Parks and the outdoors in Aberdeen

Parks and the outdoors in Aberdeen

1. Do

   Aberdeen FC

   "The Dons" play soccer in the Premiership, Scotland's top tier. Their home ground of Pittodrie is an all-seater stadium, capacity 20,000. It's a mile north of the centre, walk up Park Rd or take any bus up King St.

2. See

   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-7:30PM·Free

3. See

   Gordon Highlanders Museum

   The Gordon Highlanders were formed in 1881 from an infantry division of 1794, and amalgamated into the Highlanders in 1994, now a battalion within the Royal Regiment of Scotland. They were thus involved in two centuries of wars and campaigns, and 13 of its men were awarded the Victoria Cross. Exhibits include a Nazi flag from Hitler's staff car and mock-up First World War trenches. It's housed in the home of the Victorian artist Sir George Reid, and has a large garden.

   Feb-Nov Tue-Sat 10AM-4:30PM·Adult £12, conc £9, child £6

4. See

   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 dusk·Free

5. See

   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 dusk·Free

6. Drink

   Old School House

   Belhaven pub behind a granite portico, suggesting that the former school specialised in Latin, Greek and physical chastisement. Good selection of food, TV sport, beer garden and dog friendly.

   Sun-Thu 10AM-11PM, Fri Sat 10AM-1AM

7. See

   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-4PM·Admission free

8. See

   Sir Duncan Rice Library

   Striking modern building by St Machar Park west side of the campus. It's accessible to the public, with a ground floor gallery for exhibitions.

   Mon-Fri 8AM-10PM, Sat 9AM-10PM, Sun 11AM-10PM

9. See

   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

10. See

    Cruikshank Botanic Garden

    4.5 hectare (11-acre) garden including an arboretum.

    Daily 9AM-4:30PM (Oct to Mar); 9AM-7PM (Apr to Sep)

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