Aberdeen

Things to see and do in Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland’s third-largest city. It is famous for its granite architecture, giving the city a distinctive appearance. The old city has ancient cobbled streets and a 15th century cathedral – which is where the University of Aberdeen (our conference hosts) was founded in 1495. The city faces onto the sea, where you can find both modern shipping docks and a picturesque fishing quarter (the Fittie).

Aberdeen has some outstanding venues including His Majesty’s Theatre, The Music Hall, The Lemon Tree and The Tivoli Theatre as well as other events going on at our own conference centre, P&J Live.

There is a wide selection of interesting museums, including a maritime museum, Aberdeen art gallery, the Gordon Highlanders regiment museum, Johnston gardens, Provost Skene’s house and Marischal college.

More details can be found on the Visit Aberdeen website.

Castles

The region is also famous for its castles. Dunnotar castle is spectacularly situation on a cliff top, surrounded on three sides by the sea. Drum Castle is a Jacobean mansion with a 13th century tower. Craigievar Castle is made from pinkish stone. Castle Fraser is a grand castle in 160 hectares of landscaped grounds. Some castles like Cluny Crichton and Corse Castle are romantic ruins. There are also many other castles in the region.

The best known castle in the region is Balmoral (see the photo on the right). Balmoral is 50 miles from Aberdeen and has belonged to the British royal family since 1852. Only one room of the castle is open to the public, but areas of its estate are open to walkers.

The coast

Aberdeenshire has over 260 kilometres of coast, with a dramatic mixture of sandy beaches and huge cliffs. Fowlsheugh is a RSPB nature reserve a few kilometres south of Aberdeen where you stand a good chance to see puffins as well as huge numbers of other seabirds as well as dolphins, whales and porpoises and interesting plants. There are also small harbour and fishing villages such as Portsoy, which are worth a visit.

The conference centre

MB2024 will be held in the P&J Live conference centre. It is very new, having opened in 2019, and has all the modern facilities that we will require. We will have our own separate are of the conference centre, so there will be no interference from other events going on at the same time. It is within walking distance of Aberdeen airport and has good public transport connections. Delegates will get a Grasshopper public transport pass included with the registration fee. It is one of the most sustainable conference centres in the UK.