Broughty Ferry – the Harbour and the Fisherman's Tavern
A few hours, from Dundee station and back.
The route
Broughty Ferry is the old fishing village at the eastern edge of Dundee, on the Tay, with a 15th-century castle standing guard over its little harbour.
Take the bus out and wander by the castle and the waterfront as the evening comes on. Then settle in at the Fisherman's Tavern, a pub made from three fishermen's cottages, with cask ales, a real fire and food. Nobody has to drive.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Broughty Ferry
A short bus ride out to the old fishing village, a stroll round the castle and the harbour, then a long, warm evening by the fire in an old pub.
About three hours
Broughty Castle
An attraction
Walk 6 minutes up from Dundee station to the High Street and take the Stagecoach 73 heading east as far as Broughty Ferry Library (check the times). It runs every day, about every quarter of an hour by day and every hour after about 8pm. From the library it's a 12-minute walk down to the harbour and Broughty Castle, finished around 1495 and later rebuilt as an artillery fort to guard the Tay. Its museum keeps daytime hours, but the harbour and the shore beside the castle walls are there to wander at any hour. On a summer evening it stays light until late, and the view runs west up the river to Dundee and its bridges.
8 min on foot
The Fisherman's Tavern
A drink
It's an 8-minute walk west from the castle to the Fisherman's Tavern on Fort Street, one street back from the shore. It began as a pub in 1829 in three fishermen's cottages, and it has a busy bar, a snug and a lounge with a real fire, five changing cask ales, and food every day from 11am to 9pm. There's traditional music on Thursday nights, and dogs are welcome outside meal times. The lounge at the back has step-free access from Bell's Lane. For the ride home, take the 73 from the Post Office Bar stop on Queen Street, 7 minutes' walk up Fort Street from the pub. In the evening it runs every hour, and the last bus into Dundee leaves at 11.28pm Monday to Friday, 11.34pm on Saturday and 10.28pm on Sunday. Every bus stops at the Seagate in the city centre, and on weekdays and Sundays it goes on to Whitehall Street, a short walk from the station.
If it rains
On a wet night, walk straight from the bus to the Fisherman's Tavern, 8 minutes from the library, and take the harbour in from the window seats another time.