Nestled in the north-west corner of Ireland, the city of Derry-Londonderry (Northern Ireland) and the county of Donegal (Republic of Ireland) sit snugly side by side. Taken together, this pair have every ingredient you could want from a short break: a dollop of history, a splash of culture and immeasurable quantities of nature and adventure. Better yet, it’s a combination that few have yet to put together.
How to ace Aberdeen: an expert’s guide to the Granite City
21.07.2023 - 08:45 / roughguides.com
With more than thirty other namesakes around the world – from New South Wales in Australia to South Africa's Eastern Cape – Scotland's Aberdeen remains the original and best, wearing its history well.
Known as the Granite City, and built on centuries of nautical heritage – herring fishing, whaling, shipbuilding, and the far more recent offshore oil boom, which took off like a rocket – the place is a shrine to the ambition of coastal life, with a rich mercantile quarter, marine climate and two sprawling universities. Whether you want jam-packed history, unbeatable golf or superb whisky, this is what you need to know about Aberdeen.
In a nutshell: culture. Never mind oil – if the city could harness its art and ambition, it'd have enough oomph to power the north. Later this year sees the reopening of the Aberdeen Art Gallery, following a £30m aesthetic expansion that will add to its impressive roster. Among the highlights of the collection – which sketches a line from Pre-Raphaelite art and Impressionism to the 20th-century Brit school – are works from Boudin, Courbet, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. Before then, feel the weight of the city’s cultural welly during a visit to the tantalising Maritime Museum, a combo of a modern gallery and the warren-like corridors of Provost Ross’s House, the second oldest building in the city.
Aberdeen © Alexey Fedorenko/Shutterstock
All roads lead to 17th-century Mercat Cross, the city’s gargoyle-covered ground zero at the heart of Castlegate square, and this is where you should start your whistle-stop tour. From here, looking up at silvery granite that flickers in all weathers, follow gently ascending Union Street to ambitious Marischal College, ribbon-cut by King Edward VII in 1906 and one of the planet’s largest granite buildings. At nearly every turn, now in sight of St Andrew’s Cathedral, you’ll encounter a higgledy-piggledy tangle of granular spires, Baroque towers and imposing, slate-grey edifices.
Notwithstanding this devotion to time-worn tradition, Aberdeen also offers up some genuine guidebook surprises: its quarried granite was used to build London’s Houses of Parliament, while it’s also the sunniest city in Britain. Bet you didn’t expect that from a place plotted at a latitude north of Moscow.
Marischal College, Aberdeen © VisitScotland
We’re not making it up. The city has an easily accessible 3km ribbon of golden curving sand where you can sunbathe, swim and surf. When the often tempestuous seas are calm – and particularly in summer – a real Aberdeen highlight is to take a dolphin-watching tour from the salt-lashed working harbour with Clyde Cruises; you might also see minke whale, basking shark and rainbow-nosed puffin.
Farther along the coast, those same sands
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