A Guide To Aberdeen

Aberdeen offers an assortment of wonderful scenery from an original harbour on the east side to the amazing Grampian Mountains to the west. Being one of the largest cities in Scotland, expect the city to have a wealth of cosmopolitan attractions from the arts to ancient artefacts and endless shopping possibilities. This area is responsible for the world famous Malt Whisky Trail. When you have recovered from trying the products of 8 nearby distilleries, there is the Castle Trail to take in amidst the area's most stunning of views. There is golf, skiing, whisky tasting and much more on offer here in the Granite City.

Expect some form of celebration to be taking place while in Aberdeen. The local population and the visitors often get together to remember the history of the region with traditional entertainment such as the Lonach Highland Gathering and Games, known locally as the Friendly Games. The games are held each year on the 4th Saturday in August at Strathdon in Aberdeenshire. Other festivals to keep an eye out for when visiting Aberdeen include the Braemar Telemark Festival (March), the Aberdeen Jazz Festival (March), The Wickerman, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (April-May), Tartan Day, the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival (June) and the Stonehaven Fireball Festival. The Stonehaven festival is one of few remnants of an east coast fire festival traditionally held to celebrate the New Year.

Aberdeen city centre comprises many wonderful granite buildings and a great cross-section of excellent restaurants, the best shops and a truly informative what's on' listing whenever you arrive. It's easy to understand why so many Aberdonians get homesick so easily. Who could blame them? The city has everything! A generally cool and dry climate, soft sandy beaches, the Lemon Tree (Aberdeen's own perpetual Festival Fringe), scenic streets, warm friendly people, poignant fishing villages and Union Street (where you find an awful lot of shops), as well as three shopping malls!

Aberdeen is known as the "City of Roses" with good reason. A popular landmark and attraction in these parts is Duthie Park's Rose Hill with in excess of 12,000 different variations of Rose.

The Old Town section of Aberdeen has a nostalgic air about it. Known as "Old Aberdeen", the old town has been carefully preserved and restored. Here you will come across its cobbled high street with the harbour and many other attractions within close proximity:a few miles of each other. Don't forget to explore the University of Aberdeen's wonderful King's College with its 15th century chapel and fixtures.

While in Aberdeen many visitors explore the correlation between the city and North Sea. For many years North Sea oil reserves have played a huge part in the growth and prosperity as well as devastating losses of the region. Tourists can visit the Piper Alpha Memorial, a peaceful rose garden dedicated to the memory of the 167 oil workers lost to the North Sea in that tragedy of 1988. The Maritime Museum on the Shiprow has a number of fascinating exhibits illustrating the synergy between the City of Aberdeen and the fishing and oil industries associated with the city.

On the map, the region around Aberdeen and the Grampian Mountains appears very compact. This is absolutely not so. In actual fact there is a vast swathe of territory to cover, with sights and attractions around every corner and much to miss if limited to public transport. Cycling in this wonderfully scenic area is wonderfully stimulating but the roads are in no way flat and it's definitely an activity only suggested for the young and agile amongst us. For the remainder, the use of four wheels rather than two has much to recommend it as a way to see the wonderful sights and countryside in this beautiful part of the world.