Why do you like Aberdeen?

There’s a potential move to Aberdeen on the cards for us, but I’ve had some pretty mixed experiences with the city. I know there are a few folk on here who live or have lived there and I’m interested to hear about the good stuff. I’m not looking for specific advice, just things that folk like about being there.

Hit me with your Aberdeen love.

Love Aberdeenshire (lived here for about 15 years), but i avoid Aberdeen city at all costs. Pre-pandemic i was working Monday-Friday in Aberdeen. I haven’t found a single reason to visit since March 2020, other than to attend a course. Make of that what you will.

I don’t

HTH

Fond memories of visiting my gran and grandpa and seeing where my dad grew up
Butteries
The beach boulevard
Ace riding of all kinds nearby
Hogmanay
The funny accent my cousins have

Not a huge fan, would rather be closer to Inverness if up that way

I don’t, but it has loads of really good riding nearby these days

It’s all about the outdoors, you’ve got great access to some of the best biking and walking in the UK, a beautiful coastline and snow sports in the winter. It’s relatively dry, we get about half the rainfall that the west of Scotland gets. On the downside, it’s a long way from everywhere else and it can be cold.

I was born there but brought up In Elgin . I’ve supported the football team for over 40 years but as for the city I’m not a fan.I’ve just never found it freindly compared to further north. That said deeside is nice and so is the Moray firth which are both close. Also Deeside has ace biking . I’d probably try and stay within half and hour of the city , I recently went to Stonehaven and was pleasantly surprised.

Aberdeenshire for me. I live right on the city limits and barring work I almost exclusively turn right up deeside.

The hills are near , the water is near , the riding us good.

Getting anywhere else is a horror show.

Aberdeenshire for me. I live right on the city limits and barring work I almost exclusively turn right up deeside.

The hills are near , the water is near , the riding us good.

Getting anywhere else(city wise) is a horror show.

The road north is shit the road West is shit(for getting to other city’s ) and the road south is ok now it’s been average camera’d but even before that the stretch from laurencekirk to forfar seemed to go on forever

Aberdeenshire has lots of pleasant countryside, my childhood involved lots of walks around the grounds of the multitude of National Trust properties in the area, over the area’s hills, etc. There’s lots of funny little stone circles to find, a few nice ruined castles and some interesting things like Burn o’ Vat and Tap o’ Noth. I haven’t lived there since I went to university but I’ve managed to have fun rides in the area when visiting my parents too. And while it’s not a particularly warm part of the country it does compensate by not being particularly wet either.

If you’re looking for positive things about Aberdeen then it’s not a huge city (and not particularly high rise either), but in some ways has OK facilities (because there’s not much else nearby to have them!) It can actually look quite nice when it’s dry and bright, the granite can sparkle, though it is unrelentingly grey when it’s wet and dark. Having never actually lived there (I grew up in Westhill, about the most that can be said about there is that it exists) I don’t really have much else to say about it. It’s just over 2 hours’ drive away from Edinburgh, so it’s not quite as far away from everything else as some people assume.

I’ve lived in Aberdeen for 27 years. I’m a weegie but reckon Aberdeen is a much better place to live if you like the outdoors.

Plus points:
Has a beach.
Close to Cairngorms national park.
Access to Deeside which has lots of road cycling, mountain biking and walking options.
Access to coastal cliffs.
Drier climate than the west and milder as it’s on the coast compared to inland.
The city centre is currently being regenerated.
Negatives:
Long way from west coast and central belt.
Short days in winter.
The haar.

I’m not the best person to ask though as I’m selling up and moving next year.

I didn’t, so I moved. The haar is grim, and too frequent for my tastes

OP I’m assuming this is for work and you’ll be expected to go to the office? If so where is that? It makes quite a difference to the city vs. shire debate. Also do you have kids?

I moved here for 6 months… that was 15 years ago so it can’t all be bad 🙂 Agree with Aberdeenlune’s summary… plus the city itself does have everything you need within easy reach. Its pretty small so its the kind of place where you bump into people you know which is nice. Most of the kids activities are within 5-10mins of the house. Also the green spaces are good, winter gardens in Duthie park etc. Dry ski slope with a decent club, and as mentioned only 1.5 hrs up to Glenshee/Lecht. And despite covid/oil industry decline there are still some decent eating and drinking spots about.

Haar… yes that can be annoying. There seems to have less of it in recent years…. and in fact noticeably better summer weather in general than when we first moved here. It can still be 5deg warmer in Banchory than in town though!

Brother lives there and loves the surrounding countryside. Don’t think he goes into the city much at all. I’ve been to visit a few times and he’s always taken us out into the country and it is lovely with all the usual country things to do. He’s a cyclist so plenty of riding to be had. But yes, getting there is a PITA. He used to work all over the world and its easier to go and visit him in some foreign country than driving up to Aberdeen.

And for him going on holiday is a PITA and alot more expensive. Basically an extra day each side of a holiday to just get to an airport and back often with an overnight stop at each end depending on flight times. Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are pretty limited so he often has to trek down to London or at least Manchester. Obviously depends on the holidays you like to take.

I quite like the city, its not as grim as folk make out, loads of positives mentioned already.

But I’d be slightly concerned about the effects of the oil n gas stuff dwindling down. Won’t happen for a few years, but hopefully will happen sooner than we we expect.

Ferry to/from Shetland or Orkney… otherwise we never sent much time in Aberdeen itself.

Also, big Pete was at uni there, he’ll tell you what clubs to avoid.

I used to live in peterhead, which is just up the road.
I didn’t like it too much, but i was young, I’d probably prefer it now tbh.
Aberdeenshire is great, for the many reasons listed above.
Aberdeen itself, meh, it’s ok i guess.
The road south (A90) is ok now it’s been average camera’d, but feels like it drags on a bit.
I drive up and down it regularly, (bus) it’s my least favourite run.
Location, location, location.

Its a cauld, cauld place

Humblebrag moment? I’m nearly 40, have travelled a fair bit, and I have never ever been in a city as absolutely joyless as Aberdeen. It’s especially frustrating as it has so many elements that should make it great, but they never quite fit together. Amazing green spaces, great wee boutique shops, some really properly authentic world cuisine, a massive beach, great art galleries, and a couple of great music venues. On paper it rivals Edinburgh or Glasgow. But it’s a depressing shithole.
The Shire, though? Fab.

I visited once on business. I enjoyed the giant Jenga in a bar. Otherwise…

I’m nearly 40, have travelled a fair bit, and I have never ever been in a city as absolutely joyless

Holiday destinations yeah ? I’ve been to plenty places in totalitarian states and FSU countries that make Aberdeen look like Disney land.

When to uni there. I liked it. Live near Glasgow now and think I’d probably prefer Aberdeen for lots of reasons. Tons of great riding and walking in easy reach. It is a bit chilly, but so much drier that the west. The city itself is fine – as mentioned above, the granite sparkles in the sun, looks like grey concrete in the wet – think grey soviet cityscape.

Edit – trail_rat…and there’s me comparing it to the FSU!

I popped my Cherry with Louise in Aberdeen. That was really the highlight.

I popped my Cherry with Louise in Aberdeen. That was really the highlight.

Was that THE Louise?

I work in Aberdeen when I’m not WFH but am another one who prefers to live in the Shire. Depending how close you work to the train station, that could mean commuting by car though, which isn’t ideal. Students tend to quite like the city, saying that it is not too big and feels safe and if you like the things a city brings then it seems to have most of those.

As others have mentioned the joy of Aberdeen isn’t Aberdeen. It is what is in reach from Aberdeen. Aberdeen has everything you need and it doesn’t take long to get out of it. My folks live in Peterculter. I’ve lived in Aboyne and now live in Westhill.

Aboyne was brilliant. Riding from the door and endless dog walks along with a great village, nice pub. Down side was long commute to work for my wife and the only public transport is a 2 hour bus to Aberdeen.

Westhill its self is pretty uninspiring but has everything you need with good transport links to Aberdeen, its just off the the bypass to go south and short distances to all the good stuff in the shire.

Peterculter much like westhill is good links to Aberdeen and just on the edge of all the good stuff.

In defence of Aberdeen. If you only find the joyless you’re missing out. It’s not a bad place. Not as vibrant as Glasgow or Edinburgh perhaps, and spoilt by years of not having to try because of oil money. But despite that it has an amazing history. The country around is big. Really big. The funny little stone circles tell a story of thousands of years of human habitation. The oldest calendar in the world is in a field at Crathes. Best of all, there aren’t too many people. A few too many over sized audis and those daft Volvos maybe. But not too many people.

Edit. Aberdeen isn’t very big so I wouldn’t bother differentiating between the city and shire.

Pittodrie is a belting away trip. 😆

The riding is the best in Scotland. Better and more varied than the tweed valley

The riding is the best in Scotland. Better and more varied than the tweed valley

Aye, proved every weekend by the hordes heading to Aberdeen for their trail fix.

‘Where are you biking this weekend?’ ‘Aberdeen’ isn’t a conversation I’ve heard in nigh on 20 years of MTBing.

The above is obviously tongue in cheek, but to be fair, the biking in Aberdeenshire SHOULD be more varied, as the area absolutely dwarfs the tweed valley.

Better is subjective.

I’ve three of my staff team who were at Aberdeen Uni.

They love the place and will barely have a bad word said against it. N<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>ote that none of them currently chose to live there….</span>

As others have said, it’s not a bad place, but perhaps it’s facing changing times these days. Oil money is about to be changed for more sustainable money.

I’ve worked in a few schools there for work. There good ones really are great, some of the best I’ve been to. There are a few though that have some of the toughest customers I’ve met.

I live in Banchory in Aberdeenshire, it ace.

https://www.pinkbike.com/u/rossbellphoto/blog/destination-showcase-aberdeenshire-scotland.html

Only place I’ve seen hookers openly plying their trade in the UK!

Thanks for your perspectives, everyone!

I don’t think it’s changed Aberdeen in my ranking of places we might end up but it’s at least given me hope that we’ll find a good spot if we do go there.

I moved up to Aberdeen for Uni and have been here ever since – now 20 years! As a student the city centre was perfect. A pretty good nightlife and everything is within walking distance.

A career in the oil industry has kept me here so far but I wouldn’t change it. Now live only 3 miles out of the city centre and still like it. It has everything you need within a relatively small area. The city centre is undergoing some regeneration which looks like it is going to continue extensively with the new ‘masterplan’. All good things in my opinion.

It’s a beautiful place when the sun is shining – look up to spot some incredible architecture and plenty of green spaces. I cycle commute to work and infrastructure is severely lacking and I have no confidence that it will ever improve.

Easy access to the outdoors with some brilliant walking and riding in Aberdeenshire (that’s about as far as my outdoor pursuits go).

Aberdeen is great!

Pittodrie is a belting away trip. 😆

Agreed. Although it comes second only to Arbroath in terms of Scotland’s coldest away day 🙂

Wrt to the master plan.

That suggests Aberdeen is Dundee 30 years ago right now.

I was in Dundee as a kid when they were stuck in these doldrums and started their regeneration of the centre program.

They have gone from strength to strength over the years- every time I go back I’m reminded

I lived there for a year or so back in 2006/2007.

I would never go back there. The biggest difference I’ve found between Glasgow and Aberdeen is that in Glasgow trouble is fairly easy to avoid. In Aberdeen it comes looking for you.

In the year I was there I was in three fights on nights out (just people deciding they didn’t like my face as far as I can tell), I saw a guy getting stabbed in the chip shop round the corner from my flat, and two cars were burned out across the road from me.

I moved back to Glasgow where it I felt far safer.

Thanks for that Cathro video @cultsdave (shirely you’ll need to change your name now). Scolty looking way different from when I used to ride there, where is all the mud? And Pitfichie (I remember when I could ride the down hill on a 20” cannondale M2000, yup a looooong time ago!). Where is that Chutney run? They should’ve done the Fungle though.

Aberdeen is what you make it. Spent 50 years in the shire and city (Crathes, milltimber, city centre-ish (various), Insch, Banchory-Devenick and Blairs). I’m a country boy so would hate to live in a city again. Loved the shire. It does get a bit grim in winter mind. Dark, cold, icy or wet (sometimes both) used to have scrape the windscreen 4 months of the year if early starts.

As I’ve family and friends I’m back to ABZ about 4 times a year. I quite look forward to it (but it does almost feel like coming home).

Only place I’ve seen hookers openly plying their trade in the UK!

Well, if you walk down the one street they ‘parade’ all day you’re going to find them (didn’t they shut the tolerance zone down a while back?). I’ve had the ‘business?’ Approach on Bath Street in Glasgow which is the only time I’ve been propositioned by prostitutes in Scotland. That was a shock/bit of a surprise.

Pity the route setting in the climbing wall is so shit.

In the year I was there I was in three fights on nights out (just people deciding they didn’t like my face as far as I can tell), I saw a guy getting stabbed in the chip shop round the corner from my flat, and two cars were burned out across the road from me.

Where did you live, Sandilands?

There are definitely some areas I’d avoid at night (George Street end. Mostly.) however for a while (when I lived in Milltimber) I’d walk home the 5-6 miles from the city centre the worse for wear after a night out.