Dundee

Dundee was traditionally a grubby, rough industrial town famous for its three J's of jute, jam and journalism. Jute (see "Verdant" listing) still marks the landscape: the mills have all closed but many still stand as offices and apartments. Jam was made from fruit grown nearby. Journalism refers to the D C Thomson publishing empire, whose renown was less for their journalism than for their stable of comics and cartoon strips. These include the Sunday Post with "Oor Wullie" and "The Broons", the Dandy with "Desperate Dan" and the Beano with "Dennis the Menace". Of course that wasn't all the city traditionally had to offer, delicacies such as Dundee Cake, studded with sultanas and almonds, was probably what your Great Aunt Morag enjoyed for Sunday tea along with some Dundee Marmalade to top it off. And then there was the bridge that famously and tragically fell down. And Dundee's great cultural icon was William McGonagall (see info box), surely the world's worst poet.
But the industrial grubbiness is gradually disappearing, enabling the city to shine in its attractive natural setting. There are major visitor attractions already and more appearing. There's a student buzz from the universities, and generally a friendly feel to the place. It's definitely worth a day or two to visit.
Dundee has its own dialect: the vocabulary is much the same as Lowland Scots (see Scotland: Talk) but pronunciation is distinctive. "T" is often dropped in a glottal stop, but the signature sound is the short "eh" (phonetic: ɛ) replacing ay, ae, e, i, ie, uy, y and more. So a pie is a "peh"; "eh" can mean I, yes, what? or hmmm.... Dundonians can conduct entire conversations by just saying "eh".
Dundee Tourist Information Centre is located at Discovery Quay on Riverside by the RRS Discovery. A further information point is located in the city square, to the left of Carid Hall.

By plane

• Edinburgh Airport

  address: Ingliston, Edinburgh
  Most convenient international airport nearby.

• Dundee Airport

  address: Riverside Drive DD2 1UH
  Very close to the city centre, but the only commercial flight is to London Stansted by Loganair, twice a day M-F and once on Sunday.

The most convenient international airport for Dundee is Edinburgh (EDI), 60 miles south, with extensive connections across Europe. A recently launched route, the X90, by National Express offers direct buses from Edinbugh Airport to Union Street in Dundee for roughly £16 one way, and £22 return if booked in advance on their website.
Alternatively, the Stagecoach Jet 747 bus runs 24 hours, every 20 minutes during daytime, from the airport stop G north across the old Forth Road Bridge to Inverkeithing and Halbeath Interchange in Fife. Then for Dundee, change either at Inverkeithing for a train (hourly, one hour) or at Halbeath for the Stagecoach X54 (hourly, 90 min).
You can also head by train to Dundee from the airport. The most convenient way would involve getting to the Edinburgh Gateway railway station by tram or bus. Alternatively you can go to the Edinburgh Waverley station for connections mentioned below.

By train

• Dundee railway stationJust south of the city centre, close to Discovery Point and the ramps onto the Tay Road Bridge. The station was rebuilt in 2018 with a SleeperZ hotel on the top floors of the station building.

• Broughty Ferry Railway Station

  address: Gray Street, DD5 2DX
  In the Broughty Ferry Area, not far from the Broughty Ferry Castle. Platform 1 is not suitable for wheelchair users.

Dundee has hourly services from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen (all 80 mins, run by Scotrail). Three direct daytime LNER trains run from London Kings Cross (6 hr) via York and Newcastle, but it's usually more convenient to change in Edinburgh. From the Midlands and Southwest, take the CrossCountry train, coming all the way from Penzance via Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield and York.
There are also overnight Caledonian Sleepers from London Euston. The direct train is the Highland sleeper for Aberdeen and Inverness, leaving London around 21:00 and reaching Dundee at 06:00; it returns at 23:00 reaching London for 08:00. Alternatively take the Lowland sleeper for Edinburgh and Glasgow, leaving London near midnight and changing in Edinburgh at 07:00 for a local train, to reach Dundee around 09:00. To return, you leave Dundee around 21:00 to join the southbound sleeper from Edinburgh near midnight, reaching London for 07:00.
As ever, you need to shop around for the best tickets, and buy early. For instance the standard offpeak return to Dundee from Glasgow is £37, split-ticketing via Perth reduces that to £24, and advance purchase can get the price down to £15. See the Wikivoyage guide to Rail travel in the United Kingdom.

By car

From Edinburgh and the south follow M90 / A90 north, about 55 miles or just over an hour's drive. A slow scenic route is to branch off onto A92 towards Kirkcaldy then wind along the Fife coast and through St Andrews.
From Glasgow follow M80 then M9 / A9 to Perth, and then swing east onto A90. It's 75 miles, about a 90-min drive.
From Aberdeen follow A90 south: it's 67 miles and will take about 80 min.
A90 skirts the north of Dundee, where it's called Kingsway. The speed limit of 40/50 mph is vigilantly enforced.

By bus

Scottish Citylink buses run hourly from Glasgow Buchanan station (1 hr 40 min) and Aberdeen Union Square (1 hr 20 min), and every two hours from Edinburgh St Andrews Square (90 min): beware slower buses that meander through the small towns. Megabus competes on those city routes, and also runs direct from Manchester (6 hr). National Express coaches take 12 hours daytime and 11 overnight from London Victoria.
Dundee Bus Station is at 132 Seagate DD1 2HR, in the city centre. There are no left-luggage facilities. Lots of cafes & fast-food nearby.

To get around Dundee, there are good provisions for car transport. Taxis are available at taxi ranks in the centre. You can expect to pay about £6 for a journey in the city centre, and £15 to Broughty Ferry.
The local bus service has extensive intra-city connections. All the local buses converge to the city centre and are relatively cheap. You can buy a 10-journey pass or an all-day pass. Dundee Travel Info has travel news, real time info and a journey planner for public transport. There are a few different operators, the more notable ones being Stagecoach and Xplore Dundee, and their day tickets are not interchangeable unless you purchase the 'ABC' (All Bus Companies) ticket - more information on which can the found on the aformentioned website.
You can get to Broughty Ferry and Invergowrie by train from Dundee railway station, predominantaly by Scotrail for £2.60, and £4.10 return, respectively.

• Discovery Point

  address: Riverside Drive, DD1 4XA
  Discovery, launched in 1901, is an Royal Research Ship (RRS) specifically built for Antarctic research. Built in Dundee, she's a wooden sailing vessel with only auxiliary steam power. Discovery was commanded by Robert Falcon Scott; also aboard was Ernest Shackleton. They reached Antarctica in early 1902 (ie summer), intending to spend one winter there, but the ship became icebound for the next two years. They were just about to abandon ship in Feb 1904 when the ice broke and they escaped homeward, to public acclaim. Both men were to return: Shackleton in 1907-09 didn't quite reach the South Pole, but survived; Scott in 1910-12 did reach it, but behind Amundsen, and all his party perished on the trek back to the coast.
  Discovery Point has an extensive display of the 1902-04 expedition, which spent most of its time ashore, and then you go aboard the ship.

• Verdant Works

  address: West Henderson’s Wynd DD1 5BT
  In the 19th century, you just had to have jute. Curtains & carpets & blankets, hard-wearing clothing. Satchels and roof felt, ropes of all kinds, sails for ships, tents for soldiers. The raw material is a coarse flax that grows in Bengal: it was processed here because Dundee had fast ships to import it, whale oil to make it soft and workable, flax-weaving technology, and then again the fast ships to export finished goods globally. The city's mill owners grew very rich; the mill workers didn't, nor did the Bengalis. Verdant Works, built in 1833, was one of many jute factories here. Many of them still stand, converted into offices and apartments; Verdant was turned into a museum in 1996.

• Dundee V & A

  address: 1 Riverside Esplanade, DD1 4DE
  The Dundee branch of London's Victoria and Albert museum, with a focus on design in Scotland. The building, on the waterfront close to Discovery, is a striking modern design.

• McManus Gallery & Museum

  address: Albert Square, Meadowside, DD1 1DA
  Museum with 8 galleries tracing Dundee's story. Plus exhibitions, one of which celebrates 80 years of Beano comic, e.g. Dennis the Menace. The building, almost 150 years old, was a memorial to Prince Albert.

• HMS Unicorn

  address: South Victoria Dock Road, DD1 3BP
  A 46-gun frigate launched in 1824 at Chatham Docks, England, but immediately mothballed, so she was never fitted with masts, rigging or guns. Her hull was roofed over and her only sea voyage was in 1873 when she was towed north to Dundee to act as a training hulk. This means her original Georgian timbers are in unusually good condition.
  
  Her sister ship HMS Trincomalee also survives. She's fully rigged and can be visited at Jackson Dock, Hartlepool.

• Tay BridgesThere are three... well, two-and-a-bit really:
  Tay Road Bridge, opened in 1966, carries the A92. It's 2.25 km long, and climbs 30 m from Dundee to Newport-on-Tay in Fife. No tolls, and there's a footpath and cycleway from which you can admire the scenery. It may be closed in high winds, see tayroadbridge.co.uk for current road conditions.
  The second Tay Rail Bridge, opened in 1887, carries the railway main line across to Wormit in Fife. It's 3.5 km long; refurbishment in 2003 included scraping 1000 metric tons of bird droppings from the structure.
  And then there's the infamous first Tay Rail Bridge, remnants of which can be seen near the current rail bridge. It opened in 1878 but collapsed in high winds on 28 Dec 1879, taking a train with it, and all 75 aboard were killed.

• The Howff

  address: Meadowside, DD1 1LN
  An ancient cemetery in the heart of Dundee, it was part of Greyfriars Monastery until Mary Queen of Scots gave it to the city in 1564. Unusual and well-preserved gravestones, including that of James Chalmers (d 1853), inventor of the adhesive postage stamp. The last burial here was of George Duncan, businessman and MP, in 1878. Today the Howff is a secluded, peaceful place.

• University of Dundee Botanic Garden

  address: Riverside Drive, DD2 1QH
  9-hectare garden with tropical glasshouses.

• Mills Observatory

  address: Glamis Road, Balgay Park DD2 2UB
  A public astronomical observatory. In summer it's only open daytime, the nights are too short for looking through telescopes.

• Dundee LawA 572-ft high extinct volcano which gives a good view over the city.

• Camperdown Wildlife Park

  address: Camperdown Country Park, Coupar Angus Road, DD2 4TF
  Menagerie with birds and (mostly small) beasts.

• Broughty Castle

  address: Castle Approach, Broughty Ferry, DD5 2TF
  Castle built in 1496 now housing a local history museum.

• Dundee Museum of Transport

  phone: +44 1382 455196
  address: Unit 10 Market Mews, Market Street, DD1 3LA

• Places of worship: Dundee has over 30 churches, 3 mosques, a Sikh temple and a Buddhist group. The two cathedrals are both Victorian Gothic: St Paul's Episcopal on High St, and St Andrew's RC on Nethergate.

• Dundee Rep Theatre

  address: Tay Square DD1 1PB
  Programme of theatre, dance and music.

• Dundee Contemporary Arts

  address: 152 Nethergate
  Modern art exhibitions, events and films.

• Caird Hall

  address: City Square, DD1 3BB
  Often hosts concerts, bands, etc. Caird Hall is also home to a grand 1922 Organ.

• Ice Arena

  address: 7 Dayton Drive, DD2 3SQ
  Public skating & lessons most days. It's the home rink of Dundee CCS Stars: they play in the Elite Ice Hockey League, with games most weekends Sept-March.

• Dundee Science Centre

  address: Greenmarket, DD1 4QB
  Interactive science museum.

• Olympia Swimming Pool

  address: 3 East Whale Lane DD1 3JU
  Leisure pool is open daily from 10:00, but full facilities - waves, flumes and diving pool - only as noted.

• Whitehall Theatre

  phone: +44 1382 434940
  address: Bellfield Street, DD1 5JA
  Mostly light fare: musicals, tribute acts, light opera and comedy.

• Flower and Food Show

  address: Camperdown Country Park
  Flower and food show with several competitions. We can only envy the judges of the Scotch Broth and the Dundee Cake competitions.
• Play or watch golf: Dundee is close to several major-circuit golf courses. Just 20 km east is Carnoustie, hosts of the 2018 Open. Within 30 min south over the bridge are the St Andrews and Kingsway courses, and within an hour's drive west is Gleneagles. There are plenty of less renowned courses for a casual game: the city's local club is

  Caird Park

  address: Mains Loan DD4 9BX
  Two courses and a golf simulator.
• Ski: Dundee is about an hour's drive to Glenshee ski area (follow A93 towards Braemar) and two hours from Aviemore (follow A9). Both areas are small, with short runs on unreliable snow: check piste & weather conditions before setting off. Weekends and half-term get very congested.
• Watch football, i.e. soccer. The city has two teams, with stadiums almost adjacent, and (since 2019) both playing in the Scottish Championship, the country's second tier of football. Dundee FC play at Dens Park, capacity 11,000, at Sandeman St DD3 7JY and now called "Kilmac Stadium". It's a mile north of the centre. Dundee United play at Tannadice Park DD3 7JW, capacity 14,000, barely 200 yards from their rivals at Dens Park.
• Westfest is a music festival and community fair held in June on Magdalen Green. The next is on Sun 7 June 2020.

• Dundee University
• University Of Abertay
• The High School of Dundee
• Dundee College
• Tayside Language Centre

• Job Centers Wellgate Center & Gellatly Street
• Adecco Meadowside / Albert Sq.

The Overgate and the Wellgate are Dundee's two main shopping malls which sit at either end of the city centre. Each has various national and international brands such as H&M, Debenhams, Gap, Superdry and Next in the Overgate, and New Look in the Wellgate.
In addition to this, there are substantial branches of High street stores along the Murraygate and city centre area.
Dundee also has the usual large-scale out of town retail parks that are common in Scotland's bigger towns and cities.

In recent years a café culture has flourished in Dundee city centre. Lots of fast-food, takeaways, cafés and restaurants.

• Pearl of Hong Kong

  phone: +44 1382 455883
  address: 162 Arbroath Road DD4 7PY
  Chinese takeaway with home Delivery.

• Duke's Corner

  address: 13 Brown Street DD1 5EG
  Lively entertainment venue, serving burgers, salads, pizzas from noon. Student clientele. Good for lunch or early dinner, gets noisy once the music starts.

• Parlour

  address: 58 West Port DD1 5EP
  Popular café near Uni, small place so it gets busy and cramped. Menu changes daily, lots of vegetarian options.

• Balaka

  address: 115-117 Perth Road
  Long-established budget Indian restaurant.

• Jahangir Tandoori

  address: 1 Session Street, DD1 5DN
  Friendly family restaurant with goldfish pool.

• Phoenix

  address: 103 Nethergate, DD1 4DH
  Good pub grub at reasonable prices.

• Dil'se

  phone: +44 1382 221501
  address: 99-101 Perth Rd, DD1 4JA
  Friendly Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant.

• Domino's Pizza

  phone: +44 1382 220220
  address: Unit 1c/d City Quay Victoria Docks, Camperdown Street, DD1 3JA
  Takeaway pizza.

• City Harbour Chinese Buffet

  address: Unit 3 & 4, City Quay, 21A Camperdown St DD1 3JA
  Waterfront all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet.

• Jimmy Chung's

  address: 7-9 Whitehall Street DD1 4AA
  Fixed-price all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in Scottish chain restaurant.

• Tickety Boo's

  address: 51 Commercial Street DD1 2AA
  Highly recommended food & drink.

• The Old Bank Bar

  address: 34 Reform Street DD1 1RH
  Pub with reliable food.

• Rancho Pancho

  address: 16 Commercial Street, DD1 3EJ
  Mexican classics, hefty portions.

• The Counting House

  address: 67-71 Reform St
  JD Wetherspoon's efficient chain choice.

• The Globe

  address: 53 West Port, DD1 5ER
  Pub with extensive menu including vegetarian.

• Don Michele

  phone: +44 1382 660600
  address: 177 Perth Road DD2 1AS
  Italian restaurant.

For self-catering, there are lots of supermarkets. Tesco predominates, with four branches: in the city centre, one next to the railway station (24 hrs), one in South Road near Sterling Mills and another on Kingsway. ASDA have a big store on East Kingsway (24 hr) and a smaller one on Gilburn Road. Morrisons are on the Forfar Road, north of A90 Kingsway.

Pubs are dwindling, as in other cities, but there's no shortage. The main concentration is along Hawkhill, Perth Road or West End of the city, with another strip along Nethergate. The student unions of Dundee and Abertay Universities have many good nights and are great for a cheap night out.
City centre pubs:

• Tickety Boo's, Seagate / Commercial Street.
• Klozet, Seagate is the main gay bar.
• Trades House Bar, Union Street.
• The Old Bank Bar, Union Street.
• The Westport Bar, North Lindsay Street.

Pubs along Hawkhill / Perth Road / West End:

• The Globe, Westport / Hawkhill. Handy for nightclubs.
• The Nether Inn, Nethergate. Cheap Student 'Scream' pub.
• Phoenix, Nethergate / Perth Road. Traditional pub
• Number Twenty Five, South Tay Street. Boutique hotel, restaurant, bar.
• Jute Cafe Bar, Perth Road. Trendy bar attached to Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre
• Braes, Perth Road. Modern bar, middle-aged clientele at weekends.
• Speedwell Bar, Perth Road. Locally renowned traditional pub

Nightclubs are all in the city centre:

• Fat Sams, South Ward Road
• Reading Rooms, Blackscroft
• Toffs Piano Bar (formerly Mondo's), Session Street
• Deja Vu, Cowgate
• Underground, South Tay Street.

Central choices include:

• Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa

  phone: +44 1382 202404
  address: 1 West Victoria Dock Road Dundee DD1 3JP
  Stylish contemporary 4-star hotel, in the new City Quay development, with views of the river and Quay.

• Best Western Queens Hotel

  address: 160 Nethergate DD1 4DU
  Good chain choice, central.

• Premier Inn Dundee Centre

  address: Riverside Drive DD1 4XA
  Riverside budget inn.

• Travelodge Dundee Central

  address: 152-158 West Marketgait, DD1 1NJ
  Central budget hotel. There's another Travelodge north of the centre on Strathmore Ave, and a third (listed below) on the A90 ring road.

• Best Western Invercarse Hotel

  phone: +44 1382 669231
  address: 371 Perth Road
  Chain 3-star hotel.

• Dundee Backpackers

  phone: +44 1382 224646
  address: 71 High Street DD1 1SD
  Central hostel with dorms and private rooms.

• Holiday Inn Express Dundee

  phone: +44 1382 314330
  address: Dock Street Dundee DD1 3DR
  Very central 3-star hotel. Rooms are small but not cramped, equipped with tea/coffee maker. Rate includes breakfast and decent wireless Internet.
• In summer, most student accommodation is empty. Try contacting the local Universities (via websites under "Learn") to see if they have anything to offer. Other flats and apartments may also be available: Dundee empties out in summer unless there's a major golf tournament nearby.

There's a string of hotels along the A90 at the edge of the city, including:

• DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dundee

  address: South Kingsway DD2 5JT
  4-star lodging in 19th-century mansion with extensive gardens.

• Premier Inn Dundee West

  address: South Kingsway DD2 5JU
  Budget hotel, handy for motorists,

• Travelodge Dundee

  address: Kingsway, DD2 4TD
  Budget chain hotel, convenient for motorists.

Further out in the countryside:

• The Hideaway Experience

  address: Balkello Farm, Auchterhouse DD3 0RA
  Luxurious cottage on farm.

• Piperdam Golf & Leisure Resort

  address: Piperdam, Fowlis DD2 5LP
  Self-catering lodges by small loch.

Cellular network coverage is provided by the normal UK carriers.

The local police is Police Scotland and the main office is in the town centre at the end of West Bell St beside Dundee's Sheriff Court. In the UK, '999' is the number to call the emergency services, and 101 for less urgent calls to the police. The pan-European emergency number 112 also works.
Dundee has an extensive CCTV system, covering most of the city and the entire city centre. This is owned by Dundee City Council and run by Tayside Police and has helped reduce crime significantly.
Dundee, like any other major city, has its anti-social problems, mainly drugs. The area round the rear of the Wellgate centre (Hilltown) and Stobswell have a bad reputation and care should be exercised on The Law at night. Overall the city has a good reputation.
Dundee has a dual carriageway going through it, the Kingsway, which almost splits the city in half. Be aware of speeding cars, as in any other busy city, as accidents are common.

• South across the Tay is St Andrews, an ancient university town by the sea. It's the home of the Royal and Ancient (the ruling body of Golf), and the former ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. Frequent Stagecoach buses (No 99) take 30 mins. With your own car, continue south to Falkland Palace, and the charming fishing villages of East Fife.
• A short bus or train ride brings you to Perth and Stirling.
• Visit the nearby glens: Glenshee, Glenisla & Tay Valley. North on A9 through Dunkeld and Blair Atholl leads to Aviemore, the Spey Valley and Inverness.
• North along the coast is Aberdeen and Deeside, and eventually Inverness. So the coast route and the Tay Valley route together make a natural circuit of the east/central Highlands.