Aberdeen is the third largest city in Scotland, after Glasgow and Edinburgh. It has a population of just over 200,000 and is situated about 130 miles north of Edinburgh, on the east coast.
Aberdeen has traditionally been one of the richest cities in the Scotland, initially through fishing and trade, but more recently through the North Sea Oil industry. This generated the majority of Aberdeen's income and employs thousands of people in the local area. Recent investment both in existing oil fields and in exploration have safeguarded the local economy for at least the next two decades. Because of the large disposable income and amount of free time "roughnecks" (offshore oil workers) have, Aberdeen has some of the most expensive bars I have seen outside London.
Much of the architecture in the city is wonderful, with some incredible granite buildings (see Kings College, Marischal College, Robert Gordon's College, the buildings around the Castlegate and the town houses on Queens Road or Albyn Place). The building of these edifices gives Aberdeen one of its few claims to greatness, it is the home of the world's deepest man made hole at Rubislaw Quarry. While I am on the subject, I will cover Aberdeen's other two claims, first, it has won the Britian in Bloom competition so many times it was told to retire and second, the Ashvale Chip Shop won Best Chip Shop in Britain so many times, it had to retire too.
The best time to visit Aberdeen is, in my opinion, the early Autumn, when it is still warm enough to not need a heavy coat, and the trees are starting to shed their leaves.