Aberdeen - 25 Great Things To See & Do

Aberdeen - 25 Great Things To See & Do in Aberdeen, Scotland © David Wheater

At the beginning of February, I travelled to Aberdeen to film a new city guide to this lovely, very friendly Scottish city.

Aberdeen has a population of around 200,000 and is located in the north east of Scotland, next to a wonderful sandy beach and coastline. It took me about 2.5 hours to drive there from my home in Edinburgh and it’s a fairly straightforward drive.

There was a lot more snow than I was expecting, but this turned into a big plus, as the city and its parks looked really beautiful. I did slip a few times, but luckily no lasting injuries!

Like all the other city guides I’ve filmed, my goal was to celebrate the city and to show all the wonderful things you can see & do here. There’s no financial incentive to create these guides, it’s just a labour of love, coupled with a strong desire to show all that this amazing country has to offer.

I have huge affection for Aberdeen and its people. My family ran a hotel in Aberdeen during the war and I lived there for four years while studying a law degree at Aberdeen University. It was so lovely to revisit all the places I loved as a student and to reflect on the time that has passed since those days. It’s a city very much off the tourist map, but I think it’s got a lot to offer and is well worth spending a day there if you have the time. There are lots of interesting places to visit which you can see in the video.

I really enjoyed re-visiting Marischal College which still looks impressively grand and imposing in its granite finery. It’s the second largest granite building in the world and I actually sat exams here and graduated in the main hall (quite a long time ago now!).

I also really enjoyed visiting King’s College in Old Aberdeen, which is where I was lucky enough to have most of my law lectures. It’s a fantastic place to have a walk around and I particularly enjoyed King’s College chapel and St Machar’s Cathedral which is beautiful and serene inside.

It was a snowy winter wonderland when I visited which was incredibly beautiful. I really hope you enjoy the video, which was made with a lot of love for Aberdeen and its super friendly & welcoming people. The city is not really on the list of most visitors who visit Scotland, but I hope I might convince you that the city is worth visiting, and has a lot more to offer than meets the eye.

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