Scotland’s sunniest city has reinvented its waterfront around a design museum and a famous polar ship, with the seaside at Broughty Ferry just along the coast.
Dundee, on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, was once famous for three things: jute, jam and journalism. Its mills turned jute into sacks and ropes for the world, its marmalade was famous, and its publisher, DC Thomson, created comics such as The Beano and The Dandy. It also claims to be the sunniest city in Scotland.
Today Dundee has reinvented itself as a city of design and creativity, and it is the only UNESCO City of Design in Britain. Its waterfront has been transformed around the V&A Dundee, and it is a lively, friendly university city. Some of the world’s most famous video games were also first created here. This guide covers six things to see and do.
1. V&A Dundee
V&A Dundee is Scotland’s design museum, and the first branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum outside London. It opened in 2018 in a striking building designed by the Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Its curving walls of layered concrete panels are inspired by the cliffs of the Scottish coast.
The Scottish Design Galleries show the story of Scottish design, from fashion and furniture to engineering and video games. The highlight is the Oak Room, a tea room designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which was taken apart and stored for decades before being restored and rebuilt inside the museum. It is a beautiful space.
The museum also hosts major exhibitions, which change through the year and have a charge. Entry to the permanent galleries is free. There is a café and a restaurant with views over the Tay.
The building itself is worth seeing from every side, especially from the riverside path. Its huge open hall is a public space that feels like a living room for the city. It is right next to the station.
2. RRS Discovery
RRS Discovery is the ship that carried Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first expedition to Antarctica, from 1901 to 1904. She was built in Dundee, because the city’s shipyards had long experience of building whaling ships strong enough for the ice. Today she has come home and is moored beside the V&A.
You can explore the ship, from the decks to the cabins where the explorers lived. The ship was frozen into the Antarctic ice for two years. Its story of courage and endurance is remarkable.
Discovery Point, the visitor centre beside the ship, tells the story of the expedition and the men who took part, with films and exhibits. It brings to life the harsh conditions they faced. Children love the interactive displays.
Allow a couple of hours. The ticket also covers entry to the Verdant Works, a jute mill museum in the city, on some combined tickets. The ship is beside the V&A and the station.
3. The McManus and the city centre
The McManus is Dundee’s art gallery and museum, in a grand Gothic Revival building in the city centre. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1867. It is free to enter.
The museum tells the story of Dundee, from its prehistoric past to its industries and people. Among its most famous objects is the skeleton of the Tay Whale, a humpback whale that swam up the Tay in the nineteenth century. The art galleries have a fine collection of Scottish paintings.
In the city centre, look out for the statues of Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx, characters from the comics published in Dundee. They are a favourite with children and adults alike. The comics are part of the city’s identity.
Dundee Contemporary Arts, known as DCA, is a centre for contemporary art and film. The Verdant Works, in a restored jute mill, tells the story of the jute industry and the people who worked in the mills. HMS Unicorn, a wooden warship launched in 1824, is one of the oldest ships still afloat in the world, moored in the city docks.
4. Dundee Law
Dundee Law is the remains of an extinct volcano, rising about a hundred and seventy metres above the city. It is the highest point in Dundee. From the top, the views over the city, the Tay and the surrounding countryside are wonderful.
On a clear day, you can see across the Tay to Fife, and along the coast. The two Tay bridges, the long railway bridge and the road bridge, stretch across the river below. The railway bridge replaced an earlier bridge that collapsed in a storm in 1879, one of the worst rail disasters in British history.
At the top of the Law stands the city’s war memorial. There are paths up the hill from the city streets, and a road that goes most of the way to the top. It takes about half an hour to walk up.
The Law is a lovely place to watch the sunset. The Mills Observatory, in Balgay Park, was the first purpose built public observatory in Britain. It is a great place to look at the stars.
5. Broughty Ferry
Broughty Ferry, a few miles east of the city centre, is a seaside suburb that was once a fishing village. It has a sandy beach, a harbour and a castle. It is one of the most popular places in Dundee for a day out.
Broughty Castle, built in the fifteenth century to guard the Tay, stands on the shore. It houses a small museum about the history of the area. From the castle, you can often see dolphins in the river.
The beach is lovely for a walk, and the promenade has cafés and ice cream shops. The main street of Broughty Ferry has independent shops and good pubs. It has a relaxed, village feel.
Broughty Ferry has its own railway station and is also easy to reach by bus or car. It is a lovely place to end a day in Dundee, with a meal or a drink by the sea.
6. St Andrews and Glamis Castle
St Andrews, about twenty five minutes south of Dundee across the Tay, is famous around the world as the home of golf. The Old Course is the oldest golf course in the world, and golfers come from everywhere to play it. The town also has a ruined cathedral, a castle and Scotland’s oldest university.
St Andrews has beautiful beaches, including West Sands, which appeared in the famous opening scene of the film Chariots of Fire. The town’s old streets are full of shops, cafés and students. It is a lovely day out.
Glamis Castle, about twenty five minutes north of Dundee, is one of the most beautiful castles in Scotland. It was the childhood home of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and it is linked with Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Its turrets and towers look like something from a fairy tale.
The glens of Angus, north of Dundee, are lovely for walking. A car or a driver for the day makes it easy to visit St Andrews and Glamis.
Getting there and getting around
Dundee station is right beside the V&A and the waterfront, with trains to Edinburgh in around an hour and a quarter, to Glasgow, Aberdeen and direct trains to London. The Caledonian Sleeper also stops here.
Dundee Airport has a small number of flights, and Edinburgh Airport is about an hour away by road. The A90 links the city with Perth and Aberdeen. A car booked ahead is the easiest way to travel between Dundee and the airports, and to reach St Andrews and Glamis.
Ride with ZeroLanes. From your door, the station or the airport to anywhere in Dundee, at a price fixed before you confirm. Travelling between cities? Get a fixed price for the journey, or keep a car and driver for the day with hourly hire.