I’ve recently been up in the North East of Scotland staying for 9 nights in Aberdeen. This was a holiday which I had planned for this time last year but had to cancel at the last minute due to train strikes. I travelled up by train from Nottinghamshire to Aberdeen and stayed in the Ibis Quayside Hotel which was very conveniently only 5 minutes walk to the bus station. I would have preferred something a bit more upmarket than an Ibis, but prices in Aberdeen, even in May, were expensive. It was ok, clean and quiet, with a very comfortable bed and a good breakfast.
On arrival in Aberdeen I called in at the Stagecoach Travel Shop at the bus station and got a 7 Day Bluebird Explorer loaded onto my Smartcard. I decided upon this rather than rely on a mobile ticket just in case on some long days out my phone battery got a bit low. At £51.20 it only works out at just over £7 a day and covers huge distances. It is good value but still expensive in comparison to other similar tickets such as the East Scotland ticket. This wasn’t to be a holiday where the main purpose was to travel on buses but a holiday visiting interesting locations using the bus to travel there. I’ve had numerous holidays over years all over the Scottish mainland and the Western Isles but the area around Aberdeen was new territory for me. Also most of my previous visits to Scotland have been by car and so using buses in Scotland was something new for me.
Most mornings I had an early breakfast and got out before 9am. and after a very busy day travelling, walking and generally exploring I got back to my hotel no later than 7pm. One thing that had to be taken into consideration was the long distances that the regular bus routes travel. You board a bus in Aberdeen and the journey may be 2 hours or more and that’s not including the buses which run right through to Inverness.
DAY 1
Royal Deeside visiting Ballater, Balmoral and Braemar.
I got the 0830 number 201 bus from Aberdeen to Ballater. A journey of almost 2 hours on a normal rattling Stagecoach single decker very similar to the buses I travel on regularly at home in Nottinghamshire with Stagecoach East Midlands. It seemed to take an age to get out of Aberdeen but eventually after over 30 minutes of travelling through built up areas the scenery improved. Travelling up the valley through Peterculter, Banchory, Aboyne and finally reaching Ballater the scenery became more like the wild Scotland I knew as we got closer to the Grampian Mountains.
I had an hour to wander around the very pleasant small town of Ballater with its many royal connections, including the old railway station which is now a tearoom and gift shop, before catching the 203 bus further up Royal Deeside to Balmoral. It was good to be able to travel upstairs on a double decker for this part of the journey. I really enjoyed 3 hours walking around Balmoral. It was good to see the outside of the building and to walk around the gardens but most of all I enjoyed escaping the American tourists and walking around quieter parts of the estate including by the river. It was a surprise to see all of the daffodils still in full flower a good month after mine at home had finished, it was like going back in time to enjoy spring again. After 3 hours I continued further along the 203 route to the terminus at Braemar. I liked Braemar. It was much smaller and quieter than I had expected although probably not so quiet in July and August. Braemar had a nice feel to it. It was good to get a very good late afternoon meal in Farquharsons Bar.
Ballater Station
Balmoral with the daffodils still in full flower in mid May.
It was then a long journey back to Aberdeen on the 203 to Ballater for a quick change to the 201. Braemar to Aberdeen is around 60 miles. All of the 203’s I travelled on that day were double deckers but then it was a standard single decker again on the 201 back to Aberdeen.
DAY 2
Down the coast south of Aberdeen firstly on the 0905 X7 bus through Stonehaven to Donnottar Junction for the short walk to Donnottor Castle. This journey was my first on one of the yellow Stagecoach coaches which operate on many of the longer distance routes in the area. They are comfortable for longer journeys but some of the older passengers were having problems boarding and climbing the stairs with their shopping trolleys. Donnottar Castle was very impressive located on a rock on the edge of the cliffs and again there were lots of American tourists. I’m used to walking but I found the climbing up and down steep steps quite tiring. From Donnottar I walked along the cliffs back up the coast and down into Stonehaven. I liked the area around Stonehaven Harbour. It was a very warm day and I found a good mobile seafood place on the harbour side to get a nice lunch.
Donnottar Castle
I hurried into the town centre just in time get the number 110 bus at 1.10pm which runs every 2 hours between Stonehaven and Montrose. It almost follows the same route as the X7 but leaves the main road to serve the very attractive fishing villages of Goudon and Johnshaven. These are places that I would have liked to explore but time was getting on and I wanted to visit St. Cyrus a little further down the coast. I got off the bus in St Cyrus village and walked down the lane to the sea. There is a huge nature reserve at St Cyrus and the views were fantastic. I would have loved to have gone down onto the beach and walked along the shore but it would have been such a long climb back up. My legs were still aching after climbing all of the steps at Donnottar earler in the day and so instead I had a lovely hour sitting on a seat with the most wonderful views along the coast.
The beach and nature reserve at St Cyrus
Then it was back into the village to get a fast X7, yellow coach, for the 90 minute journey back up to Aberdeen.
DAY 3
A trip up the coast north from Aberdeen towards Peterhead and Fraserburgh. I got to the bus station in plenty of time to catch the X63 Peterhead bus at 0835 for a journey of around 1 hour as far as Cruden Bay. This was the most unpleasant journey of my 7 days using Stagecoach buses. I could tolerate the standard Stagecoach single decker but it was the unnecessary high speed driving that spoilt this journey for me. The driver drove the bus at high speed along winding country roads which resulted in a very bumpy rattle ride. At one point he drove around a bend to find a milk tanker parked outside a farm and had to brake very quickly and harshly resulting in some passengers belongings falling off the seats onto the floor. The main reason he seemed to be driving so fast was to enable him to have time for stops along the route, where he got out of the bus for a few minutes vaping and playing on his mobile phone.
I was pleased to get off the bus at Cruden Bay and walked down a lane beside an estuary past some bungalows to a bridge which went across to a huge empty sandy beach. I only had a quick stop here as I had other plans. The approach to this beach reminded me very much of Brora far further north on on the East Coast north of Dornoch. I set off from a small car park on a path through a wood which led out onto an open moorland type landscape towards the ruins of Slains Castle up on the edge of the cliffs. I then continued past the castle heading northward on a high and narrow clifftop path towards the Bullers of Buchan. This was a lonely but fantastic walk along very high cliffs with steep drops and interesting caves and rock formations. As I walked along this path, with not another person in sight, surrounded by dramatic scenery, I began to think I‘m in my late 60’s now and how many more years will I feel confident and fit enough to set off on my own on walks of this type. A depressing thought getting old. There were large numbers of seabirds along these cliffs and the wild flowers were beautiful with so many primroses, campions, violets and bluebells all growing on the cliff edge. The walk to the Bullers of Buchan took me just under 2 hours to a lonely bus stop by the main road where I had about 10 minutes to wait for an X63 heading towards Peterhead. This X63 was one of the comfortable yellow coaches with a much more careful driver.
Between Cruden Bay and Bullers of Buchan
On arrival in Peterhead, which looked a bit rough, I decided to get back on the coach with the same driver as it was now forming the next X69 departure heading further up the coast to Fraserburgh. As we quickly progressed up the main road I wished that I had my car to enable me to visit more isolated locations close to the sea around Rattray Head and Loch of Strathbeg. Places I would liked to have visited but after the walk earlier in the day were too far from a bus stop. On arrival in Fraserburgh, which didn’t look half a rough as Peterhead, I found a very good fish and chip shop with small restaurant. Then I visited the extremely interesting Museum of Scottish Lighthouses which included a guided tour of the Fraserburgh Lighthouse. It was now almost 4pm and I decided to leave Fraserburgh as the journey back to Aberdeen was a long journey of around 1hr 45 minutes. I just got to the bus station in time to catch the X68 which left at 4pm. This was a double decker and although not particularly comfortable it gave me a good view of the Aberdeenshire countryside.
DAY 4
Way back in 1999 I had enjoyed a 2 week holiday staying in Burghead on the Murray Coast just north of Elgin. I decided to revisit this area but as it was such a long distance away I used the train from Aberdeen to Elgin and return. On arrival in Elgin I walked to the bus station to catch the 1015 number 32 bus for the short journey to Burghead. On passing through the villages on this route I was very surprised at how many new houses had been built and were still being built since I was last there 25 years ago. Hopeman and Burghead had really increased in size with lots of new housing developments. It was good to have an hour to wander around Burghead where the centre of the village hadn’t changed that much except perhaps it had been tidied up a little and was slightly more geared up for tourists.
I continued on the next 32 bus, an hour later through Kinloss to Findhorn. 25 years ago Kinloss had still been an active RAF base and I can remember watching the Nimrods flying around. Although much busier than I remembered it Findhorn had not changed that much. It was good to walk along the beach and by the side of the estuary again. It’s a lovely place with the almost white sands and the pine trees by the shore. After a couple of hours in Findhorn I got the 32 bus back to Elgin and then the train back to Aberdeen.
The beach by the estuary at Findhorn
DAY 5
This being a Sunday I was a little more limited as to where I was able to go. I decided to have another trip on the 201 to visit Crathes Castle and Gardens near Banchory. On arrival at the bus station I discovered that the 0900 bus was not expected until 0920. Buses on the 201 route seemed to be running late for much of the day. The single decker became quite full as it picked up passengers on its way out of Aberdeen. I got off the bus at the gates of Crathes Castle and walked up the long drive. The huge walled gardens were well worth going to see although I would like to see them later in the summer when they are in full bloom. After almost 4 hours wandering around the gardens, the inside of the castle and walking around the extensive estate, I enjoyed a snack in the National Trust for Scotland cafe then walked back down the drive to the bus stop.
I was only intending doing a short ride into Banchory to have a look around the town. Then to my surprise the 15 minutes late 201 bus was a double decker and so I decided to remain on the bus all the way to Ballater to enjoy the views. It was a very warm day but snow could still be seen on the mountain tops. I just had an hour in Ballater walking by the River Dee before getting the bus back to Aberdeen, this time it was sadly just a single decker.
DAY 6
Around 15 years ago I had enjoyed a 2 week holiday staying near Portsoy up on the Aberdeenshire Coast, just west of Banff. What I really wanted to do was revisit a number of the fishing villages with their harbours along that bit of coast on the 35 bus route but it was not as easy to do as it first appeared. My intention was to do circular trip using the 10 and 35 buses which both run extremely long routes between Aberdeen and Inverness, changing between routes at the small town of Fochabers. The problem was the return journey. Both the 10 and 35 run hourly but from around 3pm there are big gaps in the timetable and also buses which do not run the full distance into Aberdeen. Therefore I could not do the number of stops offs that I would have liked. I needed to begin my return journey earlier than expected to avoid long waits and a late return into Aberdeen.
I caught the 0900 number 10 for the journey of just over 2 hours to Fochabers. This was one of the comfortable yellow Stagecoach coaches but was a slightly different model being more of a standard coach with less steps to climb. I think it was named The Gordon Highlander. A scenic ride through gently rolling hills and calling in at the towns of Inverurie, Huntley and Keith on the way. I think that Huntley looked a bit run down compared to 15 years ago with lots of closed shops. I arrived in Fochabers at 1112 with a wait until 1150 for the next 35 which runs northwards towards Buckie and then east along the coast. The 35 arrived about 10 minutes late and lost more time getting through Buckie. Fochabers was a lovely little place to have a short look around including the Gordon Chapel.
I stayed on the bus until Portnockie from where I walked along the old railway trail to the next coastal village of Cullen. The trail had recently been completely resurfaced. I think I remember reading that there was a forum walk along this trail last year. The well known Bow Fiddle Rock is close by but I had visited that 15 years ago. Cullen is a lovely place with its narrow streets of fishermen’s cottage with their red pan tiled roofs, along with a huge beach and harbour. It was good to visit it again. It was back on the 35 bus for the short ride along the coast to Portsoy. All of the buses that I travelled on along the 35 route were double deckers giving good views. Visiting Portsoy harbour again was great, such a lovely old village around the harbour to rival anywhere in Cornwall but fantastically very quiet with the harbourside almost deserted. Before getting the 35 bus for the very long journey of over 2 and a half hours to Aberdeen I called in at the well known Portsoy Ice Cream shop.
A view of Cullen from the old railway trail.
Portsoy Harbour
DAY 7
Where to go on final day using the Bluebird Explorer was somewhat determined by the weather. During the whole of my time in Aberdeen I had enjoyed fantastic dry sunny weather with quite warm days with temperatures in excess of 20 degrees C. Back home in England at the time the cooler wet weather had continued. Up on the Murray and North Aberdeenshire coast another warm day was forecast but the East Coast was to have low cloud and mist coming in off the sea. I awoke to a grey misty morning in Aberdeen so decided to once more take a long ride on the 35 with a 2 hour trip on the 0915 bus to Banff, once more a double decker. It remained grey and misty for much of the journey and I began to wonder if I had made the right decision, but on reaching the attractive looking town of Turriff the cloud was left behind and clear blue skies were in front.
On arrival in Banff I set off to walk towards the harbour, which although an interesting area of the town, it was not as attractive as many of the other towns and villages along that coast. Beyond the harbour things improved with rows of traditional single stories cottages facing the sea. Now in front of me was a large expanse of sandy beach at Inverboyndie. I decided to go down onto the beach and walk along the sands. With good weather and great scenery I decided to continue walking along the coast and aim for the fishing village of Whitehills to return to the 35 bus route. The next part of the walk was along a well surfaced cycle track with the sea to my right and hills covered in bright yellow gorse to my left. It was a lovely walk and great weather so I took my time and stopped on a few occasions to sit watching the sea and the sea birds. It was a very easy flat walk with an approach around the small headland into the very attractive village of Whitehills with its harbour and traditional cottages. It was now well into the afternoon and I was able to get a lovely meal of local monkfish and chips sitting in the garden at the Seafield Arms. It really was now quite a hot afternoon.
The coastal footpath/cycle trail between Banff and Whitehills
After the walk and food I decided to get the 3.13pm bus back to Aberdeen. Even with this early return it would be getting on towards 6pm before I got back to my hotel and this was the last of the hourly buses before the timetable became irregular, and so moving on to somewhere else would have resulted in a late return to Aberdeen.
ABERDEEN
Although I have been reporting upon my days out with a 7 Day Stagecoach Bluebird Explorer I did have one more day in Aberdeen. It’s a city that I had never been to before so I did allow a day to explore. On the day that I arrived I had a walk from my hotel to the sea front. The sea front and beach at Aberdeen was better than I had expected. One of the highlights of my visit was spotting a dolphin close to the shore. I really liked the streets of old cottages near the harbour entrance. What I didn’t like was the depressing rundown streets between the city centre and the sea front.
I left exploring Aberdeen until my last day after my 7 day ticket had finished. It was my first visit to Aberdeen and it left me with mixed views about the city. The granite buildings were very impressive and Union Street must have been a very wealthy grand street of quality shops in the past. I found it very rough and run down with so many closed shops and few shops of any quality. Like so many cities there is a huge empty Debenhams store but also House of Fraser and even John Lewis have pulled out of Aberdeen. There is the new shopping centre adjoining the bus and railway stations which has some quite upmarket shops and numerous restaurants mainly of the usual chains. Away from there I just found much of Aberdeen run down and generally rough. I didn’t feel unsafe but it sadly had more than its fair share of homeless people sleeping in doorways, drunks and druggies. The oil boom is definitely over. I loved the wider area and it was a very convenient location to stay but it isn’t a city I would hurry to return to. Perhaps I’m being a bit unfair on the place but that was my impression during my stay. My hotel was in one of the more historic streets directly opposite the Maritime Museum but it still felt rough and uncared for.
To finish on a positive note. On my last day I took a First Aberdeen number 20 bus the short journey to Old Aberdeen just to the north of the city centre. I did like that are with its historic buildings around the university with cobbled streets. I visited the Botanic Gardens, St Machar’s Cathedral, Seaton Park and the Brig of Balgownie over the River Don. A beautiful historic part of Aberdeen but quite a distance from the main city centre.
My early Explorer trips were dominated by Olympians, VRs and Nationals and I fondly recall the breakneck runs across Co Durham, 510 engine roaring away, so I'd quite like a trip on one of those.
