Shopping Centre Breaks in Aberdeen

Shopping in Aberdeen

 The beauty of shopping in Aberdeen is the ease at which you can get to each of the shopping centres and districts of the city centre.  You literally could shop till you drop.  Fortunately, the comforts of your Skene House HotelSuite are within easy walking distance or, if laden with bags, a quick taxi ride away!

 There are five shopping malls, or centres as we like to call them:

• Trinity
• St Nicholas
• Bon Accord
• The Academy
• Union Square - where you will find the major high street shops and John Lewis and Debenham’s department stores.

While one cannot deny the convenience of fully enclosed and covered shopping centres, especially when it’s raining, there is something far nicer about strolling about town in the fresh air.  Walking around the city will give you the opportunity to enjoy the stunning granite architecture and statuary for which Aberdeen’s famous. 

There are three main shopping districts in the city – each one “on the doorstep” of a Skene House.  How convenient!  The following gives you an introduction to each shopping district and information on the larger shops on Union Street and the City’s shopping centres.  Links to websites are given where these are available.

The West End, where Skene House Holburn is located, has a myriad of designer and upmarket shops around Albyn Place, Thistle Street, Rose Street, Chapel Street and the top end of Union Street. 

Our favourites are the designer shops Kafka, Pure Man and Cruise and the boutiques: Frou Frou Lingerie, Hamish Munro Footwear and Esslemonts 1 and 2 Men's and Women's Fashion.  There is also a lovely local gallery, Gallery Heinzel, that features Scottish artists and David’s Florists  can create a stunning arrangement for any occasion.  You’ll be sure to find something special.

Rosemount Village’s shops are ideally located for Skene House Whitehall’s and Rosemount’s guests.  You can find traditional neighbourhood shops that provide  day-to-day necessities such as D Nicol  the fishmonger, A W Herd and Sons Butchers and A and K Leiper Bakers.  There are also specialist purveyors catering for those with discerning tastes including I J Mellis, the award-winning cheesemonger, The Richmond Street Deli, a local pub The Queen Vic and Rosie’s Café where you can buy home-made soup, sandwiches and cakes.

The Cultural Quarter’s shops, easy to get to from Skene House Rosemount, are concentrated around Belmont Street, Back Wynd and Schoolhill – and The Academy - and offer an eclectic collection that includes, curio shops, giftware, second-hand bookshops and specialist shops such as Bang and Olufsen, Baskin and Robbins and One Up, an independent record shop. 

In addition there are lots of restaurants, including Poldino’s and Littlejohns, two of our Partner Restaurants, pubs (Ma Cameron’s is a popular haunt), bistros and cafes – there’s a lot squeezed into this buzzy little area.      

Union Street, the city’s main street, is lined with shops on each side.  Aberdeen’s major shops and larger shops are either on or just off Union Street and include Marks and Spencer, H&M , Topshop, HMV, Waterstone’s , Debenhams and Primark; and two of the city’s shopping centres, Trinity and St Nicholas.

For a short break with a “retail therapy” theme contact liz.gordon@skene-house, or call +44 (0) 1224 659 293.  Liz can tailor-make an itinerary centred around a passion for shopping.  This could include spending time with a personal stylist, followed by a shopping trip around select shops, having a make-over and then, maybe, an afternoon at a spa to recover?