New Walking Guides Map Out Hidden Stories Across Aberdeen
The trails highlight surprising histories, playful details and overlooked corners across parks and city streets.
One of Aberdeen’s park trails includes a well, rumoured to be home to Tom Thumb. It’s just one of several new walking guides released for the summer holidays, each one revealing overlooked stories tucked into familiar places across the city.
The guides cover Victoria and Westburn Parks, the city’s musical heritage, and a newly researched city centre trail by two RGU students. Printed copies are available for the parks and music trails, while the city centre version lives online.
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Finding Tom Thumb and the sound of the city
The Victoria and Westburn Park guide draws out some of the more unusual features of these much-loved spaces. There’s a fountain made from granite sourced from 14 different quarries, a mini road system for kids to cycle safely, and that odd little well that kids say is home to Tom Thumb.
The Aberdeen Music Trail takes a wider view, sketching out the city’s past through a mix of traditional Scots music, classical, opera, hip-hop and indie. It connects long-gone venues with those still standing, and covers everything from pubs to concert halls.
A growing patchwork of stories
The new additions bring the number of full Council walking trails to 31, along with two shorter mini-trails. Three existing routes – Best of Aberdeen, Maritime, and Coastal – have also been given a temporary Tall Ships theme ahead of the festival in July.
Printed copies of the Tall Ships versions are available from shops, cafes and other businesses in Union Street and The Green, alongside other trail booklets. The smaller mini-trails were created to be easily walkable for families and visitors during the event.
These new and updated guides continue to shift the focus away from sightseeing and towards storytelling. If you’re looking for a distraction, showing friends around, or curious about what’s been hiding in plain sight, you might find more than you expected. You can find all the guides here.
