Aberdeen Maritime Museum

Aberdeen Maritime Museum is a fascinating building dedicated to the region’s seafaring history. It features scale models of an oil rig and deep-sea diving equipment, bringing the sheer scale of the operation to life. The museum also covers the city’s impressive ship-building history, with clippers, fishing trawlers, whalers and commercial trawlers having been built in the historic docks. The building itself is just as historic as the exhibits, with the original building, Provost Ross’s House, dating back to 1593. The award-winning museum underwent a multi-million-pound expansion in 1997, creating five times the exhibition space. The Maritime Museum now includes everything from historic naval paintings to modern touchscreen displays, computer consoles, hands-on exhibits and an education room. The Maritime Café is the perfect spot to refuel after a morning or afternoon trawling the exhibits, and offers impressive views across the dock and out to the North Sea. There’s also a gift shop selling a wide range of nautical-themed souvenirs.