Aberdeen - Scotland’s Granite City Has A Soft Heart
Aberdeen gives us a wealth of breathtaking scenery from an old-world harbour on the eastern side to the majestic Grampian Mountains in the west. With so so many sights to take in, it’s pretty much essential to hire a car from Aberdeen Airport. Since it’s the 3rd biggest city in Scotland, expect the city to offer a diverse selection of cosmopolitan merits from the arts to old relics and countless opportunities for shopping. This area of Aberdeen and the Grampian mountains is the home of that magnet for discerning drinkers everywhere, the Malt Whisky Trail. Once you have recovered from sampling the world famous whiskies of eight distilleries, there is the Castle Trail to follow amidst the region’s most wonderful of views. There is a huge range of activities such as golf, fishing, skiing, whisky tasting and loads more on offer here in The Grampian Highlands.
Don’t be surprised to find some form of festival or celebration to be taking place during your trip to Aberdeen. Tourists and residents often meet to celebrate the region’s past with traditional entertainment and events such as the Lonach Highland Gathering and Games. Locally known as the “Friendly Games” they are held each year on the fourth Saturday of August at Strathdon in Aberdeenshire. Other events worth attending whilst visiting Aberdeen include, the Braemar Telemark Festival (March), the Aberdeen Jazz Festival (March), the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival (April-May), the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival (June), The Wickerman, Tartan Day and the Stonehaven Fireball Festival. The Stonehaven event is one of few remnants of an east coast fire festival traditionally held to see in the New Year.There are a big selection of cheap Aberdeen hotels
The new town of “Granite City” Aberdeen offers wonderful granite buildings and endless supplies of the finest restaurants, the best shops and a very lively ‘what’s on’ listing whatever time of the year you arrive. In fact, if the city has so much to offer, why is its own population considered internationally well travelled? Why would anyone ever want to leave this wonderful city? They say you never seem to appreciate what is already yours but the truth is that Aberdonians are able to look more forward to returning home more than the rest of us. Who can blame them? They have everything! A generally cool and dry climate, sandy beaches, the Lemon Tree (Aberdeen’s own perpetual Festival Fringe), pretty streets, warm friendly people, fishing villages worthy of a place on a postcard and Union Street where you find an awful lot of shops, as well as 3 shopping precincts!
Aberdeen is often known as the “City of Roses” with very good reason. A popular attraction and landmark in this area is that of Duthie Park’s Rose Hill with in excess of 12,000 different brilliant varieties and assortments of Rose.
Aberdeen’s old town district has a nostalgic air about it. The area known as Old Aberdeen is a preserved site, and was once a single burgh. Here you will encounter its cobbled high street with Provost Ross’s House, the Aberdeen Art Gallery, the harbour and many other attractions within a few hundred yards of one another. Don’t miss a chance to visit Aberdeen University’s ancient King’s College with its fifteenth century chapel and fixtures.
While in Aberdeen a lot of visitors explore the relationship 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 life in the area. Visitors can pay their respects at the Piper Alpha Memorial, a memorial garden situated in Hazelhead Park dedicated to the loss of 167 North Sea oil workers lost in the 1988 tragedy. If you would like to find out more about oil exploration in the North Sea, the 5 Star Maritime Museum found on the Shiprow, offers exhibitions on the fascinating subject well as an in depth insight to earlier (but equally as dangerous) forms of fishing and shipping in the region.
Take a map and the area around Aberdeen and the Grampians seems to be very compact. This is deceiving. In actual fact, there is a huge expanse of territory to explore with generous servings of attractions at every corner and much will be missed if limited to public transport. Cycling out in the Aberdonian countryside is amazing and highly recommended for all able-bodied souls. For the rest of us, swapping two wheels for four and exploring the glorious surrounding from behind the wheel of a rental car from Aberdeen Airport has many attractions. For those fresh air lovers hiking is a wonderful way to explore beautiful landscapes “off the beaten track”.
The Grampian Highlands
Walking is possibly the premier activity of the Grampians with vast areas to explore and virgin landscapes only ever experienced on foot. Hikers can experience a wide range of challenges from the exposed coastline to the heights of the Grampian and Cairngorm mountains. If an active outdoor pursuits holiday is called for the Grampians region of Scotland will not let you down! The possibilities are wide and varied from water-sports to gliding and cycling to horse riding. Off road driving is also on offer as well as exploring Scotland’s official Long Distance footpaths.
Head to Balmoral and in an instant you’ll see why Queen Victoria memorably called this royal estate her “Paradise”. Constructed as a royal holiday destination, the area is now enjoyed by lots of (non-royal) guests for its legendary sporting activities such as fly fishing in the River Dee and cycle races across the Royal estate.
Over at the coast there are a number of superb facilities for water sports. A popular event is that of the annual sailing race to and from Stavanger in Norway. Peterhead’s marina is very popular with visiting yachtsmen whilst yachting enthusiasts make for Findhorn at Moray Firth.
