Aberdeen Beach – a Seaside Sauna, Fittie and Lunch

Barbossauna

Barbossauna is a wood-fired sauna built into a converted horsebox, parked on the Esplanade at North Square, where the beach meets Footdee. There's free parking all along the beachfront. It's open every day, all year: Monday and Tuesday 5pm to 7pm, Wednesday to Friday 7am to 7pm, and weekends 7am to 4pm. An hour costs £13 a person at the time of writing, for up to six at once; walk-ins are welcome, but booking online holds your place. The wood burner keeps the heat between 70 and 95 degrees, there's a changing room on site, and the Footdee public toilets are less than 70 yards away. The North Sea is just across the sand: a dip between rounds is your own choice and your own risk, so go in only if you're a confident swimmer, stay close to the shore and never go alone. Ask about ages when you book.

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Footdee

An attraction

Footdee, which everyone in Aberdeen calls Fittie, begins a few steps from the sauna. It's the old fishing village at the mouth of the harbour, low granite cottages set in squares with their backs to the sea, and painted sheds and tiny yards in front. Give it half an hour to wander the lanes, then out to the harbour mouth to watch the boats come and go. People live here, so walk quietly and keep out of the yards, and leave the car on the Esplanade, as the lanes are far too narrow to drive.

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The Pier

Lunch

Lunch is at The Pier, about 13 minutes' walk north along the prom from Footdee, on the Esplanade. It's open every day, 9am to 4.30pm, for breakfast, brunch and lunch, coffee, ice cream and shakes, with a bar for a cocktail or a local draught beer once you're dry and warm. If it's full, Cafe Ahoy, its sister café a few minutes up Beach Boulevard, does brunch and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday until 3.30pm, and welcomes dogs. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.

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