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Aberdeen Art Gallery and afternoon tea at Cup
Aberdeen

Aberdeen Art Gallery – Paintings and Afternoon Tea at Cup

A few hours.

Directions

The route

Aberdeen Art Gallery is a grand granite building on Schoolhill with a bright galleried hall at its heart, full of Scottish and French paintings, and it's free.

Round the corner on Little Belmont Street, Cup serves a generous, colourful afternoon tea with warm scones, homemade cakes and a little pick 'n' mix. It's an easy few hours, and good on a wet day.

Before you go

  1. Book accommodation nearby

    If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.

    North Lodge and River Cabin22 miles awayNorth Lodge and River CabinSleeps 6CuttieshillockStrachanCuttieshillockSleeps 6Gamekeeper’s CottageStrachanGamekeeper’s CottageSleeps 6No 2 Steading Cottage at GlendyeStrachanNo 2 Steading Cottage at GlendyeSleeps 4

  2. Book Afternoon tea at Cup, Little Belmont Street

    Ring Cup on 01224 637730 to book a table for afternoon tea at about 12.15pm, after the gallery: it's served every day until 2.30pm, from £22.50 a person for two at the time of writing, with a gluten-free tea for one and a children's tea on the menu.

The day

Aberdeen

An unhurried late morning in the middle of the city: an hour and a half among the paintings, then a long, sweet afternoon tea a few minutes' walk away.

About three hours

  1. Aberdeen Art Gallery

    Aberdeen Art Gallery

    An attraction

    Aberdeen Art Gallery is on Schoolhill. It's free, open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday from 11am to 4pm, and an hour and a half is about right. The granite building of 1885 was rebuilt inside and reopened in 2019, with a copper-clad top floor and a lift to every level. Look for Raeburn portraits, Monet and Renoir, the Scottish Colourists and Francis Bacon, and the round Remembrance Hall.

    More about Aberdeen Art Gallery

  2. 3 min on foot

    Cup

    Afternoon tea

    It's a 3-minute walk round to Cup at 9 Little Belmont Street, a bright, playful tearoom with a wall of sweets. Afternoon tea is served every day until 2.30pm, so it makes a late lunch: the Luxury Afternoon Tea for Two is £22.50 a person at the time of writing, with a gluten-free tea for one and a children's tea too. Ring 01224 637730 to book for about 12.15pm. If it's full, the gallery's own cafés serve until 4.30pm (3.30pm on Sundays).

If it rains

Both are indoors: on a wet day only the 3-minute walk round to Cup is out in it.

Aberdeen Art Gallery