Aberdeen - 3 DAYS How to see the sights with no car?

We've covered Dunnottar before in your previous thread. If you bus there and walk back then the steep climb up from Stonehaven Harbour is a steep descent.
The bus fare is £9.80 single, so buy a £10.20 Aberdeen Commuter Day Rider ticket on the bus. Or if you are extending afterwards to Arbroath on the X7, which is a very good idea, buy an East Scotland Day Rider for £12.20.
That latter ticket is unlimited travel as far as Glasgow and Edinburgh via St Andrews and the Fife Coast.
For Footdee- if you are there before 21 September you could use the Aberdeen Adventurer HoHo bus. Otherwise bus #13 takes you down there every 20 minutes (30 minutes in the evening) until 11pm.
For Day 3 so many possibles- the bus 201 down Royal Deeside to Braemar.
or the very good bus services to Peterhead or Fraserburgh.
In all those cases buy a Bluebird Day Rider for £20.20. It also covers the X7 as far as Montrose, so buy that if you are going to Dunnottar in the morning, then the other side of Aberdeen in the afternoon. It actually extends all the way to Inverness and Culloden, but that is a very long trip.

Another great option is the twice daily Ember Bus to Dundee via Royal Deeside and Glenshee. £10.10 each way.
There is an hourly direct Ember Bus from Dundee to Aberdeen for £8.50 each way.

Hi, ds,

I'm assuming that your lodging will be within the city limits.

Unless you are hooked on Rabbies' tours, there are several other tour companies in Aberdeen which are just as good, if not better.

The Maritime Museum and Provost Skene's House are conveniently located in center city. Fittie is actually walking distance from center city. It would be about a 20 minute walk at a good pace from the Castlegate.

The best centrally located pubs are the Prince of Wales and Ma Cameron's. Both pubs serve excellent food, so that would fulfill both your pub and restaurant requirements. Also good is Old Blackfriars in the Castlegate (They have deep fried Mars Bars, a Scottish delicacy, as pudding (dessert)!). Archie Cameron's is another good choice, although it's now part of a chain. You won't run out of places to eat in Aberdeen, but avoid the "spit and sawdust" pubs, such as the late, lamented Peep Peep's.

And speaking of deep fried Mars Bars, no visit to Stonehaven would be complete without a visit to the Carron Fish Bar, where said delicacy was invented.

A couple of things that you could do on day three would be a visit to Duthie Park, and its amazing Winter Garden, or a walking tour of Old Aberdeen and King's College. The Art Museum is also good (and free!).

Hope that helps.

Best wishes,

Mike (Auchterless)

My husband and I spent 3 nights in Aberdeen about a month ago. We took the train to Stonehaven. From there, we walked through the town, along the harbor, and up the cliff path to Donottar Castle. We had some really gorgeous weather that day, so it was a lovely hike. Getting up to the cliff path was steep. We're both in our 40's and avid walkers/hikers, so it was right up our alley. If you aren't up for the climb, then I would take either a local bus or a tour. In the castle parking lot, there were lots of buses from various tour companies; you'll be able to find another option besides Rabbies. Speaking of Rabbies, we had two tours booked with them on this trip. The first one was out of Glasgow. We spent so much time on the bus that we felt it was a poor use of our time. We ended up canceling the second tour with them. We much preferred the DIY approach.

Old Aberdeen is a pleasant area to explore. You can visit the campus, and Seaton Park is just to the north. We also walked along the beach and esplanade to the east of the city. All of these spots can be reached via public bus. You can use your credit card to tap-on.

Hi again, ds,

Just to add a wee bit to LaurieC's post, if you decide to visit Seaton Park, follow the path north along the bank of the Don. You'll eventually come to a gate in a stone wall. Go through the gate, turn left, and a short walk later, you'll come to the 13th century Brig o'Balgownie, made famous by Lord Byron.

You'll then have two options - you can walk back along Don Street and catch a bus on King Street, or you can cross the bridge, turn right, and head through the charming Cottown of Balgownie, and down to King Street, where you can also catch a bus.

If you do get down to the Beach Esplanade after visiting Fittie, be sure to have ice cream at the Inversnecky Cafe.

Best wishes once again,

Mike (Auchterless)

Have you thought about catching the train to Elgin with its ruined cathedral. It's a nice town to explore on foot - there are a variety of trails you can follow. Have a look at this website and down load the brochures with information abut Elgin and a town trail.

The Walk Highland Trail takes you through part of the town and the countryside to the north. Detail and pictures here.