Eastern Scotland’s Firth of Tay estuary is home to the coastal city of Dundee. Two maritime museums are located on its revitalized waterfront: HM Frigate Unicorn, a 19th-century frigate, and RRS Discovery, Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition ship. Verdant Works, a museum honoring the city’s history of jute production, is located to the north of the lake. Archaeological artifacts and works of art are displayed at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum. Since the RRS Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott’s ship for his Antarctic adventure was built in Dundee.
Further, it is still berthed at Discovery Point, the city is being advertised as “One City, Many Discoveries” in recognition of its history as a center for scientific endeavors. Since the 1980s, biomedical and technology sectors have migrated to the city, which currently represents 10% of the UK’s digital entertainment market, including the mobile app market.
What to do in Dundee?
Drench up a few cultures.
The opening of the northern station of the V&A historical center put Dundee on the map, and appropriately so; its precise concrete structure cuts a noteworthy shape because it sticks out onto the Tay. Meander around the opposite pyramid-shaped entrance corridor, and at that point up to the open-air patio to take in the views over the water. The lasting collection, Scottish Plan Exhibitions, is domestic, from shows crossing Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s oak tea room to the Dandy and Beano comics still published in Dundee today. Open day by day, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.Free passage; personal presentation costs shift. V&A Dundee opened in 2018, the primary Victoria and Albert historical center outside London.
V&A Dundee opened in 2018, the primary Victoria and Albert exhibition hall exterior in London (Erieta Attali). But it’s not all around the unused kids in the piece. Further down the river, Dundee Modern Expressions Middle, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, could be a buzzing social center with craftsmanship establishments, workshops, a two-screen cinema, a print studio, and an enthusiastic bar and eatery. Open day by day, 10 a.m.–12 a.m.Free passage.
The Dundee Rep Theater and Scottish Move Theater, both housed in one setting in Tay Square, are continuing to celebrate a joint 80th birthday (the primary portion of which was celebrated in 2019) with a special commemoration season of Scottish Move, ceilidh-theatre, and immersive visual expressions. Book ahead or just pop in to visit the lively Rep Eatery Cafe Bar. Open every day, ticket costs shift.
See back in time.
The 152-year-old McManus is Dundee’s unique gallery and craftsmanship display, housed in an elaborate Gothic building outlined by Sir George Gilbert Scott, the man behind what is presently London’s St Pancras Renaissance Inn. It’s an awesome place to dive into the city’s history, with relics of the former whaling industry (counting an amazing humpback skeleton) and the Tay Bridge Calamity. Open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 12.30–4 p.m. Free section.
The amazing engineering of the McManus Exhibition
Another option is to climb on board the RSS Revelation, the steamship that carried an intrepid group all the way from Dundee to the Antarctic in 1901, at the Revelation Point historical center on the waterfront. Investigate the reestablished living quarters and officer’s war room on the dispatch itself, and learn approximately how much brutal travel the team took.
Take a day trip.
Broughty Ship is a lovely angling town five miles up the coast. It’s an extraordinary place to take in views of the recently redeveloped Tay Estuary over the water in Dundee, meander around the 15th-century Broughty Castle, and stop for a house-brewed lager in Forgan’s bar and eatery. Trains from Dundee begin at £1.60 ($2) and take seven minutes.
Where to remain in Dundee?
Housed in a delightfully reestablished material process on the edge of the city center, the Hotel Indigo Dundee has charm, consolation, and character in spades. In spite of the fact that the space, with uncovered brick and cleaned concrete, may feel more Shoreditch than Scotland, there are local touches that demonstrate a chain hotel doesn’t have to feel generic.
Think vintage computer recreations within the campaign, rooms total with Beano comics and Irn Bru (as well as comfy beds and luxe lavatories), and Arbroath smokies for breakfast. Named after a previous cloth process representative said to have composed socials for the laborers, Daisy Tasker, the hotel’s eatery, serves crowd-pleasing burgers and cocktails in a sleek eating room. Copies from £47 ($60), room as it were.
Breakfast is £10 per individual. On the off chance that you favor a place to call your claim, try Staybridge Suites, a sister property adjoining Inn Indigo. These overhauled flats come equipped with kitchens and workspaces, as well as an on-site gym and washroom offering snacks and drinks. Copies are £73 ($94), B&B. Within the verdant West End of Dundee—a charming walk along Perth Street peppered with free shops and cafes—is Taypark House, a boutique lodging housed in a previous Scots Baronial House (there’s indeed a turret).
As well as open rooms, a few of which have unsupported showers, there’s a gin bar with a cluster of Scottish gins and a light-filled garden restaurant. Doubles from £80 ($103), room as it were. Breakfast is £8.50 per individual.
Where to eat in Dundee?
Castlehill has as of late been taken over by youthful chefs Adam Newth and Lewis Donegan, one of a number of pending ventures by the skilled match (a cookery school and fish eatery are too obvious). The comfortable, low-ceilinged eating room is decked out with oxblood calfskin chairs and Scottish craftsmanship on the dividers. A frequently changing menu puts the inexhaustible larder of Fife to delicious use, with liberal plates of crisp-skinned pork belly with burnished-gold monkfish cheek or crab steer hake with buttery cockle sauce.
Tayberry, Adam Newth’s sister eatery in Broughty Ship, cements the youthful chef’s notoriety as Dundee’s rising eatery star. It serves delicious, present-day plates made with neighborhood produce in a pretty waterside area.
Test a piece of Dundee’s popular cake at Palais Lunchnook.
Surrounded by photos of nearby 1960s sports stars, vintage comics, and fat cuts of cake served on doily-clad tables, it makes for a magnificently nostalgic environment. But the city isn’t short of stylish coffee shops; there’s an antipodean-style end-of-week brunch, fabulous coffee and create brew at Bach, and stacks of syrup-drenched pancakes at Pacamara.
Avery and Co. is a shining, breezy diner serving the usual salads and sandwiches, as well as some inventive vegetarian and veggie alternatives, such as tofu and chips or halloumi tacos. For something a little fancier, V&A’s Tatha Bar and Kitchen has floor-to-ceiling windows, so you’ll be able to appreciate all-encompassing views while tucking into Scottish venison with rhubarb or Loch Leurbost mussels. Test the finest nearby fish at Tailend, a high-end chippy, and fishmonger serving all the classics—as well as cod and chorizo croquettes and seared scallops with haggis for the courageous—along with Scottish-created brews and St Andrew’s Eden Process gin with innovative garnishes.
Where to drink in Dundee?
St. Andrew’s Brewing Company has recently opened a cavernous space, neglecting the recently created waterfront. As well as a routinely changing selection of tap and bottle craft lagers, both from its own brewery and from abroad, there’s a reflexive cocktail bar and feasting room serving sharing plates and bar classics.
Once you’ve had your fill of brew, head to The Wine Press adjacent, a much-loved nearby bar run by the folks behind Dundee wine shippers Aitken. There’s an extensive choice, as well as charcuterie and mezze boards to brush on, but the grassy vinho verde may be a champ each time.
On the off chance that you feel strong, attempt more unusual wines by means of the self-serve Enomatic machine; the choice changes every six weeks. Discover the city’s coolest cocktails hidden away down a cobbled back street at Draffens, which is housed in what was the cellar of the popular Dundee office store from which the bar takes its title. There’s no signage exterior, adding to the speakeasy vibe, whereas inviting, calfskin apron-clad staff will shake you up something strong and tasty.
Where to shop in Dundee?
Groucho’s record shop could be a 40-year-old Dundee institution that’s still going strong. There’s a treasure trove of vinyl here, and knowledgeable staff (not at all like the characters in Tall Devotion) will continuously be happy to recommend something. Stock up on phenomenal Scottish cheeses, chutneys, and a jolt of Dundee’s celebrated jelly to require domestic at The Cheesery, a minor shop on Trade Road. Closed on Sundays.