"Aberdeen - The Granite City" a Aberdeen Travel Page by AC1

Aberdeen, in the Grampian region, is the third largest city in Scotland and the capital of the North East. With a population of approximately 250,000 Aberdeen dominatesthe region and as a focal point is expected to serve all the needs of a large population beyond the city boundaries. If compare to major city around the world, this is a considerably very small city. However, all first time visitors will be amazed with the crowded busy streets Monday to Sunday. This is mainly because Aberdeen is playing her role to serve the whole region in the proximity of within 100 miles radius. It is a dynamic, modern city that has managed to retain its character, traditions and values. One therefore finds a very high standard of facilities from health care and sporting activity to education and entertainment. The range of available services often surprises the first time visitor.

Traditionally, the area has derieved its wealth from agriculture and its extensive fishing industry. More recently, the arrival of oil industry in the North Sea, has added a new dimension to the local economy and has in turn created a more cosmopolitan and prosperous atmosphere.

The City has been ranked as one of the most prosperous in the UK. Whether through this prosperity or for other social reasons, Aberdeen has relatively little crime in comparison with the rest of the UK. Many overseas families are amazed that children can play outside and walk home from school in safety without being accompanied by an adult. One can see why it was recently rated second most desirable British city to live in. (Edinburgh was the first).

Aberdeen is large enough to have the amenities one would expect in a major British city but is small enough that one feels very much part of a community. Major rock & roll bands, touring theatre companies and orchestras, regularly visit it. The city is well provided with a variety of excellent restaurants, cinemas, clubs, modern stores and shopping centres.

In Aberdeen you are never far away from the countryside with its richly wooded valleys, lonely lochs (lakes) and mountain roads, moors covered with purple and white heather and a magnificent series of castles. The area has more than 350 castle sites, most of them concentrated around the fertile valleys of the Rivers of Dee and Don. Some are nothing but ruins, recalling turbulent centuries of Scottish history, others survive as massive stone forts still capable of withstanding a siege; others are fairy tale structures, composed towers with conical roofed turrets, such as Balmoral the summer home of the Queen.

Little fishing villages punctuate the coastline, where sandy beaches alternate with precipitous cliffs and sweeping bays with dunes, salt-flats or pebbles. Some, such as Stoneheaven (pronouced as Sto-ney-heaven) have rapidly expanded due to the influx of people connected with the oil industry and are now large towns.

The clean and elegant city of Aberdeen itself, known locally as "The Granite City" is build mainly of sparkling grey granite. THe city authorities have gone to great lengths to ensure that the Georgian part of the city, with its gracious terraces, squares and crescents, and the solid Victorian buildings that accompanied the 19th century prosperity brought to the city by the astute merchants, has retained its character.

All over Aberdeen you will find a wide array of parks and gardens with what must be some of the most spectacular displays of roses in Britain. Aberdeen has now won the "Britain in Bloom" title so often that it has stood down from the competition to allow other citys the chance to win the title.