V&A Dundee – Scottish Design and Afternoon Tea by the Tay
A few hours, from Dundee station and back.
The route
V&A Dundee is Scotland's design museum, a great ribbed building on the riverfront whose own galleries are free to wander.
Upstairs, Tatha Bar & Kitchen serves an afternoon tea themed on the museum's current exhibition, with the Tay filling the windows beside you. It's a few minutes from the station.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book afternoon tea at Tatha Bar & Kitchen at least 24 hours ahead, online or on 01382 411 611, for 2pm on any day of the week: it's served from 2pm to 3.30pm and costs £27.95 a person at the time of writing.
The day
Dundee
A gentle afternoon by the river: an hour or two among Scottish design, then a long, pretty tea upstairs while the light changes on the water.
About three and a half hours
V&A Dundee
An attraction
It's a 3-minute walk from the station across to V&A Dundee on the riverfront. The Japanese architect Kengo Kuma drew its stacked concrete ribs from the cliffs of Scotland's east coast, and walking through the arch beneath it to the river is half the fun. The museum opens every day from 10am to 5pm, and its free Scottish Design Galleries hold about 300 objects, from fashion and furniture to video game design, along with Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Oak Room, rebuilt from a Glasgow tearoom. The big exhibitions are ticketed, so give the free galleries an hour or two and add an exhibition if one appeals. The building is step-free, with accessible toilets on every level. If you use a wheelchair, read the museum's accessibility page before you go.
Tatha Bar & Kitchen
Afternoon tea
Afternoon tea is upstairs at Tatha Bar & Kitchen, served every day from 2pm to 3.30pm, with sandwiches, scones and cakes themed on the current exhibition and wide views across the Tay. It's £27.95 a person at the time of writing and must be booked at least 24 hours ahead, online or by phone; check your confirmation shows the right day. Tatha has a children's menu and highchairs, with baby changing beside it. If you use a wheelchair, ring before booking. Then it's 3 minutes back to the station.
If it rains
All of it is under one roof, 3 minutes from the station, so rain makes little difference.