Why go

Old Aberdeen feels like a separate town, and for centuries it was. Three miles north of Union Street, this quiet quarter of cobbled streets, granite cottages and college buildings grew up around the cathedral and the university, and it has kept its village scale. The university calls it the most beautiful area of the city, and on a still autumn afternoon it is hard to argue.

King’s College was founded in 1495 by Bishop William Elphinstone under a papal bull from Pope Alexander VI, making it Scotland’s third university after St Andrews and Glasgow. It merged with Marischal College in 1860 to form the modern University of Aberdeen. Its crown tower is the symbol of the university.

What to see

  • King’s College Chapel. The university’s oldest building, begun around 1500. The Old Aberdeen heritage society says it keeps the best preserved pre-Reformation chapel interior in Scotland, and the university notes five rare decorations made of canvas and wooden scaffolding from the 16th and 17th centuries. The crown on the tower is a replacement from 1633, after a storm destroyed the original.
  • The quadrangle. Walk through the arch for the classic photograph of the college.
  • The High Street. A cobbled street of 18th and 19th-century houses running north to the Old Town House of 1788 to 1789, once the hub of the burgh.
  • The Round Tower and Cromwell Tower. Other original college buildings, from 1525 and 1661.
  • Cruickshank Botanic Garden. An 11-acre university garden founded in 1898, with a rock and water garden, sunken garden, rose garden and arboretum, and more than 2,500 kinds of plants. Entry is free.
  • St Machar’s Cathedral. At the far end of The Chanonry, with its famous heraldic ceiling of 1520. It has its own page in this guide.

Plan your visit

The streets and quadrangle are open at all times and there is nothing to pay. The heritage society suggests a short ‘must see’ route of about 0.4 miles from King’s College to St Machar’s Cathedral, and an unhurried visit with the garden and cathedral takes two to three hours.

King’s College Chapel is open to visitors on weekdays only. The university’s building page gives Monday to Friday from 10am to 3.30pm, while another page says 9am to 5pm, so plan on the shorter hours. Inside, a self-guided tour app on your phone points out the highlights. During term, services on Wednesdays at 5.15pm are open to everyone.

The Cruickshank Botanic Garden opens daily from 9am to 4.30pm between October and March and until 7pm from April to September. It closes from 24 December to 5 January and in high winds. The main entrance is on The Chanonry. The Sunken Garden, Arboretum and parts of the rose garden are not wheelchair accessible, and the university says there are currently no public toilets in the garden; The Hub across St Machar Drive has toilets and a coffee shop.

Old Aberdeen is about three miles from the city centre. City buses run from Union Street and King Street, and routes 8, 19 and 20 stop near the botanic garden. On-campus parking is limited and charged.

In winter

Daylight is short in December, so go in the morning. The botanic garden closes for the Christmas break from 24 December.

Nearby

From St Machar’s, walk through Seaton Park to the medieval Brig o’ Balgownie over the River Don.