Angus

Arbroath Harbour

The old harbour of Arbroath, full of fishing boats and yachts below painted houses, where the Arbroath smokie is still smoked in the back streets.

Welcome

At the foot of Arbroath, a crowded harbour of fishing boats and yachts lies below a row of houses painted cream, pink, blue and red, with stacks of creels along the quay.

There was a wooden pier here by 1194, and the monks of the abbey built the first harbour in 1394.

Arbroath is the home of the smokie: haddock, tied in pairs by the tail and hot-smoked over hardwood in barrels until the skin turns deep gold. In the lanes behind the harbour the small smokehouses still work, and the fish can be bought warm from the smoke, to eat there and then. Only fish smoked within eight kilometres of the town may be called Arbroath smokies.

From the harbour it is a short walk up to the abbey, or along the promenade to Victoria Park and the red cliffs.

Before you go

Free, at any time.

The smokehouses near the harbour sell smokies warm from the fire.

Where: The south end of Arbroath, off the A92.
Look for: The fishmongers and smokehouses in the streets behind the harbour.

Did you know

Yachts and fishing boats moored in Arbroath harbour.

Did you know

Protected like Champagne.

Only smokies made within eight kilometres of Arbroath's town house may bear the town's name.

The harbour wall and the sea beyond at Arbroath.

Did you know

Born up the coast.

The smokie was first made not in Arbroath but in the fishing village of Auchmithie.

A red fishing boat tied up in Arbroath harbour.

Did you know

The abbot's harbour.

The first harbour, the Abbot's Harbour, was built in 1394.

Hidden Scotland

From our guide to Angus

Fishing boats and yachts crowd the harbour at the foot of Arbroath, beneath a row of houses painted cream, pink, blue and red, with creels stacked along the quay. The monks of the abbey built the first harbour here in 1394. In the lanes behind it, small smokehouses still hot-smoke haddock in pairs over hardwood to make the Arbroath smokie. Buy one warm from the smoke and eat it on the harbour wall. From here it is an easy walk up to the abbey, or along the promenade to Victoria Park and the red cliffs.

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