Dundee

Dundee is a large industrial and port city in North East Scotland. It stands on the north bank of the broad Firth of Tay, which flows out into the North Sea here. Its prime visitor attractions are the ship Discovery, the Verdant jute mill, and the V&A design museum which opened in autumn 2018. It's also a convenient base for nearby major golf tournaments, and for exploring Deeside and the Eastern Highlands.

RRS Discovery

Caird Hall and Desperate Dan

For other places with the same name, see Dundee (disambiguation).

Understand

Tell anyone you were visiting Dundee for leisure, for a fun trip, and time was you'd be mocked; you might even be certified. 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 . . . Dundee Cake, studded with sultanas and almonds, was probably what your Great Aunt Morag enjoyed for Sunday tea. 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.

Get in

By plane

The most convenient international airport for Dundee is Edinburgh (EDI), 60 miles south, with extensive connections across Europe. Direct buses run from the airport stop G north across the old Forth Road Bridge to Inverkeithing and Halbeath in Fife. This service is the Stagecoach Jet 747 bus which runs daily 24 hours, every 20 min daytime. Then for Dundee, change either at Inverkeithing for a train (hourly, one hour) or at Halbeath for the Stagecoach X54 (hourly, 90 min).

• 🌍 Dundee Airport (DND  ^IATA), Riverside Drive DD2 1UH (3 km W of centre on A85). 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. (updated May 2018)

By train

• 🌍 Dundee railway station (DEE). is just 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. (updated Feb 2019)

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.

Get around

• Dundeetravelinfo has travel news, real time info and a journey planner.

To get around Dundee, there are good provisions for car transport. Taxis are available at taxi ranks in the centre.

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.

The world's worst poet William McGonagall (1825-1902) was a Dundee hand-loom weaver inspired to take up poetry, which he recited publicly. His “Poetic Gems”, as he called them, were lengthy doggerel that often championed noble values, eg for female emancipation, and against the evils of alcohol: "... after spending his earnings foolishly he beats his wife- The man that promised to protect her during life- And so the man would if there was no drink in society, For seldom a man beats his wife in a state of sobriety.... His talent ranged over battles, shipwrecks and the Scottish countryside. In 1883 a whale swam into the River Tay and was landed: "... So Mr John Wood has bought it for two hundred and twenty-six pound, And has brought it to Dundee all safe and all sound; Which measures 40 feet in length from the snout to the tail, So I advise the people far and near to see it without fail...." But his most celebrated works were those extolling the "Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay! With your numerous arches and pillars in so grand array...." And so on, and on, and on, until tragically "... the train mov’d slowly along the Bridge of Tay, Until it was about midway, Then the central girders with a crash gave way, And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!" He published some 200 poems of similar brilliance. He was mocked, he was pelted with eggs, he endured practical jokes (most famously the hoax award of the Siamese Order of the White Elephant), he was chronically poor. A true artist: nothing and nobody could stop his poetry.

See

• 🌍 Discovery Point (RRS Discovery), Riverside Drive, DD1 4XA. Apr-Oct: M-Sa 10:00-18:00, Su from 11:00; Nov-Mar: closes 17:00. 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. Adult £11.25, joint ticket with Verdant Works £18.25. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Verdant Works, West Henderson’s Wynd DD1 5BT. Apr-Oct: M-Sa 10:00-18:00, Su from 11:00; Nov-Mar: M-Sa 10:30-16:30, Su from 11:00. 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. Adult £11.25, joint ticket with Discovery £18.25. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Dundee V & A, 1 Riverside Esplanade, DD1 4DE. Daily 10:00-17:00. 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. Free, charges for special exhibitions. (updated Sep 2018)

McManus Galleries

• 🌍 McManus Gallery & Museum (For 2018 only, a.k.a. the McMenace), Albert Square, Meadowside, DD1 1DA. M-Sa 10:00-17:00, Su 12:30-16:30. 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. Free. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 HMS Unicorn, South Victoria Dock Road, DD1 3BP. Apr-Oct daily 10AM - 5PM, Nov-Mar W-Sa 10AM - 4PM, Su noon - 4PM. 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. adult £7.25. (updated Feb 2019)
• 🌍 Tay Bridges. There 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. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 The Howff, Meadowside, DD1 1LN (Corner of Barrack St). 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. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 University of Dundee Botanic Garden, Riverside Drive, DD2 1QH (3 km west of centre: take bus along Perth Rd). Daily Mar-Oct: 10:00-16:30, Nov-Feb: 10:00-15:30. 9-hectare garden with tropical glasshouses. Adults £3.90. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Mills Observatory, Glamis Road, Balgay Park DD2 2UB (2 km west of centre). Some Wednesdays and Saturdays in June, July, and Aug: 12:00-16:00. A public astronomical observatory. In summer it's only open daytime, the nights are too short for looking through telescopes. Free. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Dundee Law. A 572-ft high extinct volcano which gives a good view over the city.  
• 🌍 Camperdown Wildlife Park, Camperdown Country Park, Coupar Angus Road, DD2 4TF (NW edge of town off A923). Daily Mar-Sep: 10:00-16:30, Oct-Feb: 10:00-15:30. Menagerie with birds and (mostly small) beasts. Adult £5.50, child £4.40. (updated May 2018)

Broughty Castle

• 🌍 Broughty Castle, Castle Approach, Broughty Ferry, DD5 2TF (On coast 4 km east of Dundee). Tu-Sa 10:00-16:00, Su 12:30-16:00. Castle built in 1496 now housing a local history museum. Free. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Dundee Museum of Transport, Unit 10 Market Mews, Market Street, DD1 3LA, ☎ [phone]. Mar - Oct W-M 10:30AM - 3:30PM; Nov - Feb W, Sa, Su:10:30AM - 3:30PM. £5. (updated Apr 2019)

Do

• 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, Tay Square DD1 1PB. Programme of theatre, dance and music. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Dundee Contemporary Arts, 152 Nethergate. Daily 10:00-00:00. Modern art exhibitions, events and films. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Caird Hall, City Square, DD1 3BB. Often hosts concerts, bands, etc. Caird Hall is also home to a grand 1922 Organ. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Ice Arena, 7 Dayton Drive, DD2 3SQ (in Camperdown). 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. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Dundee Science Centre, Greenmarket, DD1 4QB. Daily 10:00-17:00. Interactive science museum. Adult £8.25. (updated Feb 2019)
• Olympia Swimming Pool, 3 East Whale Lane DD1 3JU. Full facilities M-F 16:00-20:30, Sa Su 10:00-17:30. Leisure pool is open daily from 10:00, but full facilities - waves, flumes and diving pool - only as noted. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Whitehall Theatre, Bellfield Street, DD1 5JA, ☎ [phone]. Mostly light fare: musicals, tribute acts, light opera and comedy. (updated May 2018)
• Flower and Food Show, Camperdown Country Park. 3 days in early Sep. Flower and food show with several competitions. We can only envy the judges of the Scotch Broth and the Dundee Cake competitions. Adult £10 one day, £20 all 3 days. (updated May 2018)
• 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, Mains Loan DD4 9BX. Two courses and a golf simulator. (updated May 2018)
• 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 ie soccer. The city has two teams, with stadiums almost adjacent. Dundee FC play in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish football. Their home ground, capacity 11,000, is Dens Park, Sandeman St DD3 7JY. Currently called "Kilmac Stadium", it's a mile north of the centre. Dundee United play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier. Their home ground of Tannadice Park DD3 7JW, capacity 14,000, is barely 200 yards from their rivals in Dens Park.

Learn

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

Work

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

Buy

Machine for carding jute, Verdant Works

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.

Eat

HMS Unicorn

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

• Pearl of Hong Kong, 162 Arbroath Road DD4 7PY, ☎ [phone]. M W-F 16:30-23:00, Sa Su 16:30-01:00, closed Tu. Chinese takeaway with home Delivery. (updated May 2018)
• Duke's Corner, 13 Brown Street DD1 5EG. Su-Tu 12:00-00:00, W-Sa 12:00-02:30. Lively entertainment venue, serving burgers, salads, pizzas from noon. Student clientele. Good for lunch or early dinner, gets noisy once the music starts. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Parlour, 58 West Port DD1 5EP. M-F 08:00-18:00, Sa 08:00-16:00, Su 10:00-15:00. Popular café near Uni, small place so it gets busy and cramped. Menu changes daily, lots of vegetarian options. (updated May 2018)
• Balaka, 115-117 Perth Road. M-Th 12:00-03:30, F 15:00-00:00, Sa 12:00-01:00, Su 17:00-23:00. Long-established budget Indian restaurant. (updated May 2018)
• Jahangir Tandoori, 1 Session Street, DD1 5DN. M-Sa 12:00-15:00 & 17:00-00:00, Sun 15:00-00:00. Friendly family restaurant with goldfish pool. (updated May 2018)
• Phoenix, 103 Nethergate, DD1 4DH. Daily 11:00-00:00. Good pub grub at reasonable prices. (updated May 2018)
• Dil'se, 99-101 Perth Rd, DD1 4JA, ☎ [phone]. Daily 16:00-23:30. Friendly Indian and Bangladeshi restaurant. Earlybird dinner (17:00-18:30) for £15. (updated May 2018)
• Domino's Pizza, Unit 1c/d City Quay Victoria Docks, Camperdown Street, DD1 3JA, ☎ [phone]. Daily 11:00-05:00. Takeaway pizza. (updated May 2018)
• City Harbour Chinese Buffet, Unit 3 & 4, City Quay, 21A Camperdown St DD1 3JA. Daily 12:00-16:30 & 17:00-21:30. Waterfront all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. (updated May 2018)
• Jimmy Chung's, 7-9 Whitehall Street DD1 4AA. Daily 12:00-22:30. Fixed-price all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in Scottish chain restaurant. (updated May 2018)
• Tickety Boo's, 51 Commercial Street DD1 2AA (on corner with Seagate). Daily 11:00-00:00, F Sa to 01:00. Highly recommended food & drink. (updated May 2018)
• The Old Bank Bar, 34 Reform Street DD1 1RH. Daily 11:00-23:00, F Sa till 00:00. Pub with reliable food. (updated May 2018)
• Rancho Pancho, 16 Commercial Street, DD1 3EJ. M-Sa 17:00-22:00, Sa 12:00-14:30, Su 16:00-21:00. Mexican classics, hefty portions. (updated May 2018)
• The Counting House, 67-71 Reform St. Daily 08:00-00:00. JD Wetherspoon's efficient chain choice. (updated May 2018)
• The Globe, 53 West Port, DD1 5ER. Daily 11:00-00:00. Pub with extensive menu including vegetarian. (updated May 2018)
• Don Michele, 177 Perth Road DD2 1AS, ☎ [phone]. M-Sa 17:00-22:30, Th-Sa 12:00-14:00, Su 13:00-22:30. Italian restaurant. (updated May 2018)

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.

Drink

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.

Sleep

Central choices include:

• 🌍 Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa, 1 West Victoria Dock Road Dundee DD1 3JP (near foot of Tay Bridge), ☎ [phone], fax: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Check-in: 14:30, check-out: 12:00. Stylish contemporary 4-star hotel, in the new City Quay development, with views of the river and Quay. From £64 per night. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Best Western Queens Hotel, 160 Nethergate DD1 4DU (close to railway station and University of Dundee). Good chain choice, central. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Premier Inn Dundee Centre, Riverside Drive DD1 4XA (beside Discovery Point). Riverside budget inn. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Travelodge Dundee Central, 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. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Best Western Invercarse Hotel, 371 Perth Road (West End, close to the Botanical Gardens), ☎ [phone]. Chain 3-star hotel. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Dundee Backpackers, 71 High Street DD1 1SD, ☎ [phone]. Central hostel with dorms and private rooms. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Holiday Inn Express Dundee, Dock Street Dundee DD1 3DR (near foot of Tay Bridge), ☎ [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]. Very central 3-star hotel. (updated May 2018)
• 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 (formerly The Landmark Hotel), South Kingsway DD2 5JT (of A90 ring road NW edge of city). 4-star lodging in 19th-century mansion with extensive gardens. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Premier Inn Dundee West, South Kingsway DD2 5JU (On A90 ring road, NW edge of city). Budget hotel, handy for motorists, (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Travelodge Dundee, Kingsway, DD2 4TD (on A90 ring road in Camperdown, NW edge of city). Budget chain hotel, convenient for motorists. (updated May 2018)

Further out in the countryside:

• 🌍 The Hideaway Experience, Balkello Farm, Auchterhouse DD3 0RA (10 km north of city). Luxurious cottage on farm. (updated May 2018)
• 🌍 Piperdam Golf & Leisure Resort, Piperdam, Fowlis DD2 5LP (10 km NW of city on A903). Self-catering lodges by small loch. (updated May 2018)

Connect

Cellular network coverage is provided by the normal UK carriers.

Stay safe

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.

Cope

Go next

• 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.

Routes through Dundee

Aberdeen ← Forfar ←

NE  SW

→ Perth → Edinburgh/Glasgow