25 things to do in Aberdeen before you die

We listed our top 25 things to do in Edinburgh and Glasgow before you die, and now we’ve turned our attentions to Aberdeen.

What would you add? Let us know in the comment section below, on Twitter via @scotsmandotcom, or on our Facebook page.

1. Eight miles north of the city centre lies the most beautiful of Aberdeen’s beaches; Balmedie, with its rolling pink dunes, endless views out to the North Sea and miles of boardwalk. Find the old World War Two lookout bunker if you need shelter from the often stark conditions, or go on a summer night and you might even stumble upon a party round the firepit.

2. Fittie (that’s Footdee in local pronunciation, although pronounce it phonetically and you’ll be met with derisive stares) is the old fishing village on Aberdeen’s harbour. Composed of two squares of tiny fisherman’s cottages, its narrow lanes, miniature street lamps, wrought iron benches and shrunken stature make you feel like you’ve stepped into a fairy story, or at least back in time to when Aberdeen fishwives would gossip on the green while mending the nets. Go for the city’s finest seafood at The Silver Darling (an old Scottish nickname for herring), where walls of windows jut out over the harbour.

3. Although very pretty, clad in its Victorian pink granite, Aberdeen Art Gallery does look somewhat modest from the outside. But the unassuming exterior, tacked on to the end of Robert Gordon’s College at the top of Schoolhill, belies what’s inside. Here you’ll find one of the finest art collections in the country, including works by Francis Bacon, Monet, Degas, Bonnard, Alison Watt and Damien Hirst. The centre court, with its archways, checkerboard marble floor and rose granite pillars makes for the perfect contrast with the more outré modern pieces on display.

4. Chill out in the original Victorian Union Terrace Gardens while you still can, before the highly-unpopular planned redevelopment takes place. Sunken below street level between Rosemount Viaduct and Union Street, and surrounded on all sides by the best of Aberdeen’s architecture, including His Majesty’s Theatre, St Mark’s Church, and the Central Library, it’s a grassy sanctuary but still one of the best ways to soak up the city.

5. Go surfing in the North Sea. Aberdeen of all Scottish cities has a thriving skateboarding scene, and this combined with the wealth of waves on its doorstep makes for the ideal conditions for a burgeoning surf community. Skate and surf shop Granite Reef runs a surf school with Dee Rippoll, who is sponsored by surfing giants O’Neill and is the current Scottish ladies champion. Lessons, including all equipment, are £40 per person or £60 for a one-on-one session. Sick, likes.

6. One of Aberdeen’s oldest pubs, The Prince of Wales has been around since 1850, and still can’t be beaten for real ales and folk music. It also boasts the longest bar in the city, although that doesn’t stop the queues as it can also lay claim to the most loyal and numerous of regulars. It serves a huge selection of Scottish and English ales, with regular guest stars, as well as brewing its own. Tucked away down cobbled Gaelic Lane and festooned with welcoming hanging baskets, the interior is just as traditional; cosy, profoundly unpretentious and a surviving slice of real old Aberdeen.

7. Go back in time at a gig at the Beach Ballroom. The art deco venue on the Promenade opened its doors in 1929 and has played host to billeted Second World War soldiers and The Beatles, swing dancers and Pink Floyd fans alike since, and is famed for its bouncing dance floor; literally - it floats on fixed springs. (aberdeencity.gov.uk}

8. Hit the castle trail. The North East is Scotland’s Castle Country, home to around a thousand of them, including the ruined Slains, widely believed to have been Bram Stoker’s inspiration for the home of his undead protagonist. There is a castle trail of 16 of the best signposted around Aberdeenshire, including fairytale-esque Craigievar; opulent 13th century Fyvie; and dramatic Dunnottar on its clifftop overlooking the North Sea, which has played host to William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and Mel Gibson, who filmed Hamlet there. Go to aberdeen-grampian.com to download the trail map.

9. Have a buttery – pronounced butt’ry, and also known as a rowie. Aberdeen’s own croissant, these flat and flaky pastries are a triumph of salt and lard over popular opinion on what those might taste like together, and best eaten warm and slathered in jam for the uninitiated palate. Local opinion is divided over who makes them best, between local bakeries Aitkens and Thains.

10. Marischal College, a gargantuan gothic structure which dominates Aberdeen’s skyline, is the second-largest granite building in the world, after El Escorial Palace in Madrid. Newly cleaned and now dazzlingly dove-white rather than dirty grey, the College was recently leased to Aberdeen City Council as their new headquarters by the University of Aberdeen, and as such is closed to the public while renovations are carried out. Once they reopen, a visit to view the University’s collection of treasures, from Ancient Roman and Egyptian artefacts to the somewhat grotesque displays in the Anatomy Museum, is a must. Until then, just gaping upwards will do.

11. Pray for snow. Glenshee and The Lecht, two of the UK’s best ski and snowboard areas, are both in Aberdeenshire, within easy reach of the city, providing the perfect excuse to get away from the grey of the city during winter, and escape to a world of shimmering white.

12. Teach yourself Doric. Aberdeen is the only city in Scotland to boats its own language, and while you’d be hard-pushed to spend any amount of time in the city and not come away with a passing acquaintance with the dialect (being unable to answer the question “fit like?” will be a real conversation stopper), devote a little more time to studying the language and you’ll gain a greater understanding of both the local history, and psyche (whether you think this is a good thing is entirely a matter of personal taste). Aberdeen University has a dedicated Doric site and the Scots Language Centre site is a great resource, or buy a copy of beginners’ guide Teach Yourself Doric.

13. Ma Cameron’s, Aberdeen’s oldest pub, is a city institution. Once a meeting place for Jacobite sympathisers, it has borne witness to witch trials and burnings, and was run by the same family from 1789 right up until 1933. Today its low ceilings and wood panelling make it a cosy snug for a plate of stovies or haggis, neeps and tatties, to insulate you from the North Sea haar.

14. Go horse riding in Hazlehead Park. Or golfing on one of its two 18-hole courses; or mountain biking on one of its trails; or get lost in Scotland’s oldest maze, planted in 1935; or visit the chinchillas and miniature donkeys at Pets Corner. Formerly the estate of shipbuilder William Rose’s home, Hazlehead House, the park is 180 heavily wooded hectares, dotted with sculptures and heritage finds rescued from around the city. Its Rose Garden is also home to the Piper Alpha Memorial, dedicated to the 167 men who lost their lives in the 1988 disaster, which devastated Aberdeen’s offshore community. (aberdeencity.gov.uk}

15. The Moorings is easily the best and most rock’n’roll bar in Aberdeen, positioned right on the harbour, stuffed with ramshackle pirate memorabilia, lit in red, possessed of a legendary rock and metal jukebox, and all presided over by the venerable proprietor Flash, never seen without his trusty bandana and leather waistcoat. It also screens movies, details of which are posted on the notice board by the jukebox – expect fright night to reign supreme, rather than the cinematic works of Jennifer Aniston.

16. Follow the Speyside whisky trail, where you’ll find more than half of the country’s malt whisky distilleries, each with their own distinctive methods and traditions, resulting in the unique characteristics of each of the whiskies they make. Get yourself a designated driver and stop in at each for a history lesson and a wee dram – it’d be rude not to.

For a trail map of signposted distilleries see maltwhiskytrail.com

17. Aberdeen University’s new £57 million landmark library is open to the public, and has been designed as a cultural focal point for the whole city, with access to all to over one million books and the seventh floor glass-walled viewing gallery. The space age reflective building is Aberdeen’s first iconic new architectural landmark in a long time; a shimmering tower of light, with its sweeping contours and cascading spirals of stairwells in the asymmetrical atrium, sits among buildings from centuries earlier in the university’s 516 year history.

18. Climb some of the most dramatic sea cliffs in the UK, along the north east shore between Aberdeen and Stonehaven. The Mountaineering Council of Scotland has details of clubs around Grampian you can join for expeditions, and if you’re a beginner, alternative sports centre Transition Extreme offers introductory courses on their indoor wall.

19. Dolphin spotting is surprisingly easy to do from Aberdeen. Wander down to the harbour mouth to see them cruising by on their way between the Moray Firth and the Firth of Forth, or head to the beach and walk round to the lighthouse (ice cream in hand), another good vantage point. Or for a more adventurous rendezvous, take a boat trip in the Moray Firth and meet the resident bottle noses, porpoises, seals, basking sharks and minke whales.

20. Celebrate Hogmanay with great balls of fire in Stonehaven. The Fireballs is held every year and is an event unique to the town; a procession of locals who set off down the High Street at midnight swinging balls of fire over their head, illuminating the dark skies and turning the town’s main artery into a sea of fire. The local muscled fishermen used to form the bulk of the procession, which has its roots in pagan custom, and while today it’s more a spectacle than an offering, and all professions are welcome, the tradition is more popular than ever.

21. Visit Royal Deeside. Spoiled for choice as she is, this is reputedly the Queen’s favourite place to pass her time. In the summer a picnic and a paddle on the banks of the Dee are a must, as is a trip on the Royal Deeside railway, a steam engine line that does a round trip from Milton of Crathes station – where, rumour has it, Santa can be seen hanging out in December, making the Queen the second most famous temporary resident.

22. Navigate your way through the 1960s concrete quarter, and between the twin monstrosities of the St Nicholas Centre and the home of Aberdeen City Council, you’ll find a gem in the form of Provost Skene’s House. The house dates from 1545, and contains a series of beautifully preserved rooms from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, showing off pre-Ikea decorating tastes to perfection, including the exquisite teal blue and gold 16th century religious paintings emblazoning the walls and ceiling of the gallery, and the carved plaster ceilings commissioned by former resident Lord Provost George Skene himself.

23. Café 52 serves the best food in Aberdeen, even in the face of increasingly high standards and worthy competition all round, and boasts the most inviting interior – a tiny jewel-coloured space, and a veritably leafy pavement enclave (with heaters, don’t worry). The menu is ever-changing and inventive, the staff hip and happy, and the location on the cobbled Green buried below Union Street and by the harbour, alongside skate and streetwear stores Hanon and Granite Reef and night spot The Tunnels, is among Aberdeen’s most buzzing.

24. Go ghost-hunting among the granite. The Tolbooth Prison Museum is considered to be among the most haunted buildings in Scotland, being the site of a perfectly preserved 17th century gaol. In its former incarnation it was the sight of many an execution, murder and death by torture, including that of its most infamous inmate Janet Walker, also known as the Fittie Witch, who was strangled and then burnt for her crimes against Christianity. The waxwork prisoners in the reconstructions may be faintly ridiculous but reports from staff of ghostly singing, clanking keys and jangling keys, white mists rising and invisible fingers tightening round necks should dispel the laughter quickly enough. Tours can be arranged, for those made of stern stuff.

25. Aberdeen’s Maritime Museum on, of course, Shiprow tells the story of the city’s symbiotic relationship with the sea, one which few others could match for intimacy, dependency or durability, and in doing so the history of shipping, sailing and fishing themselves. Ship plans, oil rig models and touch screens bring the story to life, and believe it or not the exhibits on the North Sea’s oil and gas industry are among the most interesting, revealing more about the Aberdonian mentality yesterday and today than perhaps anything else.