Holiday apartment in City of Dundee – Design, History and the Tay Shore

City of Dundee combines striking views, design history and waterside experiences within a compact area. Dundee Law is a prominent 572-foot-high landmark and an enduring attraction for visitors. In clear weather, the viewpoint at the summit offers views across Dundee to Fife, Perthshire and the Sidlaw Hills to the north, almost 45 miles away. The hill’s historical significance also stretches far back: Dundee Law was used as an Iron Age hillfort, and prehistoric graves dating from around 1500 BC were discovered on its slopes.

Culture and history

A striking modern counterpart is V&A Dundee, Scotland’s first purpose-built design museum. Its angular façade recalls the rugged cliffs of the Scottish coast. The Dundee Design Trails lead to important sites around the city and share stories about Dundee’s design history as the first and only UNESCO City of Design in the United Kingdom.

At Verdant Works, visitors can walk through the mill’s offices and engine hall and see and hear the working looms, drawing frames and preparatory spinning machines. The McManus is located in Dundee city centre, a ten-minute walk from the bus and railway stations. The McManus café serves freshly prepared, thickly sliced sandwiches made with locally sourced ingredients.

Dundee Contemporary Arts also brings together several areas: two large gallery spaces, two cinemas, a print studio, educational programmes, as well as events, workshops, courses and activities. The DCA’s publicly accessible Print Studio offers taster courses, tours, and courses and workshops throughout the year. At Mills Observatory, the UK’s first purpose-built public observatory, visitors can operate the telescopes there under the guidance of a member of staff to observe the night sky.

Museums and science

Discovery Point tells the story of the research ship RRS Discovery, built in Dundee’s shipyards, and its legendary Antarctic expedition under Captain Scott. At Discovery Point, visitors can go aboard the RRS Discovery. Dundee Science Centre offers another way to explore scientific topics with the interactive exhibitions “We are Inventing”, “We are Discovering” and “Medical Marvels”.

The university’s museum collections include scientific instruments, natural history specimens and an art collection featuring paintings, prints and textiles. Admission to the public exhibition galleries is free. At Camperdown Wildlife Centre, the Up Close Experience takes visitors behind the scenes of an animal enclosure and allows them to come face to face with animals.

A visit to HMS Unicorn offers an insight into Scotland’s only surviving warship. The range of attractions therefore extends from design and industry through research and art to maritime history.

Waterside activities

At City Quay, Wild Shore Dundee offers an aqua park, wakeboarding, stand-up paddleboarding and Ringo rides. On the Broughty Ferry coast, the beach and esplanade are ideal for walking and picnicking. The beach offers views across the Tay Estuary as well as opportunities to watch seals and birds; dolphins or porpoises can occasionally be spotted there too.

Broughty Castle overlooks the beach and esplanade at Broughty Ferry and offers views across the River Tay. The Orchar Gallery at Broughty Castle displays around 30 paintings from the Orchar Collection. The maritime surroundings are complemented by the University of Dundee Botanic Garden. It contains native British plants as well as representative plant collections from every continent in the world.

Getting around Dundee

Dundee’s main attractions are no more than 10 to 15 minutes apart at a comfortable walking pace. Dundee has an extensive network of walking and cycling paths as well as public transport routes. There are also direct train and bus connections to every Scottish city. The Dundee Waterfront Walks offer guided walks through 400 million years of Dundee’s eventful history.

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For further local navigation, open the Dundee page. Further destinations in the same higher-level area: Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, Glasgow, Midlothian, Aberdeenshire.

To the higher-level travel overview: Scotland.