Looking for something to do this weekend that involves a bit of culture? Take a look at our pick of the best museums in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.
Aberdeen museums
Aberdeen Maritime Museum
One of the finest museums in the region, the Aberdeen Maritime Museum brings to life the Granite City’s long history with the sea, covering everything from shipbuilding to fishing, and port history to offshore exhibits.
Alongside ancient artefacts and paintings are touchscreen consoles, databases and interactive displays that add vibrant new ways to understand the 900-year-old story of the harbour – all shown over four floors, and with a gift shop and licenced cafe, too.
Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen
This five-star visitor attraction honours the Gordon Highlanders regiment and tells the stories of the men from the region who made up the Gordon Highlander ranks; the locals, labourers, farmers, fishermen, ghillies aristocrats and students.
Visitors can see an extensive armory, a First World War replica trench, an officers’ mess and a Victorian walled garden to enjoy, too. Actor Dougray Scott even narrates a special film for the museum called The Gordon’s Golden Thread – well worth a watch.
University of Aberdeen Zoology Museum
This museum has an extensive collection of items from across the animal kingdom, with displays that include the weird and wonderful – from stuffed Bengal tigers to almost all Scottish birds, skeletons of apes and whales – and everything in between.
The collection has plenty of intriguing artefacts to keep the most curious of minds enthralled. Make sure to take in the exhibit on evolution.
Highland museums
Inverness Museum and Art Gallery
Located in the centre of the Highland capital, this free-to-enter attraction offers visitors the chance to learn more about the history and culture of the city and the Scottish Highlands.
It boasts a range of artefacts and collections that celebrate Highland life and heritage, and its galleries feature both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
Current exhibitions include Our Plastic Ocean, which looks at the issue of marine plastic pollution through the images of international award-winning photographer Mandy Barker.
Susie Reade’s JW58: Arctic Convoy is also running and features paintings inspired by a journey – described by Sir Winston Churchill as “the worst journey in the world” – made by a young woman during the winter of 1944.
Braemar Highland Games Centre
Housed in the Duke of Rothesay Highland Games Pavilion, the Braemar Highland Games Centre takes visitors through the living tradition of the Braemar Gathering.
Links with the Royal Family are explored, along with piping, Highland dancing and heavy events, or see original Highlander uniforms, complete with kilts. Afterwards, visitors can sit in the famous grandstand, which has been the home of the Gathering since 1906.
Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre
The Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre in Craigellachie lies in the heart of the Speyside Malt Whisky Trail, and offers a unique insight into the manufacture of the whisky casks, demonstrated by the team of highly skilled coopers.
It’s the only working cooperage in the UK, producing and repairing almost 150,000 oak casks each year, using traditional techniques and tools. Visitors also have the option of trying it for themselves, with a gift and coffee shop on the premises, too.
Aberdeenshire museums
Grampian Transport Museum, Alford
If you love all things mechanical then this gem of a museum will have something for you to enjoy. It houses everything to keep petrolheads entertained including classic cars, celebrity motorcycles, buses, police cars and sports classics – and even a junior driving school course for four to eight-year-olds.
Enthusiasts can also see the story of the electric car from its origins in Aberdeen in 1839 (thanks to engineer Robert Davidson) to the present day, with its Probing the Future exhibit.
Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, Fraserburgh
The museum tells the story of the lighthouses, the engineers who built them, and those who spent their lives stationed in them. It includes the history of Kinnaird Head Lighthouse – the first lighthouse on mainland Scotland, built 1787.
Try on a lightkeeper’s uniform, take on the spiral staircase up to the light or explore the inner workings of the stunning lighthouse lenses.
The Salmon Bothy, Portsoy
This intriguing building has been carefully restored to showcase the history of this port’s harbour, sea trade and the salmon industry.
It’s a base for family history research with a trained genealogist available, and is a community space and venue, too, which opens for traditional music evenings. Run by volunteers, The Salmon Bothy is a little gem on this coastline.
Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, Mintlaw
Aberdeenshire’s colourful farming past is brought to life in this unique, semi-circular farm steading at Aden Country Park, and celebrates the last 150 years of farming life in the region.
Exhibits include a working farm set from the 1950s, or visitors can learn to make oatcakes over an open fire. And if you want some outdoors time, enjoy the Victorian arboretum, the playparks or one of the many beautiful walks in the area.
Stonehaven Tolbooth Museum
The oldest building in Stonehaven, the Tolbooth Museum is a community-run museum, and has a number of artefacts linked to Stonehaven’s heritage, many associated with the days when the building served as a prison.
Visitors can see original cell doors, stocks and punishment devices, plus a number of daily artefacts, and even videos of the Stonehaven Fireballs Hogmanay ceremony.
The museum is family orientated and holds a free dinosaur hunt for youngsters, with winners receiving a token for a lucky dip prize.
Banchory Museum
Banchory is home to a high proportion of singers, musicians, composers and dancers and this fascinating museum celebrates this rich traditional culture.
Banchory Museum includes an exhibition of J. Scott Skinner, the Strathspey King – a legendary character and a key figure in Scottish traditional music, who took fiddle music to new levels with his playing and compositions.
Tartans, royal commemorative china, Deeside natural history, archaeology and Victoriana are all on display, too.
Aberdeen museums: 16 photos that will bring you back in time to when they opened and why
Conversation