Aberdeen named in Condé Nast Traveller's list of Best Places to Go in the UK for 2025

Aberdeen has been named one of the Best Places to Go in the UK in Condé Nast Traveller's 2025 list.

The lifestyle magazine has named the must-visit locations across the UK for next year. Condé Nast promises to highlight the "regions, cities and neighbourhoods that are deserving of your time and attention".

And not only has Aberdeen made the list, it is the only Scottish location to do so, being joined by other cities and regions including Manchester, Port Rush in Northern Ireland and Derbyshire.

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Written by Scott Campbell, the magazine hailed Aberdeen for its "surprising food movement", praising the "eclectic array of newly blossomed global dining spots" that have appeared on Union Street.

It reads: "In the past year, Aberdeen's streets have gained a new sparkle beyond their famed granite shine. Once Europe's energy powerhouse, the Silver City has moved beyond pipelines and platforms to emerge as a surprising culinary hotspot, driven by the post-Covid revival in oil prices.

"The main thoroughfare of Union Street, previously slipping into obscurity, now connects an eclectic array of newly blossomed global dining spots – from flavour-packed vegan Venezuelan arepas at La Tiendita del Sabor – cooked up by five members of the same family – to Second Home Studio + Café around the corner, where visitors can pick up a paintbrush or take part in weekly blanket-knitting workshops over homemade bakes.

"Just below – in the once-forgotten purgatory of Union Terrace Gardens, now resurrected into a lush green park by a multi-million-pound facelift – home-grown wine bar SugarBird has opened its second outpost, while Michelin has recently awarded the Bib Gourmand to two restaurants in the city."

Outside of the city centre, Condé Nast also points to the West End of the city for more dining hot spots and Old Aberdeen for a taste of the city's history. And of course, it nods to the city's (nearby) connection to the deep-fired Mars Bar delicacy.

It continues: "Venture towards the West End and you’ll find no-nonsense wine tasting at Faffless and authentically crusty arancini at Rosa’s Sicilian Food and Pastries, plus a scattering of excellent coffee shops clustered around the city’s de facto café quarter on Thistle Street.

"Even Aberdeen's more stoic stalwarts have been swept up in the tides of change. The Exchange Pub, once a shrine to battered cod and stodge, has reinvented itself in a spicy haze of Sri Lankan string hoppers and fiery sambals, perched improbably on the edge of the city harbour.

"The cobbled streets of Old Aberdeen are chock full of history, while the wind off the sometimes-dreich Beach Esplanade whips you awake just in time to explore a line of seaside food trucks selling everything from artery-clogging full Scottish breakfasts to indecently gooey slices of cheesecake. When the city’s bustle wears thin, hop on a bus to escape to postcard-perfect towns like Stonehaven, famous (or, indeed, infamous) for a culinary icon of its own: the deep-fried Mars Bar."

To read the full article, visit the Condé Nast website here.