Aberdeen
Introduction
Aberdeen sits on the southwest side of Hong Kong Island, part of the Southern District. The name is used in two ways: broadly, it can take in Aberdeen town along with Wong Chuk Hang, Ap Lei Chau, Tin Wan, Wah Kwai Estate and Wah Fu Estate; more often, though, people mean just the town itself.
If you are planning where to base yourself or what to wander, it helps to decide which Aberdeen you have in mind — the compact town, or the wider sweep of neighbouring areas that share the name.
Before you go
Aberdeen is a year-round destination, but pack for cool weather and rain whatever the season. Winters are mild by the standards of other cities at this latitude, yet still cool for Britain, and northeasterly winds bring the dreich — a word worth practising before you arrive. The city is sheltered from the prevailing southwesterly airstream, so you get many sunny days when the granite buildings sparkle, and the parks and gardens are at their best in early summer. Midsummer days run to 18 hours, with nights no darker than twilight; in still conditions a haar can roll in off the cold North Sea and cloak the city until the daytime offshore breeze pushes it back out.
Once you're there, the local dialect, Doric, will tell you where you are — it's stronger in the surrounding countryside and defies machine translation, so don't count on your phone to help. Aberdeen is broadly safe, but use your street sense: aggressive drunks are the main hassle, especially at weekends, and English football colours are best avoided. Steer clear of Tillydrone, north of Bedford Road and east of St Machar Drive, and Torry on the south bank of the River Dee, particularly after dark — and above all, don't be drunk or drugged yourself.
Getting there
Aberdeen is far to reach by rail or road, so most visitors arrive by plane. Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) sits at Dyce, northwest of the city centre, with flights from Amsterdam, Bergen, Copenhagen, Dublin, Geneva, Paris CDG, Riga, Oslo and Stavanger, plus seasonal Mediterranean services and a wide range of UK routes including London Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and the Scottish islands. The airport is also a helicopter hub for North Sea oil and gas rigs. Car rental desks are available but stock is limited, so book ahead. Between the airport and the city centre, take the bus: the Jet 727 Stagecoach service runs every 10–30 minutes to the main bus station in Union Square, next to the railway station and ferry terminal, daily from early morning until midnight, taking about 30 minutes. Dyce has its own railway station, but it lies on the wrong side of the runway from the terminal and is a long walk with no public transport, so it is only worth using a taxi there to pick up a northbound train without going into the city centre. By train, Aberdeen has hourly services from Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street, both taking around two and a half hours via Dundee. From England it is usually quicker to change in Edinburgh, though a few direct daytime trains run from London King's Cross, and services wind up from the Midlands and the southwest. Trains also run from Inverness every couple of hours. The Caledonian Highland Sleeper runs from London Euston on most nights, departing in the evening and arriving in the morning, with no Saturday night service; berths are sold like hotel rooms, and you can also use the sitting saloon. Aberdeen Railway Station is in the city centre on Guild Street, one block from Union Street and close to the bus station and ferry terminal, with step-free access to all platforms. Long-distance buses from London Victoria take about thirteen hours, while buses from Edinburgh and Glasgow take around three hours, with Megabus, Scottish Citylink, Ember and Fly Coach among the operators; from Inverness, Stagecoach Bus 10 runs direct on Saturdays only, connecting via Inverurie on other days. Aberdeen Bus Station is on Guild Street at Union Square, next to the railway station. By road, the main approach from the south is the A90, dual carriageway as far as Dundee and variable thereafter; the city centre is a Low Emission Zone with a penalty for non-compliant vehicles, so check your car online before driving in. An alternative scenic route from Perth runs over Glenshee to Braemar and the Dee valley, often difficult in winter when the Glenshee section may be closed by snow, while from the north-west the A96 comes via the airport at Dyce. By boat, Aberdeen Harbour sits right in the city centre, and NorthLink car ferries sail overnight year-round to Lerwick in Shetland, calling at Kirkwall in Orkney three or four nights a week. Cruise ships often call in summer.Getting around
Walking is an excellent way to get around central Aberdeen, which is relatively compact, and it is by far the best way to appreciate the city's grand architecture. Bear in mind that the city is not that small — Union Street alone is a mile long — so for journeys outside the centre, wheeled transport may be useful. Aberdeen has a medieval layout, so a map is helpful for a first visit; you will find maps on signs around the city centre, particularly at points of interest such as the Castlegate, and you can buy one at the Tourist Information Centre on the corner of Union Street and Shiprow or from city bookstores.
- Most city buses are run by First Aberdeen. Pay on entry by cash (no change given), contactless bank card or mTicket; the mTicket does not save much but avoids fumbling for the right change, and you buy it online or at Paypoint outlets and display it on your phone. Useful routes are buses 1 and 2, from Robert Gordon University in the south through the Union Square transport hub, then north up King Street to Bridge of Don, Old Aberdeen and the University of Aberdeen. Stagecoach runs buses to other towns across Aberdeenshire, which are sometimes better for edge-of-city transport.
- Taxis wait at the railway station, Back Wynd (off central Union Street), Chapel Street (west end of Union Street), Hadden Street (off Market Street) and at the airport. They are saloons or people-carriers of any colour, not London-style black cabs, and drivers must be registered with the City Council and carry an official registration plate, usually on the back. Uber does not operate here. At night taxis will not pick up people flagging them in the street, so queue at a rank or phone and be prepared for a long wait.
- Cycling is fraught in city centre traffic, where walking is first choice, but more helpful further out. Aberdeen City Council publishes a map of local cycle routes, also available in public libraries and at council offices, and bike hire is available from Macdui or BeCycle. There is no bike-share scheme, and the bike lockers at the Park & Rides are for a year's hire, so they suit regular commuters rather than brief visitors.
Where to stay
Budget options cluster around the Belmont Street pub quarter and the transport hubs. Siberia on Belmont Street is an inexpensive base with a notable vodka bar, while the Hotel Ibis sits next to the Maritime Museum and the Travelodge on Bridge Street looks over Union Street, one block north of the station. The Premier Inn on West North Street is a half-mile north of the centre, comfy and well-run despite its boxy brutalist exterior. Travelodge also has branches on the A96 at Bucksburn and at Dyce near the airport.
Mid-range choices are mostly central. The Douglas Hotel is a Victorian place close to the stations with a bistro and Irish bar, the Park Inn by Radisson is large and modern with business facilities, and the Mercure Aberdeen Caledonian is a reliable chain option two blocks north of the station, though some street noise carries. The Station Hotel occupies the former offices of the Great North of Scotland Railway opposite the railway station, and the Leonardo Hotel at Union Square is as central as it gets, next to the bus and rail stations. Further out, Norwood Hall is a stylish 19th-century estate beside the Robert Gordon University campus, often used for wedding receptions, and the Atholl Hotel is a Victorian Gothic building a mile west of Union Square. For a splurge, Ardoe House is a Victorian mansion with Baronial cod-castellations on the southwest edge of the city, offering a spa and fine dining, while Malmaison Aberdeen is a chic hotel in the Queens Cross area with good dining. Near the airport you'll find the Craighaar Hotel on the north edge of the city and the Hilton Aberdeen TECA beside The Event Complex, with a spa, restaurant, bar and event facilities.
Food & drink
Aberdeen has its own distinctive baked treat: the buttery, also called a rowie, which sits somewhere between a pancake and a croissant. Expect a flaky yet heavy texture and a very salty flavour. You'll find them served plain or with butter or jam as a tea-time or mid-afternoon snack. They rarely turn up in cafes or restaurants, so buy them from bakeries or supermarkets to eat at home or on the go.
For a sit-down meal, the city centre and its surrounding streets cover a lot of ground. Belmont Street and the nearby lanes hold a cluster of options, including a long-running Thai restaurant, a cosy bistro doing good seafood, and a bright, cheerful Italian. The Castlegate area has a popular central Italian approaching its centenary, while the streets around Crown Terrace offer Thai and Vietnamese diners. Elsewhere you'll find inexpensive Pakistani cuisine on King Street, contemporary Indian on Bridge Street, Turkish food on Forest Avenue, and a Georgian restaurant off Crown Street. For seafood with views, head to the quayside at Footdee. Budget-friendly spots include a second-hand bookshop with a lunch menu, a friendly cafe with indoor and small outdoor seating, and a traditional sit-down fish restaurant worth the extra distance from the centre. Upstairs at Union Square you'll find the usual chains.
Belmont Street is the main drinking strip on the north side of Union Street, handy for the bus and railway stations. Here an old church has been converted into a pub, and there's a cosy Belhaven pub with stylish decor opposite it. Little Belmont Street, just behind, adds a Belhaven pub in a former coaching inn and another behind a granite portico, both with good food. Further east, where Union Street meets Castle Street, a converted bank now serves real ale and food, and a tiki dive bar and music venue on the quay offers world beers, real ale, cider, absinthe, rum and outlandish tiki cocktails. West along Union Street and Langstane Place you'll find a bar with a huge selection of whiskies, a cocktail bar in a converted kirk, and several more cocktail bars and a nightclub. There's also an alcohol-free bar on Thistle Street. Smoking is illegal indoors in pubs, though it may be permitted outdoors in a beer garden.
What to see and do
Aberdeen's granite architecture defines the city, though much of it shows its age. Look up along Union Street, where the mile-long stretch mixes modern frontages with confident Victorian buildings like the Town House, each with its own style and scale. Marischal College on Broad Street has been cleaned up and was praised by Betjeman as "tower on tower, forests of pinnacles." At Castlegate you'll find the baronial Salvation Army Citadel, while Rosemount Viaduct holds an elegant cluster of His Majesty's Theatre, St Mark's Church and the Central Library. Union Terrace Gardens is a small sunken park and garden in the city centre, a haven of greenery where locals sunbathe and picnic in warm weather and where you can take in views of the surrounding architecture. Old Aberdeen is the most attractive part of the city, centred along High Street and home to the university's King's College Campus. Enter through the Powis Gates, a pair of minaret-like structures erected in 1834, and see King's College Chapel, consecrated in 1509, whose Crown Tower is a symbol of the city. The striking modern Sir Duncan Rice Library sits by St Machar Park and is open to the public. Among the city's museums, the Aberdeen Maritime Museum on the cobbled Shiprow tells the story of the city's relationship with the sea, from fishing and trade to North Sea oil, with a spiral walkway rising around a model oil rig and harbour views from the top floor. The Aberdeen Art Gallery occupies a Victorian building with a marble and granite main hall, showing modern works on the ground floor and traditional paintings and sculpture upstairs, with columns displaying the different colours of local granite. Provost Skene's House dates from 1545 and is the oldest house left in the city.When to go
Aberdeen has an oceanic climate, and its winters are milder than its northern latitude would suggest. That said, the season brings very short days: daylight runs to only about six and a half hours at the winter solstice, stretching to a little over eight hours by the end of January. Frosts can be harsh, so pack for cold if you visit in winter.
Summer is the opposite extreme, with days of around eighteen hours at the solstice and marginal nautical twilight lasting through the night. Daytime temperatures stay mild rather than hot, hovering in the mid-to-high teens across most of the urban area, slightly cooler on the coast and a touch warmer in the westernmost suburbs.
Three days in Aberdeen
Day one: Start by getting your bearings in Aberdeen itself, then head out to the Southern District of Hong Kong Island. Begin around Wong Chuk Hang, where industrial buildings have given way to galleries and studios, and walk down to Ap Lei Chau for the harbour views and the boatyards. Carry on to Tin Wan for a slower, more local feel, and finish among the housing blocks of Wah Kwai Estate and Wah Fu Estate, where the everyday life of the district plays out against the water.
Day two: Give the day to the water and the weather. In midsummer the heat is warm and humid, so plan around the middle of the day; in winter it turns bitterly cold when the wind comes off the North Sea. Once you have checked the conditions, take the ferry across to Ap Lei Chau and wander the waterfront, then loop back through Wong Chuk Hang and Tin Wan. If the rain sets in, duck into one of the covered markets or studio spaces and wait it out.
Day three: Use your last day to connect the district to the rest of the city. Ride the MTR or a bus up to Aberdeen on Hong Kong Island proper, then decide whether to stay south or cross to the northern side. If you are flying home, Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) at Dyce handles flights to Amsterdam, Bergen, Copenhagen, Dublin, Geneva, Paris CDG, Riga, Oslo and Stavanger, while UK connections run through London Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton. Steer clear of the rush hour if you can, and leave time for the run out to the terminal.