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 This is Dundee' s best-known place to visit and it really is worth seeing. The Discovery is the ship Captain Scott used on his first visit to the Antarctic. Because the ship builders of Dundee were used to making whaling ships for Arctic conditions they were chosen to build the Discovery for this voyage. The ship itself is fascinating and the exhibition in the visitor centre is good too.
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This ship is much older and was built to fight. Like the Discovery, it has been restored and maintained by Dundee people. We like to climb about inside and have a good look at the boat because so much has changed since the time of the Unicorn.
As well as shipbuilding, Dundee was at the centre of the Jute industry. Jute was imported from the Indian subcontinent and processed here. This industry provided the economic base for Dundee and the introduction of synthetic fibres for manufacturing was a severe blow to the city. The last remaining jute mill closed quite recently. Verdant Works is well worth a visit - even our small children were fascinated by the exhibition. It is a 19th century flax and jute mill. Local people continue to restore the mill and enough work has been completed to give you a good insight into the jute mills and life in Dundee. Many flats, student residences, factories and warehouses are now in buildings which were once jute mills. Try to spot them about the town!
You'll soon notice the D.C. Thomson buildings in the City centre. Dundee has been famous for many years for journalism and many well known papers and journals are printed here. You cannot visit the presses but those with a childlike sense of humour should look out for exhibitions from time to time in the City museums relating to the two most famous children's comics produced here, the Dandy and the Beano.
MCMANUS GALLERIES AND THE MUSEUM
This is a beautiful building in Albert Square. We enjoy the local history section - local archaeology and traditional life in Dundee tenement flats. Our children usually stop in the museum on the ground floor. It houses an old loom from the mills, a model of the old Dundee to Newtyle railway, relics of the old Tay Rail Bridge (which collapsed into the River Tay a hundred years ago while a train was crossing it in a winter storm) and a large collection of model boats. We rarely have time to visit the collections of paintings upstairs.
This is a small fortified castle on the shores of the Tay and is well worth a visit. You should visit Broughty Ferry anyway, to see the beach, the small interesting shops, the harbour and the fishers' cottages near the lifeboat shed.
This fortified house is hardly ever open to the public, but if you ever find it is going to be open then it is worth a visit. Phone the Tourist Information Office in Dundee to ask when it will be open.
Almost nothing remains of the city wall except this one small arch. Once building work in the area is complete it should be easier to see it again in the Cowgate just through the pedestrian subway. It is named after George Wishart who returned to Dundee, although he was in some danger here, and stood on top of the wall here to speak to the people of Dundee during a plague.
A number of interesting buildings have been demolished in Dundee, notably
the town house which was once in City Square and the Royal Arch which
stood at the port. You can see models of these buildings outside Boots at
the end of Reform Street.
There are some beautiful Church buildings in Dundee. One of the oldest is Fowlis Church, a small medieval church building from the 15th century. You can visit St. Mary's Tower and the City Centre Churches (10:00 - 12:00 weekdays except Wednesdays) and The Cathedral of St. Paul in the city centre, to look at the buildings. Personally, I would enjoy even more to go on a Sunday and meet the people and join in a service with them. There are many welcoming Churches throughout Dundee.
We really value this place. It is a public observatory so anyone can go in and look through the telescope under the guidance of the astronomer. Pick a night when the sky is clear, not cloudy, and go after dark in winter. In summer our nights are short, so the Observatory only opens at night in winter. On the last Friday night of each month the planetarium is open too. The building also houses a small exhibition, which can be seen at other times. The observatory is right at the top of the hill in Balgay Park, so follow the road and paths that spiral up the hill.
The word law means hill. Dundee Law is all that remains of a volcanic plug but it provides us with a spectacular viewpoint at 174metres. (571 feet). Most students only see the city centre and think Dundee is very small, so all of you should go up the hill to see where the people live. You can also see a long way beyond Dundee to the hills and along the coast. Take lots of woolly jumpers to wear. There is often a cold wind. Pick a clear day if you want to see a long way, or a clear night to see the sunset or the lights of the town. At one time there was a hill fort here but it has been gone a long time. A war memorial now stands at the summit.
This river originates in the Highlands but forms a wide estuary at Dundee. You can see seals on the sandbars near Broughty Ferry or near the railway bridge. The railway bridge is the longest in Europe. Also under the railway bridge you can see the stumps of the original railway bridge.
