hall. On the ground floor are housed modern works including pieces by Tracy Emin and Gilbert & George, with many others. Upstairs hang more traditional paintings and sculpture. These include Impressionist pieces and workandy the Scottish Colourists. There are frequent temporary exhibitions (see website) and also display of antique silverware and decorative pieces. Columns in the main hall display the many different colours of local granite used to build the city. There is a good gift shop too. For those who like art, an afternoon could easily be spent here, but at least a quick browse is well worth it for anyone.
Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 11AM-4PMAdmission free
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Aberdeen Maritime Museum
This museum, rated 5-star by the Scottish Tourist Board, tells the story of Aberdeen's relationship with the sea, from fishing to trade to North Sea oil. It offers an extraordinary insight into the mechanics and technology of ships and oil rigs, Aberdeen's rich maritime history and the lives of some of the people who have worked offshore in the North Sea for the past 500 years. The newest part of the complex is a blue, glass-fronted building on the cobbled Shiprow. Inside is a spiral walkway, rising upwards around an eye-catching model of an oil rig. Connected to this structure are the much older buildings which take visitors through a series of castle-style corridors and staircases to reach the numerous room sets, historical artefacts and scale models. If your time in Aberdeen is limited, go and see this. There is so much to see, and even the buildings themselves are worth a look. There is also a restaurant that is slightly expensive, but the food is pretty good. There are excellent views of the harbour from the top floor.
Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 11AM-4PMAdmission free
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David Welch Winter Gardens
Large indoor gardens in a variety of glasshouse habitats (wheelchair-friendly), with tropical, arid, ferns and Japanese gardens. You can enter via Polmuir Road or Riverside Drive just after the railway bridge.
Daily: Nov-Mar noon-4PM; Apr Sep Oct 10AM-5:30PM; May-Aug 10AM-7:30PMFree
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Hazlehead Park
Large 180-hectare park on land granted to the city by King Robert the Bruce in 1319. Gardens include the Queen Mother Rose Garden, and the North Sea Memorial Garden to remember the 167 people killed on the Piper Alpha oil rig in 1988. There's a small petting zoo Pets Corner (charging £3), two golf courses, a hedge maze and cafe. Dogs welcome.
Daily 9AM until an hour before duskFree
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Johnston Gardens
Small, bosky park in a residential area, full of floral displays, water features and rockeries. Toilets are in the car park.
Daily 8AM until an hour before duskFree
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Provost Skene's House
Guestrow (walk under passageway at St. Nicholas House on Broad Street and it's in the little plaza there). Scottish towns and cities have a "provost" instead of a mayor and this house used to belong to Provost George Skene. The large, picturesque house dates from 1545 (it's the oldest house left in the city).
Mon-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 11AM-4PMAdmission free
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Tolbooth Museum
The tolbooth was the main municipal building or Town Hall, for council meetings, courthouse and jail. This 17th-century example had jail cells in centuries past, and played a key role in the city's history, including the Jacobite rebellions. The museum has fascinating displays on crime and punishment, and on the history of the city. Limited access for visitors with mobility difficulties.
as of Jan 2024 it is temporarily closed, pending building surveyFree
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Union Terrace Gardens
A small city-centre park and sunken garden on one side of Union Terrace. A small river, the Denburn, used to flow here but is now covered by the railway. The gardens are a haven of tranquility and greenery in the city-centre. In summer look out for the floral coat of arms, and in warm weather citizens sunbathe and picnic on the lawns. All year round, the gardens give a good view of the surrounding architecture. From 2010 the park was threatened with grandiose redevelopment plans, but in 2012 the council scrapped this idea. A more modest plan was undertaken for £28.3 million and the park was closed from 2019 -2022.
Free
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Zoology Museum
This museum is on the ground floor of the university's Zoology Dept. It has a big collection of specimens, from protozoa to the great whales. Exhibits include taxidermy, skeletons, skins, fluid-preserved specimens and models.
Closed until further noticeFree

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Aberdeen (CC BY-SA 4.0).