The City of Aberdeen
About the City
Aberdeen has something for everyone. Its rich cultural heritage combines with a thriving contemporary community and a strong economic pulse, to make the Granite City a lively and rewarding place in which to live and study.
Nestling on the coast between the rivers Dee and Don, it is a compact city with a population of 216,000. Renowned for its splendid granite architecture, it sparkles like a jewel on the edge of the North Sea, bordered by cultivated farmland, wild moors, beautiful beaches and rugged hills.
Aberdeen is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city, welcoming business people and their families from throughout the world. Its buoyant economy is the result of diverse commercial activities - including trading, tourism, farming and fishing - which sustain a high quality of lifestyle. More recently, it has become the hub of the world's offshore energy network and is the off-shore oil capital of Europe.
As a university city, Aberdeen has always taken the student population to its heart. It has much to offer in the way of entertainment and leisure, at a range of costs to suit every pocket. The city centre has several busy shopping malls - designer boutiques, major chain-stores, charity shops and antique and speciality shops - as well as a wide choice of nightclubs, wine bars, traditional pubs and restaurants. The city has a thriving nightlife. Cinema-goers also have plenty of choice.
Culturally, Aberdeen caters for all tastes. His Majesty's Theatre, a magnificent Edwardian building, attracts international companies performing ballet, theatre, opera and light entertainment. The concert halls regularly feature classical, contemporary and rock concerts. Exceptional museums and an art gallery, including the University's museums and collections, display the visual arts, local heritage and visiting exhibitions. The popular Lemon Tree venue, with its café-bar atmosphere, attracts an exciting mixture of contemporary theatre, dance, stand-up comedy and music.
There are excellent facilities for sports lovers - from indoor leisure centres to golf courses; horse riding to windsurfing; as well as a range of national league sports for those who prefer to spectate. Only in Aberdeen can the dedicated sports fan achieve the feat of windsurfing at the beach and ski-ing in the mountains - all in a single day!
There are miles of golden beaches, dunes and cliffs, which give shelter to great colonies of seabirds and winter migrants. The nearby Cairngorm mountains offer superb opportunities for hillwalking, mountaineering and ski-ing, and rivers such as the Dee, the Don, the Ythan and the Ugie offer fishing, rowing, canoeing, as well as breathtaking scenery.
Getting about is easy in Aberdeen, which has excellent bus services giving access to all parts of the city and suburbs. But distances are short and a pleasant walk or a brief cycle run are reliable alternatives. Cheap and regular rail, bus and air links will get you around Scotland and the UK - London is a little over an hour away by plane.
You are assured of an enthusiastic welcome in Aberdeen from both the University and the wider community in which it thrives.
- Further information about Aberdeen is available via Local Web links
- You might like to check today's Weather in Aberdeen at BBC Weather
