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Tours include harbour trips, spotting sea-life (dolphins, basking sharks, porpoises, puffins), and a ride out to the offshore wind farm.
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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.
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.
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).
Castlegate Centre
Community-oriented venue hosting a variety of events.
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.
550-capacity performing arts venue, with pop, jazz, blues, rock, comedy, dance and panto.