Aberdeen Travel Forum

What are the summers like? and does it rain non stop all year?

I have a six year old boy does anyone know what the shcools are like, "Private"

What is there to do there if your husband is working???

Basically what would it be like to move there from Alberta Canada?

It rains throughout the year in the UK. That's why it's so green. But it doesn't rain non-stop anywhere, you will see some sunshine! www.wunderground.com is quite a good site to get climate and weather info, although you will find others if you google the UK pages on www.google.co.uk for 'aberdeen climate'.

As for schools, you will need to search google for 'aberdeen private schools' or 'aberdeen preparatory schools' (preparatory schools are private schools for children under 11). Do your research......private schools are not inspected by Ofsted (the government education-monitoring body), although I believe they have their own inspectorate (in England at least), and simply paying for a school does not automatically make it a better education for your child. There will be good state primary schools (5-11) in Aberdeen, and you can access the latest Ofsted report on a school via the Ofsted website once you have its name.

Hope this helps a bit.

I have no idea what Alberta is like but I guess you would find anywhere in the UK cramped in comparison. Aberdeen is a good place to live - it has a reasonably good shopping centre and a reasonable beach. It is well laid out and many people from overseas live there becasue of the oil industry.
Its real plus is the wonderful countryside that surrounds it but by British standards it is islolated - the only city for many miles. Inverness is the next big place and that would be at least 90 miles away but I guess by Canadian standards that is nothing.
I would guess that whatever you do in Canada when your husband is at work you would or could do here.

Moving from Alberta to Aberdeen:

Weather in the winter will be about the same, but with less snow probably than Alberta gets. The summer here won't be as warm as Alberta either. It's a fairly wet climate, which is good or bad depending on how you look at it. Just now, next to my log fire, I'm enjoying the rainy day.

As far as schools are concerned, you may want to look at the International school of Aberdeen, in Milltimber, a suberb west of Aberdeen. The school has excellent, modern facilities and a great reputation, and follows a more american style education system on behalf of Many expats who live in this area. Milltimber istelf is part of a series of small villages along the River Dee, with cafes, pubs shops and restaurants; and is surrounded by beautiful hills and lush green pine trees, and rich with wildlife. Down the river only about 5 - 10 minutes is an ASDA/Wal-Mart, and the rest of the city of Aberdeen, up the river about 10 - 30 minutes is in my opinion the the most beautiful part of scotland, the Royal Deeside which is home to a number of castles including Balmoral, The Queen's summer home.

We have friends from Alberta who went to church there at Balmoral last summer while the queen was in residence -- it is always open to the public -- and they were blown away to find that they were two of only about a dozen others in the service with the Queen. Quite an experience.

Aberdeen, the silver city, is a wonderful home if you enjoy a quiet life with hill walks, caslte gardens, cups of tea, and RICH history. In the city there is quite a nightlife as well, but it is not for the most part, family orientated, although there is a beach carnival/arcade next to a movie theatre that is good for the family. Also, there is a reasonably sized soft indoor playcentre that your 6 year old would enjoy, up the dee river, about 15 minutes from Milltimber, set in the same amazing scenery that I described above.

If you want any more specific advice from a fellow north american, contact me directly at joshuajost@fastmail.us

All the best

Joshua M Jost