Next Tours
OLD ABERDEEN: HISTORICAL SECRETS MINI TOUR
FRIDAY 27 APRIL 2018
A whistle-stop tour of Kings College campus and the hidden gems left over from the Powis Estate. One of our mini-tours series, where you can have a short taster of longer tours. More details on content here. We start outside Elphinstone Hall and finish in Kings Quad.
MEET: Outside Elphinstone Hall, Regent Walk (Map)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: 1hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
FORGOTTEN FERRYHILL: ABERDEEN'S GEORGIAN SUBURB
WEDNESDAY 2 MAY 2018
Ferryhill is a showcase of Georgian and Victorian architecture, but there's much more to this former marshland than you see today! Beginning at the site of the old Dee Village, we wend our way to Duthie Park, where you can then go for a post-tour drink or snack at Inn at the Park hotel, owned by our friends, Ronnie and Steph Caird, and dogs are welcome in the cosy bar! More details about the tour here.
MEET: Dee Village Bus Stop, Crown St, opposite New China Takeaway (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
ROSEMOUNT MINI RAMBLE
THURSDAY 3 MAY 2018
A brand new mini tour! Extracted from the Rosemount full-length tour, we will spend a bit more time in Mackie Place and around Jack's Brae. Starting again at The Cult of Coffee, sadly it will be closed then! However, do visit Crolla's Gelateria on Rosemount Place which is open until 10pm (so you can go after as well!). More details HERE.
MEET: The Cult of Coffee, 28 Esslemont Avenue (MAP).
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 1hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow.
CASTLEGATE: THE BLACK KALENDAR
MONDAY 7 MAY 2018
A new collection of horror tales from the city's darker side. The Castlegate was the site of execution from the 1770s, and many a brutal slaying took place here throughout the centuries. Based on a previous ghost tour, this new tour begins and ends at Old Blackfriars pub, the former Freelands Bar/ Royal Oak, two old merchant buildings which had dubious connections to white slavery! Enjoy a drink or have your supper before the tour. Meet downstairs in lower bar. More details on tour here. (not suitable for children under 10yr.)
MEET: Old Blackfriars, Castlegate, Aberdeen City Centre (MAP) from 7pm.
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow.
OLD ABERDEEN'S ARCHITECTURAL SECRETS
THURSDAY 10 MAY 2018
A perennial favourite, come for a wander around Aberdeen's medieval unviersity campus, featuring such gems as Kings College Chapel, St Machar Cathedral and Elphinstone Hall (which isn't actually medieval!). The buildings tell their own stories as do the ghosts of those no longer in existance, like the Snow Kirk and Dunbar's Bede House. Read more details here.
MEET: Kings College Entry Path, High Street, Old Aberdeen (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
ROSEMOUNT RAMBLE
SATURDAY 12 MAY 2018
Second run of our newest tour which looks at the history of Rosemount and bits of Gilcomston, which Rosemount grew from the in mid-19th century. Beginning at our new favourite coffee shop where you can grab a latte and a cake beforehand. Including some true hidden gems and a chance to see our famous Denburn river flowing in the open. Furry friends welcome if socialised. More details here. Please note earlier start time to normal evening tours, this is to ensure you have time to enjoy some food and drink in the cafe's last hour of the day!
MEET: The Cult of Coffee, 28 Esslemont Avenue, Aberdeen (MAP) from 6pm.
STARTS: 6.30pm
DURATION: Approx 2hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
DUTHIE PARK: SECRETS & STORIES (MINI TOUR)
WEDNESDAY 16 MAY 2018
One of our five mini tours giving customers a taste of what we do. Duthie Park was one of the city's first "pleasure gardens" donated by Miss Elizabeth Crombie Duthie, only surviving daughter of shipbuilder Alexander Duthie. It is full of artefacts and fascinating tales about its origins which you will hear on this 1hr jaunt. As ever, we recommend our local hotel, Inn at the Park as a pit stop before or after the walk which returns to the Polmuir Road gates of the park. More here.
MEET: Polmuir Road Gates, Duthie Park (MAP) from 15min before start time
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: Approx 1hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
MEDIEVAL & PREHISTORIC ORIGINS TOUR
THURSDAY 17 MAY 2018
An old favourite which follows the medieval routes of the city beginning in Shiprow, which when joined to Netherkirkgate, is Aberdeen's oldest street, once known as Vicius Franxini - the Road of the Ash Tree - first recorded in 1212 AD. Including the Green, Upper Denburn and the edge of Gilcomston, we end at the prehistoric site now under the tenements of Hill Street, which gives a clue to the stone circle which once stood there. A lengthy walk, not suitable for those with mobility issues. More details here.
MEET: Aberdeen Maritime Museum, Shiprow (MAP) from 7pm.
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: Approx 2hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
FORGOTTEN FITTIE: FROM THE KIRKTOUN TO THE FISHER SQUARES
SATURDAY 19 MAY 2018
Full-length run of our popular walk through all of Fittie's past from its early origins as Pockraw, the fisher enclave near the Kirktoun of St Clements from early medieval times to the planned village provided by the council as a sop to destroying their old homes in favour of harbour development in the early 19th century. Not suitable for those with mobility issues, fine for canine friends! Ends at the Round House, Pocra Quay. More details here.
MEET: St Clement's East Kirk, St Clement's Street/Church Street (MAP) from 15min before start time
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: Approx 2hrs
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
SIREN CITY: REMEMBERING ABERDEEN'S BIG BLITZ
MONDAY 21 MAY 2018
We're back at Airyhall to share images and oral reminiscences from Aberdeen's worst air-raid in April 1943. In the space of an hour, over 130 bombs were dropped on the city from Middlefield to the West End, causing death and devastation, in fact the worst lost of civilian life experienced during WW2, 96 ordinary folk, some vanished from the records as they were never found. Images taken from the Grampian Police Force Museum (no longer in existence) which formed part of an exhibition in 2010 at the Limousine Bull Studio in Torry.
New images not normally shared in the tour version will be displayed, and we will have a number of artefacts from the Urban Studies Trust which will surprise and entertain. The radio clips were taken from interviews conducted in 2009 for the Grampian Police archive, which is sadly no more.
Tea/ Coffee and cakes provided by the lovely community centre folks as part of your ticket price!
VENUE: Airyhall Community Centre, Countesswells Road, Aberdeen (MAP)
DOORS OPEN: 7pm
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION approx 2hr (inc interval)
TICKETS: Click HERE to book, or in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre in Shiprow (£10 all tickets)
Suitable for children over 8 yr; centre has disabled access;
ABERDEEN'S BLITZ: REMEMBERING 21 APRIL 1943
WEDNESDAY 23 MAY 2018
As a follow-up to our indoor talk, those who are feeling fit can join us to visit the actual sites of the bombings from the fateful night of 21st April 1943. At nearly 3miles this is a strenuous walk, so wear appropriate shoes/boots! Beginning at the site of Kittybrewster Railway Station, we follow the route of the enemy bombers down into the centre of town, finishing on John Street. More details here.
MEET: Kittybrewster Council Depot, 38 Powis Terrace (MAP) about 15min before start point
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION approx 2.25hrs
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
HIDDEN ABERDON: TALES OF THE RIVER
FRIDAY 25 MAY 2018
This tour is part wildlife-walk and part history of a long-lost part of Old Aberdeen. Beginning at the university library and ending at the medieval Brig o Balgownie, we pass through the Chanonry, historic former precinct of the Bishop of Aberdon to Seaton Park, once the estate of the Gordons and then Hays of Seaton. Plenty to see, and there's always the chance some of Seaton Park's wild creatures will put in an appearance, including squirrels, seals, otters, herons, ducks (of all varieties) and even bats! More here.
MEET: Sir Duncan Rice Library, Meston Walk, Old Aberdeen (MAP) about 15min before start point
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2hrs
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
LOST CINEMAS OF ABERDEEN
MONDAY 28 MAY 2018
Aberdeen truly could describe itself as Cinema City in the early 20th century - with a total of 42 cinemas, and 30 operating at any one time, we had the most picter hooses in Scotland. Following on from the indoor talk, this is your chance to see the sites of these once glorious cinemas in situ. Only the Belmont Filmhouse remains in its original position with its original exterior, but sadly nothing remains of so many others which were architecturally stunning in their own right. With the background stories to each cinema on the route, we attempt to cover the ones from the city centre only. More details here.
MEET: Nuffield Health Club, Justice Mill Lane, Aberdeen (Former Odeon Cinema), (MAP) around 15min before the start.
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: approx 2hrs
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
FITTIE: ABERDEEN'S PLANNED FISHER VILLAGE (MINI TOUR)
WEDNESDAY 30 MAY 2018
A brand-new addition to our mini-tours series; beginning on Pocra Quay near the site of the original Block House, a stone fort first erected in the 15th century to protect the city from "English invaders", we follow the fall and rise of the fisher residents of the Kirktoun of Futty, who forced the council into providing them a new home when harbour development threatened to obliterate the old village of Pockraw in the late 18th century. More details here.
MEET: Footdee Dock Workers' Memorial, Pocra Quay, Opposite Memorial Cross (MAP) about 15min before start
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: Approx 1hr
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
TALES OF OLD TORRY
THURSDAY 31 MAY 2018
We begin at the foot of Sinclair Road, near the heart of the old fisher village, once an independent royal burgh, now a forgotten suburb, come and learn the stories and history of the former Kincardineshire settlement, which finally became part of Aberdeen City in 1891. Also making a pilgrimage to the now closed Aitken's Bakery on Menzies Road, the reputed home of the rowie! More details here.
MEET: Junction of Sinclair Road & Baxter Street (site of Torry Bar), about 15 min before start (MAP)
STARTS: 7.30pm
DURATION: Approx 2.25hrs
TICKETS: Click HERE to book or, in person at Visit Scotland's iCentre, Shiprow
more dates will be added very soon!
Please note, if dates are not shown it means there are no tours planned yet for those dates or they are free for private bookings.
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