Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From Aberdeen, it's a short hop west to
Deeside
, a fertile yet ruggedly attractive area
made famous by the Royal Family, who have favoured the estate at
Balmoral
as a
summer holiday retreat ever since Queen Victoria fell in love with it back in the 1840s.
Close by, the trim villages of
Ballater
and
Braemar
act as a gateway to the spectacular
mountain scenery of the
Cairngorms National Park
. To the north lies the meandering
Don Valley
, a quiet area notable for
castles
such as Kildrummy and Corgarff, both of
which are appealingly remote. Further north still, the dramatic
coastline
is punctuated
by picturesque fishing villages, and there are a handful of engaging sights including
Duff House
, an outpost of the National Galleries of Scotland, and the New Age
community at
Findhorn
.
GETTING AROUND
10
NORTHEAST SCOTLAND
By train
Trains from Edinburgh and Glasgow connect with
Dundee, Aberdeen and other coastal towns, while an
inland line from Aberdeen heads northwest to Elgin and on
to Inverness.
By bus
The region has a reasonably comprehensive
scheduled bus service; only in the most remote and
mountainous parts does public transport disappear
altogether.
By car
Northeast Scotland is well served by an extensive
road network, with fast links between Dundee and
Aberdeen, while the area north and west of Aberdeen is
also dissected by a series of e
cient routes.
Dundee
At first sight,
DUNDEE
can seem a grim place. In the nineteenth century it was Britain's main
processor of jute, the world's most important vegetable fibre after cotton, which earned the
city the tag “Juteopolis”. he decline of manufacturing wasn't kind to Dundee, and the city's
population of 145,000 are still living with its effects. But regeneration is today's big
buzzword, with some commentators drawing comparisons with Glasgow's reinvention as a
city of culture in the 1980s and 1990s. Less apparent is the city's international reputation as a
centre of biotechnology, computer game technology and cancer research.
Brief history
Even prior to its Victorian heyday, Dundee was a town of considerable importance. It
was here in 1309 that
Robert the Bruce
was proclaimed the lawful King of Scots, and
during the Reformation it earned itself a reputation for tolerance, sheltering leading
figures such as
George Wishart
and
John Knox
. During the Civil War, the town was
destroyed by the Royalists and Cromwell's army. Later, prior to the Battle of
Killiecrankie, it was razed to the ground once more by Jacobite
Viscount Dundee
,
known in song and folklore as “Bonnie Dundee”, who had been granted the place for
his services to the Crown by James II.
Dundee picked itself up in the 1800s, its train and harbour links making it a major
centre for shipbuilding, whaling and the manufacture of
jute
. his, along with jam and
journalism - the three Js which famously defined the city - has all but disappeared,
with only local publishing giant D.C. homson, publisher of the timelessly popular
Beano
and
Dandy
, as well as a spread of other comics and newspapers, still playing a
meaningful role in the city. Look out for the statues of Dundee heroes
Desperate Dan
and
Minnie the Minx
, both from the old
Dandy
comic, given pride of place at the
junction of Reform Street and City Square.
The Tay bridges
he best approach to Dundee is across the modern mile-and-a-half-long
Tay Road
Bridge
from Fife. Running parallel a mile upstream is the
Tay Rail Bridge
, opened in
1887 to replace the spindly structure which collapsed in a storm in December 1879
only eighteen months after it was built, killing the crew and 75 passengers on a train
