North of edinburgh – in the forth? 🙂

Watch him, he’ll be one of those dodgy Fifers

I just moved to near Edinburgh about a month ago, and from what I’ve seen so far I like. Commute in the car from Bonnyrigg to Corstorphine which is fine (admittedly I was used to driving past Birmingham to get to work on a morning so traffic up here seems like nothing!). Getting the bus into the city for meetings is great, plus generally wandering round a very nice city. With the hills surrounding it never really feels like you’re trapped in a big city, and there’s loads of options for weekends away within a couple of hours drive (Lakes, Dumfries, Perthshire, Pennines, Northumberland, the list goes on…). Probably looking to buy a house in Penicuik to have the Pentlands handy.

Hey…

Firstly it’s her not him 😉 . And no… not a mermaid or a fifer, am from the Wee County! 🙂

😳

Apologies, didn’t mean to offend

Interesting though this thread, as the Aberdeen or Edinburgh choice is one I’m having to make.

I’m leaning towards Edinburgh, but only really because it makes unplanned trips to the north of England so much easier. Probably end up living in that dodgy Fife place though

One other addition I will make is that if you do intend to travel south into England a lot then Edinburgh would probably be a better choice. As good as the roads are these day’s it’s still essentially a 2 hr drive from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.

If you do go to Aberdeen I’d get yourself somewhere to live outside of the city.

*10

I lived in Aberdeen for a few years and did not like it at all. Moved out to near Stonehaven and loved it, especially Stonehaven. There’s some fine biking and great places around Aberdeen but I’d give the city itself a miss. The big drawback to this is road links are poor, for example, although I was only about 15 miles from work, roadworks on the A90 almost closed access to Aberdeen from the south – nothing a motorbike couldn’t fix. I think that’s true to the north as well, but not so sure about the west.

EDIT FWIW, I moved from Glasgow to Aberdeen. If I had to choose a Scottish city, it would be Glasgow, much more fun and better access to the fleshpots of England (M74/M6)if that’s your thing

Probably end up living in that dodgy Fife place though

TJ might know more about this than I do, but the roadworks around the new bridge look like they could mean some serious congestion around the existing bridge landfalls

As good as the roads are these day’s it’s still essentially a 2 hr drive from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.

Aberdeen-Dundee – 60+ miles, camera infested road in Grampian police area
Dundee-Edinburgh same again, roadworks around bridge landfall for the next couple of years (40 limit)
+ allow around 10-15 minutes at Dundee

I’ve just moved house in the Aberdeen-shire… from Westhill, to Banchory.
Both are great places to live with great biking on the doorstep.
Westhill was a 30 minute bike into the city centre. Banchory is an hour.

I echo the comments about the city of Aberdeen as well, I’m not a fan.

Another thing to take into account with Aberdeen regarding travel though, is flying.
Flights to anywhere from Dyce are generally pretty expensive due to all the oil workers flying in and out.

I love living in the Shire. Not sure I’d live anywhere else in the UK right now.

I think Aberdeen or Edinburgh are a great places to be based near. I’m in Stonehaven just south of Aberdeen and like to visit Edinburgh a few times a year to play in a city and get some extra culture (which can be a bit lacking up in Aberdeen); but I wouldn’t want to live in ANY city. The mountains, forests and beaches up near Aberdeen are amazing, although the weather can often make them only for the committed (IMHO this is a good thing).

A few of the villages/towns around Aberdeen have managed to retain some semblance of a community and are not total commuter shells. Stonehaven, Banchory, and Inverurie spring to mind as large enough to have other things going on. Stonehaven in particular is still a great holiday destination and has the outdoor pool in the summer and various festivals and events which are rightly famous… and all with a beach on one side and hills/mountains on the other (it always feels like a mountain when your riding out of Stonehaven as all the roads go up). In the winter there are often surfers in the bay and the sailing club hosts events through the summer.

Us Aberdeen people whinge about the commuting but if you’ve been in any other city it’s really not that bad (unless there is an accident or road works which almost always cause total chaos as most roads are single lane and the alternatives are often far worse). You could try to choose wisely on which side of town to be and if possible pick your hours to avoid the worst of the traffic, but your only commuting and at work for part of the time so best to live where you want and how you want (same as anywhere else then 🙄 ). If you can use the train then it’s brilliant, with some people biking one way and taking the train back.

There are quite a few independent little bike shops about as well as the obvious big boys in Aberdeen itself. The new bike shop (BikeRemedy) in Stonehaven should do well with Christian at the helm… he’s an Essex refugee but fits right in and loves the place. On the subject of shops customer service can be lacking in many of the Aberdeen shops but as with most places the independents tend to be better than the chains, you might pay a premium for this service but at least your rewarding service rather than filling shareholders pockets.

As above… see Aberdeen as Aberdeenshire and there really is always something going on somewhere, with the bonus of most people being friendly (outwith certain areas of Aberdeen… see local press for details ).

Transport links for holidays etc can be a pain although it’s not a huge hassle to drive to Edinburgh or Glasgow (or Manchester) to get holiday flights.

If you plan to bike through the winter budget for some bright bike lights and good winter kit 😉

in Stonehaven should do well with Christian at the helm

Oh so he’s moved from EBC then? His commute will be a fair bit easier!

Well spotted gonefishin 😆

He’s getting stock in now and has great plans. I was sorry to see Joe, Chris and Sam from Cycle-World go but Arbroath is not that far away (even if going down there is a bit like going back in time 20 years 😉 ).

Just spotted that it’s his own setup. I’ll have to throw some business his way. To be fair though I’ve seldom had bad service from either of the main bike shops in town.

To be fair though I’ve seldom had bad service from either of the main bike shops in town.

Neither have I… it was more a generalisation about other shops in Aberdeen but perhaps it reads as if I meant bike shops… oops!

For the record… I’ve not had bad servce from any of the Aberdeen bike shops 🙄

It will be academic where you move to, really, since independence will shaft the entire country make everywhere brill to live!

Stonehaven in particular is still a great holiday destination and has the outdoor pool in the summer

oh yeah, i’d forgotten that, it’s brill, an open air swim then a saunter along the boardwalk to the harbour and a pint in the marine, possibly seeing some dolphins in the bay.

just pure dead brilliant so it is

Never thought there’d be soo many people from Aberdeen/area hanging about on this forum.

Aberdeen the city seems to be getting a bit of a kicking… I like to think of it as quirky in a very special sort of a way. An acquired taste. Can second Bike Remedy in Stonehaven as a good place to take your bike.

isnt stonehaven where they invented the deep fried mars bar? And dont forget the Hook and Eye. And is the vennel still in business?

Never thought there’d be soo many people from Aberdeen/area hanging about on this forum.

Indeed. And it’s not as if it isn’t Friday afternoon and the sun is shining for the first time this year.
Let’s get out and ride in that beautiful countryside we’re all harping on about!!

Let’s get out and ride in that beautiful countryside we’re all harping on about!!

Ohh would love to, positively barmy here too. Roll on this evening.

stavaigan – Yep, that’s Stonhaven’s claim to fame – deep fried mars bars.

I think the deep fried Mars bar is every wee Scottish town’s claim to fame (I’m from Dumfries, and we claimed it when I was at school). 🙂

I’ve lived in Aberdeen for 12 years and have never regretted coming here. I think if you’re more interested in what’s outside the city then it’s a better option than Edinburgh just for how much quieter the roads are once you’re out of town.

There are nice areas to live within the city such as the West end and Rosemount (My ‘hood) and I think the city itself is pretty much the right size of city with just enough to keep you entertained in terms of nice places to eat, cinemas etc. The traffic is bad at rush hour, but I don’t really notice since I ride everywhere. There are great places to live in Deeside, but you pay for the privilege. Other surrounding areas aren’t that cheap either, mind!

Probably Aberdeen’s main problem is that it takes a long time to get anywhere else that isn’t in the Cairngorms direction, but as stated by others there are great forests, mountains and beaches all nearby so the need to travel perhaps isn’t as great.

Indeed. And it’s not as if it isn’t Friday afternoon and the sun is shining for the first time this year.
Let’s get out and ride in that beautiful countryside we’re all harping on about!!

Or sitting in the Brew Dog bar with tired legs from last night’s three peaks of Bennachie working your way through some fantastic beverages…
Tokyo!

Or sitting in the Brew Dog bar with tired legs from last night’s three peaks of Bennachie working your way through some fantastic beverages…
Tokyo!

Git….. 😉

alpine girl, Cycle Highlands! Rich is sound!

James does the graft though.

thanks everyone.
I am amazed at how many people on here are from or near Aberdeen.

It looks Aberdeen is where I am going – probably by mid October.
Looking at houses around Banchory and Alford as I will be working in Westhill.

I really liked the feel of Aberdeen, small but has everything I would want although I dont imagine I will be going into the city much.

I expect that I will be posting soon for people to ride with!