Pub Crawls

Aberdeen City Centre – If you only have 2 hours

This short walking route will take you around a few pubs with Real Ale in Aberdeen City Centre. The distances are short so you could visit in any order.

Ground-zero is the Prince of Wales in the lane near the junction of Union Street and Market Street (WhatThreeWords ///those.fines.list), a pub with a wide range of beer and a long straight bar.
Walk uphill (West) on Union Street to the next major crossroads. Just 50 meters later on the left you will find The Grill opposite the Doric columns of the Music Hall. Don’t be put off by the unwelcoming exterior and push through the rotating door. Enjoy the heritage interior, fine beer and a dram.
Leave by the rear door and look at the pub facing you – enter the Stag by its corner entrance.
Leave the Stag and head down the cobbles towards the train station and Guild Street. Use the bridge to cross the railway lines, pass Union Square and cross Market Street to find Krakatoa. Allow time for your eyes to adjust to the dark and the neon before selecting a perfect beer from this multi-award winning pub.

Aberdeen City Centre – If you have 4 hours

Further pubs can be slotted into the tour above without significantly increasing the walking distance.

Prince of Wales as above.
Walk uphill on Union Street to pass the graveyard and turn right into Back Wynd then left into Little Belmont Street for the historical Ma Cameron’s Inn. Buy an ale in the large lounge at the rear and then settle into the traditional bar and snug at the front of the building.
Turn right out Ma’s, then right again to arrive at the Art Gallery. Turn left and walk past His Majesty’s Theatre to the Library. Head up Skene Terrace and immediately left climb the half-dozen stairs into North Silver Street to find the The Globe Inn.
Right next door to the Globe, in the basement beside the auction house is Under The Hammer.
Continue to Golden Square, straight through onto Union Street and find The Grill as above.
Optionally continue uphill on Union Street to the Howff and the Justice Mill (Wetherspoons) before retracing your steps.
Stag as above.
Krakatoa as above.
Turn left out Krakatoa and left again up the cobbled Ship Row passing the Maritime Museum. Stop at Old Blackfriars in the Castlegate
and/or cross over to the Wetherspoons called Archibald Simpson.

Aberdeen City – Explorer

Within 15 minutes brisk uphill walk of His Majesty’s Theatre you will find the Queen Vic, a former branch pub of the year. On foot, head uphill on Rosemount Viaduct (passing the historic Masada Bar) until you reach the traffic lights at Rosemount. Turn left again and continue uphill to find the Queen Vic on the right at the junction with Esslemont Avenue.

An outlying pub well worth a visit is the St. Machar Bar in the heart of cobbled, historic Old Aberdeen and Aberdeen University. Visit the superb St. Machar’s Cathedral and beautiful Seaton Park. It can be reached on-foot from the city centre but you may be better to seek a bus from Union Street heading north up King Street.

Aberdeen For Hipsters

Those of you who enjoy the Craft Beer Revolution,and don’t mind if a good pub has no Real-ale, are also catered for.

Start in Broad Street facing Marischal College. Until recently you could have turned left onto the Gallowgate and visited both the first ever Brewdog Bar and then on LittleJohn Street the The Fire Pit (outlet for Six Degrees North). Unfortunately both are now permanently closed.
Instead, head on straight to Union Street where you will see BrewDog Castlegate.
Go round the back of Brewdog to the first Fierce Bar.
Walk down the cobbled Ship Row and cross Market Street to the Craftsman Company

Days Out by Bus

Bus travel around Aberdeenshire is primarily by the Stagecoach bus network. This allows you greater flexibility than the train network but at the expense of longer journey times. The Stagecoach Bus Maps and the Stagecoach routes and timetables are available here.

Formartine: Ellon to Inverurie: Read the report of a branch crawl on the #49 in Issue 62 of the Branch Magazine.
Royal Deeside: Consider a trip on the 201 around Royal Deeside from Banchory, to Aboyne, Ballater and Braemar.
The Mearns: Fancy a coastal trip on the X7 to Johnshaven and Gourdon, and then optionally use the 8 from Stonehaven to Newtonhill.
Moray Tour: Starting at Elgin bus station you can catch buses to Forres, Lossiemouth and Findhorn (for the beaches).
Ellon, The Blue Toon and The Broch: Head north to Ellon, Peterheid and Fraserburgh, possibly taking in a stop at the BrewDog brewery if you are so inclined.

Days Out by Train

Try taking the train south from Aberdeen to Stonehaven, or North to Elgin. The map below shows the Scotrail network in Aberdeenshire and includes the new train station in Kintore. If you start in Aberdeen, your options are to go North or go South. The Scotrail timetables can be found here to help plan your itinerary.

Train is a fast and inexpensive way to travel to Stonehaven from Aberdeen, but be aware that the harbour pubs are a 20 minute downhill walk from the train station.