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St Machar's Cathedral and the Cruickshank Botanic Garden
Aberdeen

Old Aberdeen – St Machar's Cathedral and the Botanic Garden

A few hours.

The route

Old Aberdeen keeps its cobbles, its granite cottages and its quiet, and two of its best things sit side by side at the top of the Chanonry.

St Machar's Cathedral has stood here since the early 1400s, and its famous heraldic ceiling dates from 1520. The University's Cruickshank Botanic Garden spreads out beside it, free to wander. Finish with soup and a crepe at Kilau Coffee on the High Street.

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 Cabin23 miles awayNorth Lodge and River CabinSleeps 6CuttieshillockStrachanCuttieshillockSleeps 6Gamekeeper’s CottageStrachanGamekeeper’s CottageSleeps 6No 2 Steading Cottage at GlendyeStrachanNo 2 Steading Cottage at GlendyeSleeps 4

The day

Old Aberdeen

A slow morning on foot round the old university town: the cathedral and its heraldic ceiling, the garden's lawns and borders, and lunch a few minutes down the High Street.

About three hoursAbout 1 mile on foot

  1. St Machar’s Cathedral

    St Machar’s Cathedral

    An attraction

    On-street parking is limited round Old Aberdeen, but there are a few spaces near the cathedral at the top of the Chanonry; buses 14 and 20 stop on the High Street, and 1, 2, 13 and 40 on St Machar Drive. St Machar's opens Monday to Saturday, 9.30am to 4.30pm from April to October and 10am to 4pm from November to March, when it also opens on Sunday afternoons from 12.30pm to 5pm. Go in through the granite gatehouses and up the flagstone path between the graves. The building dates from the early fifteenth century, on a site of worship going back to around 600, and above the nave is its famous heraldic ceiling of 1520. Sunday services are at 11am and 6pm, so time a Sunday visit around them.

    More about St Machar’s Cathedral

  2. 4 min on foot

    Cruickshank Botanic Garden

    Cruickshank Botanic Garden

    An attraction

    Walk 4 minutes down the Chanonry to the Cruickshank Botanic Garden's gate, the way in at weekends. The University of Aberdeen's garden is free and opens every day, 9am to 4.30pm from October to March and until 7pm from April to September, and it shuts from 24 December to 5 January. Wander the lawns and the borders, the Rock Garden, the Sunken Garden and the Arboretum's trees. The Sunken Garden, the Arboretum and parts of the Rock Garden can't be reached by wheelchair, and there are no public toilets in the garden.

    More about Cruickshank Botanic Garden

  3. 5 min on foot

    Kilau Coffee

    Kilau Coffee

    Lunch

    Lunch is 5 minutes' walk south at Kilau Coffee, 57-59 High Street. Its upstairs room and walled garden serve the food menu, with soups, homebakes and French crepes, Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm and on Saturdays until 5pm; it's shut on Sundays. Downstairs is the takeaway counter for coffee, sandwiches and cakes, open on weekdays only. Over Christmas and New Year, check before going.

    More about Kilau Coffee

If it rains

St Machar's and Kilau's upstairs room are under a roof; on a wet day keep the garden short.

Make it a weekend

More days out in Aberdeen.

AberdeenA day in Aberdeen: the granite centre, Marischal College to the harbour.AberdeenAberdeen to Stonehaven and Dunnottar: by train and the cliff path.AberdeenAberdeen's street art: the Nuart walls, and who painted them.

Photograph by braw_pics