Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Top choice in Aberdeen


Overlooking the nautical bustle of Aberdeen harbour is the Maritime Museum, centred on a three-storey replica of a North Sea oil-production platform, which explains all you ever wanted to know about the petroleum industry. Other galleries, some situated in Provost Ross's House, the oldest building in the city and part of the museum, cover the shipbuilding, whaling and fishing industries.

Sleek and speedy Aberdeen clippers were a 19th-century shipyard speciality, used by British merchants to import tea, wool and exotic goods (opium, for instance) to Britain, and, on the return journey, transport emigrants to Australia.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Aberdeen attractions

1. Mercat Cross

0.15 MILES

The 17th-century Mercat Cross bears a sculpted frieze of portraits of Stuart monarchs.

2. Provost Skene's House

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This late-medieval turreted town house was occupied in the 17th century by the provost (Scottish equivalent of a mayor) Sir George Skene. It was also…

3. Salvation Army Citadel

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The Baronial heap towering over the eastern end of Castle St is the Salvation Army Citadel (the local HQ of the Salvation Army), which was modelled on…

4. Marischal College

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Marischal College, founded in 1593 by the 5th Earl Marischal, merged with King's College (founded 1495) in 1860 to create the modern University of…

5. St Nicholas Church

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On the northern side of Union St, 300m west of Castlegate, is St Nicholas Church, the so-called 'Mither Kirk' (Mother Church) of Aberdeen. The granite…

6. Aberdeen Art Gallery

0.3 MILES

Behind the grand facade of Aberdeen Art Gallery (closed for a major redevelopment until early 2019) is a cool, marble-lined space exhibiting the work of…

7. Aberdeen Science Centre

0.62 MILES

Halfway between the beach and the city centre is this hands-on, interactive science centre. Until 2020 they're temporarily based at the even more central…

8. King’s College Chapel

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It was here that Bishop Elphinstone established King's College, Aberdeen's first university (and Scotland's third), in 1495. The 16th-century college…

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