Aberdeen Old Town Tour (Self Guided), Aberdeen

Established in 1489 as a separate burgh, Old Aberdeen was an important political, ecclesiastical and cultural center since the late Middle Ages. The locality merged with the rest of Aberdeen only in 1891. Today, the central part of the Old Town is a conservation area, characterized by well-preserved medieval dwellings and many other unique, vernacular structures of the 17th-early 19th centuries, built in the locally ubiquitous grey granite.

Old Aberdeen is effectively the main campus of the University of Aberdeen. To the north of it stands St Machar's Cathedral, whose ecclesiastical buildings formed the original Old Aberdeen before the University arrived in 1495.

A historic landmark in its own right, King's College is a true architectural monument, dominating Old Aberdeen and comprising, among other highlights, the iconic late 15th-century King's College Chapel. Arguably, this is the most recognizable building on the university campus and one of the two surviving Scottish medieval churches with open "crown" spires. Just south of King's College lie the Powis Gates, an impressive and imposing archway with a Near Eastern influence demonstrated in its 'minaret' towers.

Among other major draws in the area are the recently restored (early 18th-century) Old Town House – an ideal example of Scottish architecture, currently home to King's Museum; the Cruickshank Botanic Gardens – a gift to the University of Aberdeen from 1898; and the Wallace Tower – an early 17th-century building originally constructed in the center of Aberdeen, but then moved, stone by stone, to Seaton Park in the 1960s.

To explore these and other notable locations and discover the beauty of Aberdeen's Old Town, take this self-guided walking tour.