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

Dundee is in North East Scotland and is Scotland's 4th city. The city is just over 800 years old. It is on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which flows out into the North Sea, on the East Coast.

RRS Discovery
Factories and tenements in Dundee's inner city

Understand

Dundee Tourist Information & Orientation Centre is located at Discovery Quay on Riverside by the RRS Discovery.

Relative to other Scottish cities, Dundee's location is:

Historically, it is famous for the three J's. Jute, Jam and Journalism.

  • Jute - The boats, laden with jute from the Indian Sub-Continent used to arrive at Dundee, where the jute would be unladen and processed in the many jute mills around the City. Due to these jute factories, there was a lot of immigrant labour during this time. The last textile factory closed down a few of years ago, circa 2001. A lot of the old jute factory buildings have now been converted into apartments and offices.
  • Jam - Dundee is famous for its jam and is the original home of 'Marmalade'. The farms around Dundee grew (some still do) berries. These were used to make the jam. Also the Keillor Sweet Factory was famous for its sweets, although this is now shut down.
  • Journalism - Dundee is home to the famous Dandy and the Beano comics. D C Thomson are the publishers of these and other print titles.

The people of Dundee, a.k.a. Dundonians, are generally friendly to outsiders. The student population is very high, about 1 in 7.

Talk

Dundonians have their own slang, a quick crash course strongly influenced by both Doric (from the North East) and Lowland Scots. Note that some of these are not necessarily restricted in use by Dundonians, rather Scots folks 'affen hae a wye o' spikin thit cin affa confuse ony English spikin fowk' [rather people from Scotland often speak in a manner which tends to confuse people who speak English]. Here's some examples:

  • Ane/Ain = One
  • Bairn = child (probably from Scandinavian)
  • Buroo = Jobcentre / unemployed (On the broo/My broo just came through) (from bureau)
  • Bump = To 'bump' something is to steal it.
  • Bridie = A Meat filled Pastry, in the shape of a semi-circle, a delicacy from near-by Forfar
  • to chib = to stab (Origin unknown, may be from Romansch for 'blade') (Or to punch)
  • 'The Cash' = nickname for NCR (ATM manufacturer), formerly one of the city's largest employers.
  • Circle = roundabout / rotary junction
  • Cribby = A game where you have to hit a ball on the edge of the pavement from the otherside.
  • Cundie = Drain (apparently from 'conduit')
  • Dub = A puddle
  • Eh! = Yes
  • Eh? = What
  • Eh (sounds like the 'e' at the beginning of 'elephant') = Aye/Yes
  • Eh = I (pronoun). The fact that 'yes' and 'I' are the same in Dundonian is a source of common bafflement for visitors.
  • With Eh it's important to listen to the intonation to get the meaning, it is entirely possible for a local to complete a conversation using only Eh.
  • Fleg = Fright/Scare
  • Gie's = Give me (from 'give us', 'us' usually meaning 'me')
  • Green = Can be used for any open grassy space, but also specifically means the shared back garden of a block of tenements.
  • Jessie = An effeminate or weak man (Literally it is a Scots form of the name 'Janet')
  • Ken = Know
  • Kent = Knew/Known
  • Lift = To 'lift' something is also to steal it. To be "lifted" means to be arrested or apprehended by the police.
  • Midden = a bin (common Scots) or a mess.
  • Minging = smelly/disgusting
  • to pan (in) = to break (as in 'Eh panned in a wundie') or to beat up
  • Peh = a meat pie (pronunciation shift ie->eh, similarly my->meh, high->heh, etc.)
  • Pochle = To steal
  • Puss (short 'u', rhymes with 'bus') = Face (If someone is going to 'bang your puss', find a way to make a sharp exit...)
  • Schemie = A resident of one of the outlying suburbs (or 'schemes'). Often used in a disparaging fashin.
  • Tatties = potatoes
  • Teuchter (pron. 'choochter') = A resident of the countryside, chiefly to the north. Often used in a disparaging fashion. (Also - someone may be referred to as being from Auchterteuchter)
  • Tube/Choob = Stupid person, usually heard in the phrase 'you tube' (This usage predates the now-famous video sharing website ...)
  • Belter = Something that was very funny or entertaining
  • Belter (When describing someone) = Prat, Idiot etc.
  • Minter = The process of blushing or feeling embarrassed
  • A scajy = a state of anger or craziness ("Dunny tak' a scajy at as")

Get in

By plane

Dundee has its own airport, with flights direct to London City Airport. CityJet operates the service, which are roughly £60 to £150 for one-way and £100 to £250 for a return. Bookings can be made through Air France and now offer worldwide connections usually routing from Dundee-London City-Paris then on to the final destination. Flybe operates Direct flights to Birmingham and Belfast City airports- Monday to Friday and Sunday. The flights are operated on behalf of Loganair and you can expect to pay around £35-£70 for single fares or around £80-£150 for a return. Also operated by Flybe starting in summer 2009 are direct flights to Jersey. Flybe also offers a connection service allowing passengers to book connecting flights from Dundee to many other UK and European destinations. Flights normally involve one change in Birmingham.

The nearest major international airports to Dundee are at Edinburgh - 60 mi (96 km), or Aberdeen - 71 mi (114 km). For Edinburgh airport, a combined train and bus service linking at Inverkeithing Railway costs £15 for a single and £22.60 for a period return. If you are flying into Glasgow-Prestwick half price railway travel into Dundee is available if you show your flight paperwork to the train guard - note you will have to change trains in the centre of Glasgow - walk from Central to Queen Street station - all Aberdeen trains call at Dundee.

By train

Wikivoyage has a guide to Rail travel in the United Kingdom.

Dundee’s main railway station is located to the south of the city centre, close to Discovery Point and the ramps onto the Tay Road Bridge. Connections and timetables can be checked on-line. There are four train operators that operate into Dundee:

  • Scotrail There are hourly services from Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Costs can vary considerably, an off peak return from Edinburgh is around £27, from Glasgow about £37. Booking an advance purchase ticket online can bring the cost down to £6 one way. Split ticketing to Glasgow can save considerable money when booking a day return on the day i.e. buy a Glasgow to Perth, and a Perth to Dundee ticket.
  • Serco operate the overnight Caledonian Sleeper from London Euston. The Aberdeen sleeper calls at Dundee, and leaves London at around 8PM, arriving into Dundee around 5:30AM. For this reason it is often better to leave London at midnight on the Edinburgh sleeper instead and change to a local service so you can arrive in Dundee at a more sociable time.
  • East Coast There are three direct services per day to Dundee from London King’s Cross via York, Newcastle and Edinburgh. These trains continue on to Aberdeen. Average journey time 6 hours. London-Dundee fares vary enormously from about £17.50 for a one way ticket bought in advance to about £120 for an off peak return.
  • CrossCountry Britain’s longest single rail journey – to Penzance on the south west tip of England passes through Dundee. It provides a useful link to Central England via Bristol, Birmingham and York.

By car

The main routes to Dundee are as follows:

- From Edinburgh/Aberdeen: The A90 trunk road from Edinburgh to Aberdeen runs through the northern suburbs of the city, and is approximately 55 miles or just over an hour's drive from the capital, depending on traffic - which around the Forth Bridge area can be very heavy around rush hour. Aberdeen is 67 miles to the north and driving time is approximately 1 hour.

- From Glasgow/Stirling, the main route is to follow the M80 and then the M9/A9 to Perth, and then swing east onto the A90 at Broxden Junction. Glasgow is 75 miles from Dundee, or about 1 hrs 30 mins driving time.

- For a more scenic alternative route from Edinburgh through Fife, the A92 from Kirkcaldy on the southern Fife coast will take you across the Tay Road Bridge right into the heart of the city.

The Dundee section of the A90 - the Kingsway serves as the city's main peripheral bypass. Note that the speed limit is 50 mph, and is a notorious area for mobile speed camera vans and unmarked police vehicles - don't be tempted to drive faster, despite what the locals are doing!

By bus

Dundee Seagate Bus Station, also located in the city centre serves National Express coaches, Scottish Citylink and Megabus. There are frequent services, almost every hour to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Be wary, if you take a non-direct Coach / Bus, your journey time may double to up to 2hrs! Average cost for a single ticket is approx £8. Check before you travel.There is no luggage storage but for a small fee you can leave your bag or suitcase across the road at Parkys furniture and fancy goods stores.

Get around

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.

See

McManus Galleries
  • 1 McManus Galleries, Albert Square, Meadowside DD1 1DA. Mon - Sat, 10am - 5pm, Sun 12.30pm - 4.30pm. The Galleries house a museum and art gallery with a collection of fine and decorative art as well as a natural history collection. The museum re-opened February 2010 free. 
  • 2 Discovery Point (RRS Discovery). Apr – Oct Mon – Sat 10am-6pm (Sun 11am) Nov - Mar closes at 5pm. Royal Research Ship (RRS) Discovery is a wooden three-masted ship, built for Antarctic research, launched in 1901. On the British National Antarctic Expedition she carried Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their journey to the Antarctic. Discovery Point has an exhibition which you can see before looking at the ship. £8.75 joint ticket with Verdant works £15. 
  • 3 Verdant Works, West Henderson’s Wynd, DD1 5BT. Apr – Oct Mon – Sat 10am – 6pm, Sun 11am; Nov - Mar Wed – Sat 10.30am – 4.30pm, Sun 11am. A former jute mill (textile factory) built in 1833 and converted into a museum in 1996. £8.75. 
  • 4 Frigate Unicorn, South Victoria Dock Road. Apr-Oct daily 10.00 – 17.00; Nov - Mar Thu - Sun 12.00 – 16.00. A 46 gun frigate launched in 1824 at Chatham Dockyard. Note that there are no masts as the ship was used as a depot for 140 years. Her sister ship (HMS Trincomalee) can be seen in Hartlepool. £5.25. 
  • 5 The Howff (Corner of Meadowside and Barrack St). An ancient cemetery in the heart of Dundee, it was used as a burial ground for the people of the city for centuries until the sepulchre was discontinued in the 19th century. There are many interesting gravestones to be seen, some dating as far back as 1603. The land was given to the burgh of Dundee by Mary Queen of Scots in 1564. 
Broughty castle
  • 6 Broughty Castle, Castle Approach, Broughty Ferry, DD5 2TF. Apr - Sep: Mon - Sat 10am – 4pm, Sun 12.30pm – 4pm, Oct - Mar: Tue - Sat 10am – 4pm, Sun 12.30pm – 4pm. Castle built in 1496 now occupied by a local history museum. free. 
  • 7 Mills Observatory, Glamis Road, Balgay Park, DD2 2UB. A "public" astronomical observatory, with free entry; its dome is made of papier-mâché, oddly enough. It is the only papier-mâché observatory in Europe, and one of only two in the world. 
  • 8 Tay Rail Bridge. part of which collapsed in the 1800s. Parts still visible in the river. Longest rail bridge in Britain. 
  • 9 Dundee Law. A 572ft high extinct volcano which gives a good view over the city. 
  • 11 Dundee V & A, DD1 4DF. Opening in 2017. A Dundee branch of London's Victoria and Albert museum, to be housed in a stunning waterfront building currently under construction. Before they open there are some temporary exhibitions in other city locations. (updated Feb 2016)

Do

Caird Hall and Desperate Dan

Learn

  • Dundee University,[1]
  • University Of Abertay, [2]
  • The High School of Dundee, [3]
  • Dundee College, [4]
  • Tayside Language Centre, [5]

Work

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

Buy

Machine for carding jute, Verdant Works

The Overgate [6] and the Wellgate [7] 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 BHS 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

Frigate Unicorn

In recent years a Café Culture has flourished in Dundee City Centre. There are plenty of places to eat from fast food take away to cafés and restaurants. You can't miss them.

  • Duke's Corner, Brown Street. Excellent entertainment venue, serving burgers, salads, pizzas from noon. Perfect for lunch or dinner. 
  • 1 The Parlour Café, 58 West Port. Incredibly busy thanks to them having the best lunch-time menus in town. Menu changes daily, featuring lots of vegetarian options. 
  • Malabar, 304 Perth Road. A local favourite, serving the best Indian curries in Dundee. 
  • * ', Perth Road.. 
  • Balaka, 115-117 Perth Road. 
  • Phoenix Bar, 103 Nethergate, DD1 4DH. serves up good pub grub at reasonable prices. 
  • Jimmy Chung's Chinese Buffet, 7-9 Whitehall street. part of a Scottish chain 
  • Tickety Boo's, 51 Commercial Street, DD1 2AA (on the Seagate/Commercial Street junction.). Chef Avril's chilli and curries are to die for. Excellent food. Filthiest toilets in town. 
  • Old Horseshoe Bar, 100-108 Commercial St, DD1 2AJ. Excellent food. 
  • The Byzantium. Situated on the Hawkhill. One of the best restaurants in the city by far, serves extremely good quality Mediterranean food for very good value. 

If you are self-catering, then you can get your supplies from Tesco [8] — indeed Dundee is often nicknamed "Tescotown" by locals given the chain's dominance in the city - largely due to it being the site of Tesco's Scottish headquarters. There is a branch in the city centre, one next to the Railway Station by the river-side, one in South Road near Sterling Mills and another on the Kingsway (the main road running through Dundee). The latter of these is a large Tesco Extra superstore. There is a large ASDA at East Kingsway as well as a slightly smaller store at Gilburn Road. Both Riverside Tesco and Kingsway ASDA operate on a 24-hr basis. Morrisons supermarket is on the Forfar Road, north of the A90 Kingsway.

Drink

There is no shortage of pubs. If you want to do a pub crawl then head to the Hawkhill/Perth Road/West End of the city, where plenty of pubs line the streets, including a mixture of independent, themed and traditional bars.

The Nethergate is also a good place to go with plenty of bars that are popular with students. The city centre has fewer places that are worth going, although the Seagate has some nice bars, including outlets run by Wetherspoons. The student unions of Dundee and Abertay Universities have many good nights and are great for a cheap night out.

A gay scene, of sorts, is situated on the Seagate, including a nightclub called Out and its sister pub, Brooklyns, both of which are opposite the bus station. Also Klozet (formerly The Gauger) Dundee's premier gay bar.

City Centre

  • Tickety Boo's - Seagate / Commercial Street.
  • The Old Horse Shoe Bar - Commercial Street.
  • Lennon's - Castle Street. For all you Beatles fans.
  • Coagie's - Very traditional working class pub.
  • Trades House Bar - Union Street.
  • The Old Bank Bar - Union Street.
  • The West Port Bar - North Lindsay Street. Handy for nightclubs.

Hawkhill/Perth Road/West End

  • The Globe - Westport / Hawkhill. Handy for nightclubs.
  • Tallys - West Port / Hunter Street.
  • Templelane - West Port . Student cocktail bar.
  • The Nether Inn - Nethergate. Cheap Student 'Scream' pub.
  • Phoenix - Nethergate / Perth Road. Traditional pub
  • Bar Rio - Perth Road / South Tay Street. Modern bar-restaurant
  • Social - South Tay Street. Cocktail bar
  • Number Twenty Five - South Tay Street. Boutique hotel, restaurant, bar.
  • DCA Jute Bar - Perth Road. Trendy bar attached to Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre
  • Braes - Perth Road. Modern bar, frequented by more middle-aged clientele during weekends.
  • Laings - Roseangle/Perth Road. Bar-restaurant with large locally-famous beer garden
  • Drouthys - Perth Road. Cocktail bar/music venue
  • Speedwell Bar - Perth Road. Locally renowned traditional pub

Night clubs

All the night clubs cluster around the city centre:

  • Out - Seagate. Gay club.
  • Fat Sams, South Ward Road. 
  • The Reading Rooms - Blackscroft
  • Mondo's - Session Street
  • Deja Vu - Cowgate
  • Liquid - South Ward Road. formerly Mardi Gras.
  • Kage - St. Andrew's Lane - Alternative Club
  • Underground - South Tay Street. Bar/club.

Sleep

Dundee has a variety of hotels in the city centre, catering to all markets and tastes, including:

  • 1 Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa, 1 West Victoria Dock Road Dundee DD1 3JP, ☏ +44 1382 202404, fax: +44 1382 201401, . Check-in: 2.30pm, check-out: 12.00pm. The 4 Star Apex City Quay hotel is a stylish contemporary hotel, located in the heart of the new City Quay development. The hotel has views of the river and Quay. From £64 per night. 
  • 2 The Queens Hotel, Nethergate (close to the University of Dundee). 
  • 5 Invercarse Hotel, 371 Perth Road (close to the Botanical Gardens). 

There are also various hotels around the outskirts of the city, including:

Connect

Cellular network coverage is provided by the normal UK carriers.

Stay safe

The local police is Tayside Police [9] and the headquarters is in the town centre at the end of West Bell St beside Dundee's Sheriff Court. Although in the UK, '999' is the number to call the emergency services, you may also want to take note of the direct phone number to the Tayside Police HQ : 0845 600 5705.

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

Churches

Dundee Parish Church (St Mary's)
The Gate Christian Fellowship

The following is a list of established Christian churches in Dundee. Alongside the established churches in Dundee, Dundeeforchrist works with many of the city's churches organizing many different events such as "Resurrection Day", with specially invited guests/bands.

Mosques

Go next

  • If you want to visit the Glens and the Highlands then the best way to do it is by car. Enterprise Car hire is located next the Bus / Coach station. (131 Seagate, Dundee, DD1 2HW)
  • St Andrews is an ancient university town by the sea, the home of the oldest university in Scotland, the home of the Royal and Ancient (the ruling body of Golf), and the former ecclesiastical capital of Scotland. It is a short journey from Dundee by bus or car.


This city travel guide to Dundee is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
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