Travelling To and Around Aberdeen

Author: Susan Ashby provides a guide to travel in and around Aberdeen. Further detailed information about travel, property, education and lifestyle in Aberdeen in the Guide to Aberdeen.

Tourists can get into Aberdeen either by plane, by train, by boat and by car.

The nearest airport to Aberdeen is Dyce Airport, about seven miles from the city centre, and it is serviced by a number of domestic and international flights. From the airport, travellers can hop on all-day buses that head straight to the centre of town. A railway station at Dyce connects to various Aberdeen stations as well as taxis at the airport terminal.

One can also enter Aberdeen by train from the South (via Perth) and North (from Elgin, Inverness and other places). The main train lines are GNER (three trains a day servicing major east coast cities such as Edinburgh, Newcastle, York and King's Cross in London), Scotrail (for all major Scottish hubs such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness as well as Euston, London) and Virgin Trains (for cross-country travel to and from Carlisle, Manchester and Birmingham and, occasionally, to Penzance in South West England, the longest train route in the UK).

By boat, Northlink operates ferries from Kirkwall and Lerwick that travel to Aberdeen harbour.

You can also drive into Aberdeen by car from various points in Britain, passing through the A90 arterial road along Dundee and Peterhead on the North Sea coast of Scotland.

Once you are in Aberdeen, there are different ways to get around. The smart traveller will get himself a pedestrian map to make it easier to navigate the city's random layout. These maps are available all around the city centre, especially at key travel points, and give useful information on bus and train routes.

Plans are afoot to construct a modern Crossrail in Aberdeen but, at the moment, there is only one option when travelling around by train and it is not that good. The local train station is on Guild street (next to the bus station) south of Union Street. It services Dyce, Inverurie, Portlethen and Stonehaven.

Travelling around by bus may be the more preferable option. The bus network consists of two operators, First and Stagecoach, and both are fairly decent but relatively expensive. Most buses are modern and comfortable although there are still a few outdated buses here and there. Should you need to take connecting buses, you will probably have to do so at the city centre since that is where most of the bus services converge and intersect.

The buses of the First network are mainly within the city limits as well as to the suburbs of Dyce, Kingswells, Cults & Cutler. It is fairly easy to get around town if one is conscious of the colour coded system under the First network "branded as The Overground." Under this system, the main lines are assigned a particular colour while the secondary lines are left grey on the map, following the style of the London Underground. Services begin around 5am and end close to midnight. Night services run during weekends for a flat fare of 2.20 GBP single.

The First network charges fares ranging from 70p for a short journey to 1.60 GBP for longer trips. It costs 3 GBP (2.70 GBP after 9am) for a day pass. Students who can show a valid school ID pay only 2 GBP for a day pass.

Among the most popular routes of the First network are the Park & Ride from Kingswells (just off A944) and Bridge of Don (off A90). The latter service runs from the Exhibition and Conference Centre, a locale that is hard to miss from the main northbound road. The service costs 1.80 GBP for each person, round-trip, to and from anywhere along the route. Up to two youngsters aged below 16 can ride free if they are accompanied by an adult. Passengers can avail of day passes should they need to change buses.

The Stagecoach network serves the city's outer regions and have one service within the city boundary. There are more services available in areas closer to Aberdeen than those further out. For instance, in the suburb of Westhill, a Stagecoach bus service arrives every 15 minutes. Stagecoach generally charges lower fares than First, but they have a lesser number of buses. The Explorer day pass, which is 11 GBP, allows passengers unlimited use of the whole Stagecoach network in the area.

Taxis are a-plenty in Aberdeen and you can note the usual pick-up points on the pedestrian map, particularly on Back Wynd, Market Street, Union Street and the train station. Taxis are easy to spot and the fares are quite reasonable compared to other parts of the UK. However, it is sometimes difficult to get a taxi at night since many of them give no indication if they are for hire or not.

For a more novel means of travel, you may want to try a bicycle, but this can be risky at times considering Aberdeen's narrow roads and inadequate cycle lanes. Things are improving, though. There are now "cycle boxes" at traffic lights for the benefit of bicycle riders.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/travelling-to-and-around-aberdeen-267357.html

About the Author: Susan Ashby of Aberdeen Singles has travelled extensively around the United Kingdom writing articles on each of the major cities. To read more articles on Aberdeen or for dating in Aberdeen visit http://www.aberdeen-singles.co.uk

Aberdeen Serviced Apartments Better Alternatives to Hotels

Author: Michael Murray

Aberdeen is a beautiful city and boasts of some spectacular architecture. The city is Scotland’s third largest and is a regular winner of the Britain in Bloom competition. Aberdeen caters to all tastes, offers some great shopping in the city centre and a fabulous choice of restaurants and exciting nightlife with an enviable range of leisure activities. The city also offers some of the best options in accommodation, thereby making the visit of travellers even more pleasurable.

One of the best accommodations to stay in Aberdeen is the serviced apartments. You would find that most of the popular Aberdeen serviced apartments are in the very centre of the city with excellent connectivity to public transportation and close proximity to major tourist attractions, shopping centres, and other leisure and business activity centres.

The serviced apartments in Aberdeen, in the heart of the city centre, offers a home environment that is comfortable and inviting, thus making the short and long stays of visitors a very enjoyable experience. Although predominantly catering to business travellers, the Aberdeen serviced apartments are also perfect for leisure travellers searching for the benefits of a serviced apartment over hotel accommodation.

The Aberdeen serviced apartments are offered to clients looking for short-term as well as long-term accommodation, and is an ideal alternative to a hotel room. Most of these Aberdeen apartments usually provide accommodation for four people and feature a lounge kitchen, two bedrooms with en-suite facilities. Another lucrative factor of staying in these apartments is their close proximity to most of the popular areas of tourist interest. You would mostly find them at a 1-minute walk from Aberdeen’s main shopping area right in the heart of the city centre.

So, if you are working away from home in Aberdeen or going there to attend a crucial business meeting, it is best to live in serviced apartments. The Aberdeen serviced apartments are an ideal choice for business travellers because of many reasons. First, these apartments provide the corporate travellers with a private space where they could easily carry out their work without any sort of interference or disturbance. You would not find such privacy in hotels as one is constantly bothered by room cleaning service, waiters, laundry service, and other hotel staff.

The Aberdeen serviced apartments offer all the modern comforts and luxuries that you would get in a hotel. Visit aspectapartments.com, if you are looking for a quality serviced apartment in Aberdeen at a reasonable cost.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/aberdeen-serviced-apartments-better-alternatives-to-hotels-1487659.html

About the Author:

Looking for information on Serviced apartments in aberdeen, Aberdeen serviced apartments & Aberdeen apartments Contact for info.

Relocating to Aberdeen

Relocating to Aberdeen? Background Information.

Aberdeen lies between two rivers, the Dee and the Don in the North East of Scotland. The valley of the Dee, is celebrated for its angling and royal associations and reaches west to the foothills of the Grampian Mountains. Glorious countryside borders the city to the north and south, whilst miles of unspoiled coastline and golden beaches border the city to the east.

Aberdeen's success was established on the time-honoured trades of agriculture, fishing, food processing, textiles and papermaking. With a population of approximately 202,370, it is Scotland’s 3rd biggest city and, as such, is large enough to provide all the rewards of city life, including an excellent theatre, first-class shopping facilities and varied sports amenities. For all its scope and modernity, though, the city keeps the sense of intimacy of a far smaller town.

Aberdeen is famous for an architectural skyline that’s commanded by graceful granite buildings, a lot of which enjoy an ancient history. Close to the city centre is Old Aberdeen, where the fortified 15th-century St Machar’s Cathedral stands on a headland looking out on the River Don and cobbled streets are bordered with attractively restored houses, some dating from about the 17th century.

Education in Aberdeen

The ancient University of Aberdeen is, as a matter of fact, a unification of two universities, King’s College and Marischal College. Nowadays, its 14,000 students study in a range of grand buildings, many of which are in the Old Aberdeen area. A second, more recently-established university, Robert Gordon, functions from numerous places in the city, with its main campuses located at Schoolhill and Garthdee. Aberdeen’s academic constitutions are really closely associated with the business community – this being among the reasons why the city wins in appealing to so many high-tech businesses.

Well-known as the Flower of Scotland, Aberdeen takes great pride in the parks and gardens that are dotted throughout the city. Duthie Park is one of the most dramatic, with its greenhoused Winter Gardens drawing in visitors throughout the year. In the spring, crocuses and daffodils colour the city’s riverbanks, roundabouts and verges, and, in the summer, millions of roses bloom along roadsides and in formal beds. Throughout the wider region are gardens renowned for their beauty, such as the celebrated formal garden at Pitmedden and the beautiful walled gardens at Drum Castle and Crathes Castle.

Within Aberdeenshire itself, there are a lot of great castles to be explored. Both Crathes Castle, near Banchory, and Castle Fraser, by Kemnay, have been rejuvenated to their original grandeur, although others – such as Dunnottar Castle, near Stonehaven, and Slains Castle, near Cruden Bay – are atmospheric ruins. The region also offers a Whisky Trail, as well it might, given that the area boasts over half of Scotland’s whisky distilleries.

The geographic expedition for oil and gas has evidently had a terrific affect on the economical life of the city. The offshore industry produced great economic riches and thousands of jobs, and resulted in the formation of exceedingly efficient services and facilities.

This published with permission of Re:locate Magazine. It should not be copied without authorisation.

Relocate Magazine provide Area Guides for the UK aimed at helping individuals and companies relocate within the UK or relocate to the UK from another country