Museum · Shiprow, overlooking the harbour
Aberdeen Maritime Museum
The story of the city's long relationship with the sea, told in a building that joins a sixteenth-century house to a modern glass wing.
- Location
- Shiprow, on the slope between Union Street and the harbour
- Area
- City centre / harbour
- Event style
- Permanent displays on shipbuilding, fishing and the North Sea, with temporary exhibitions and learning events
- Where to base yourself
- City centre, near Union Square, or Footdee for a harbour-side stay
What kind of place is it?
Aberdeen Maritime Museum tells the story of the city and the sea: shipbuilding, the fishing fleets, the clipper ships once built on the Dee, lifeboats and lighthouses, and the offshore industry that shaped the city's recent past. Displays mix ship models, paintings, objects and personal stories, and large windows look straight out over the working harbour, so you can see vessels coming and going while you learn about them.
A short history
The museum occupies a combination of old and new buildings on Shiprow, one of the oldest streets in the city. It incorporates Provost Ross's House, which dates from the late sixteenth century and is among the oldest surviving buildings in Aberdeen. A modern glass-fronted extension joins the historic house to a former church building alongside, and the whole complex steps down the hill towards the quay.
Visitor information
- Getting there: it is a few minutes downhill from Union Street and the Castlegate, and close to the rail station and Union Square.
- Time to allow: around an hour and a half for the main displays.
- Before you go: check the museum's opening days, as municipal venues sometimes vary them by season.
- Families: the models and harbour views tend to hold younger visitors' attention well.
How it fits your trip
The museum is an ideal rainy-day choice and a natural start for a harbour walk. From Shiprow you can follow the quays east to Footdee and the harbour mouth, where bottlenose dolphins are regularly seen, and continue along the beach esplanade — a half-day that covers the city's maritime side in sequence.