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Scotsnet

Welcome to Scotsnet - discuss all aspects of life in Scotland, including relocating, schools and local areas.

Relocating to Aberdeen - anything I should take into account?

167 replies

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 13:04

I am hoping to relocate from Wiltshire to NE Scotland in the next 12 months or so with my 6 year old daughter. School choices (private) all seem to be in the city so need advice on commuting from villages as we don't want to live in the city, looking for a rural property as we have lots of animals.

Research seems to suggest driving into central Aberdeen is easy, but is this true?

Are there any areas that are better for commuting by car from?

All suggestions welcome as it feels a bit overwhelming at first not knowing the area well yet.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 19:39

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 19:32

No. Have you heard a Wiltshire one?

You’ve never been to Aberdeen? And you’re planning to up sticks and move there? Dirt if I missed something.

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 19:40

RedTagAlan · 16/01/2026 19:33

I made one polite post. I just remarked the company you linked is a carbon credit thing.

Odd thing to be annoyed about.

Just dragging the thread off topic that's all, I am interested in the local area not a debate about rewilding!

OP posts:
MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 19:41

Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 19:39

You’ve never been to Aberdeen? And you’re planning to up sticks and move there? Dirt if I missed something.

Considering it, I have moved to lots of places in the past I had never been to before - really not that unusual!

OP posts:
Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 19:42

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 19:40

Just dragging the thread off topic that's all, I am interested in the local area not a debate about rewilding!

I don’t think anyone’s debating rewilding, just confused because a carbon credit scheme is a different thing. At least in Scotland, can’t speak for anywhere else.

RedTagAlan · 16/01/2026 19:46

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 19:40

Just dragging the thread off topic that's all, I am interested in the local area not a debate about rewilding!

Fair enough. I just clicked the link you posted, and made a comment on it. That's all.

I also agree with the posters who suggest the Perth area. But I expect Aberdeen is where many of the carbon credit buyers have offices. So there is that I suppose.

fartoomuchtoblerone · 16/01/2026 19:47

If you’re not set on being in the city Lathallan is a rural private school in Aberdeenshire, south of Stonehaven in Johnshaven.

cotswoldsgal1234 · 16/01/2026 19:50

You May find your daughter is ahead in terms of education. It is a very different system. We were there in the boom times, when the city was abundant with oil wealth, but times are different now. That will work in your favour, as house prices are much cheaper now. Embrace the differences, but be prepared for some that remain anti English. We made great friends there, but it’s a long way from home and very very different. Hope it all works out

MiddleAgedDread · 16/01/2026 19:55

Things you also need to bear in mind:
very different school system, although moving so early in primary shouldn’t be too bad.
”offers over” system on property can mean significantly
over that price in popular areas and you will only get a mortgage up to the valuation price.
income tax is higher in Scotland, particularly in higher tax bands.

ZenZazie · 16/01/2026 19:56

Move to Forres or Findhorn, send your daughter to Gordonstoun and get involved at the Findhorn Foundation?

There’s also Drumdruan there which is a Steiner School if you really want to go the whole hog on the nature
route with education.

canuckup · 16/01/2026 20:01

Why on earth are people focusing on the weather so much?!?

WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing · 16/01/2026 20:06

@MadAdopter ignore the chippiness about choosing independent schools.

SabrinaThwaite · 16/01/2026 20:07

In Aberdeen, the haar will go a long way up the Dee valley, and well up through Cults and beyond. You feel the temperature drop and then see the big brown smudge rolling in and you know you’ve got about 15 minutes before being engulfed.

Be prepared for temperatures to be generally 5 - 10° C lower than you’re used to in Wiltshire. Snow often late Jan to Feb but this year has been bad (friends in Insch).

Aberdeen itself is struggling, 250 oil and gas layoffs a week at the moment. You’ve got a good chance of losing your arse on buying a property in the city (rents are high, nobody wants to commit to buying).

If you’re fixed on the area I’d be looking at the Banchory area, still an easy drive into the city for schools if you’re set on private primary, but local state primaries and Banchory Academy have always had good reps.

You’ll enjoy the local potholes - bigger and better than the English ones. I knew people with expensive cars that would only drive in daylight because they are so brutal (take out your tyre, wheel and suspension).

And daylight - brilliant in the summer when it’s light until 11pm, but don’t underestimate how long, dark and cold the winter will be.

As for anti English bias, didn’t really see much of it, although my German friend was made to feel unwelcome at times.

We left before the AWPR opened, but used to have to get from Cults to the sports village, a journey that took 10 minutes at 5am and 40+ minutes at 7.30am.

Gordonstoun is a bit elitist I think
Not so much I’d say - our next door neighbour’s son went there, they were very ordinary; daughter went to local primary and secondary.

Have you even ever heard an Aberdeen accent?
It’s not Peterhead or the Broch.

Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 20:08

canuckup · 16/01/2026 20:01

Why on earth are people focusing on the weather so much?!?

Because it can genuinely be a surprise when you first move. I hadn’t even considered it when I first moved up here thirty years ago - it’s all the same island right, how different can it be? And then I spent the whole of the first winter in shock. It really is a different kind iof cold. 🤣 The length of the winter was a shock too, until I adjusted it felt such a long wait for spring.

EricTheHalfASleeve · 16/01/2026 20:09

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 19:32

No. Have you heard a Wiltshire one?

Foos ye doos hen?

GlasgowGal2014 · 16/01/2026 20:10

There's lots of good private schools around Perth and Crieff which would allow you to live in a more rural area and you can drive up the A9 into the Highlands in less than an hour, which is a quicker journey than coming from Aberdeen. You are also not too far to Glasgow and Edinburgh if you need access to a bigger city. I know various people from the Highlands who have sent their children to private school and they all chose Perthshire over Aberdeen. It's not uncommon to relocate there whilst kids are school age, or take a second home and go back to the Highland home for weekends and holidays.

Aberdeen itself is quite cold and grey at the best of times, but the city centre is now very neglected as the oil industry which its economy depended on is in the doldrums.

SabrinaThwaite · 16/01/2026 20:11

EricTheHalfASleeve · 16/01/2026 20:09

Foos ye doos hen?

Aye pecking

Tabletricia · 16/01/2026 20:14

ZenZazie · 16/01/2026 19:56

Move to Forres or Findhorn, send your daughter to Gordonstoun and get involved at the Findhorn Foundation?

There’s also Drumdruan there which is a Steiner School if you really want to go the whole hog on the nature
route with education.

Agree with this! Findhorn would have wonderful place to live. No anti Englishness in such an international community I’d have thought.

You’d need the cash for gordonstoun though as the local state secondaries are shockingly bad.

Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 20:15

@GlasgowGal2014 I agree Perthshire would seem a better idea given everything OP has said.

OP do you really not want to come up and have a look around these places first? It’s not like moving to Australia, there’s no need to move sight unseen.

CrystalSingerFan · 16/01/2026 20:24

Sodthesystem · 16/01/2026 18:19

Random comment but if you go in March, comicon is on :) ...I may be a little excited haha. Was just looking at hotels just now xD

Oooh. Any Trekkie stuff?

Clumpled · 16/01/2026 20:24

canuckup · 16/01/2026 20:01

Why on earth are people focusing on the weather so much?!?

Because it is so different to England. I moved to England ('the north', they'd call it down here) as an adult and was gobsmacked at the difference. Couldn't believe that all my life having heard jokes about the Great British weather actually people in England had been enjoying very different weather to in Scotland!

Re anti-English sentiment, I experienced it despite being Scottish 😅 Just didn't sound Scottish enough. It definitely exists but is annoying more than problematic.

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 20:27

Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 20:15

@GlasgowGal2014 I agree Perthshire would seem a better idea given everything OP has said.

OP do you really not want to come up and have a look around these places first? It’s not like moving to Australia, there’s no need to move sight unseen.

Yes will be coming up in the Spring, just trying to do as much research as I can outside of school hols so that I can make the most of it when I am up there. Only get a week at Feb Half Term and then a few weeks at Easter. As you know it is a big area to cover in that time!

OP posts:
MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 20:28

Tabletricia · 16/01/2026 20:14

Agree with this! Findhorn would have wonderful place to live. No anti Englishness in such an international community I’d have thought.

You’d need the cash for gordonstoun though as the local state secondaries are shockingly bad.

Tbh Gordonstoun was my first choice and I love Elgin/Nairn. But it is pricy. Don't know Findhorn yet but might put it on my list for the next visit. Love to know more about it.

OP posts:
GlasgowGal2014 · 16/01/2026 20:28

Alltheyellowbirds · 16/01/2026 20:15

@GlasgowGal2014 I agree Perthshire would seem a better idea given everything OP has said.

OP do you really not want to come up and have a look around these places first? It’s not like moving to Australia, there’s no need to move sight unseen.

I'm also worried about OP's understanding of how rural the north of Scotland is and how that really extends the time it takes to travel any distance. The places she was talking about wanting to be able to visit regularly are 120 miles and 200 miles from Aberdeen, and that's really not the same as 120-200 miles in rural Wiltshire (which would get you into London on mostly A-roads in a couple of hours). In the north of Scotland it's 3-5 hours driving often on single track roads.

SabrinaThwaite · 16/01/2026 20:32

GlasgowGal2014 · 16/01/2026 20:28

I'm also worried about OP's understanding of how rural the north of Scotland is and how that really extends the time it takes to travel any distance. The places she was talking about wanting to be able to visit regularly are 120 miles and 200 miles from Aberdeen, and that's really not the same as 120-200 miles in rural Wiltshire (which would get you into London on mostly A-roads in a couple of hours). In the north of Scotland it's 3-5 hours driving often on single track roads.

Aberdeen to Inverness is 100 miles; I struggled to do it in much less than 2 hrs 45 mins and that’s on A roads.

MadAdopter · 16/01/2026 20:33

EricTheHalfASleeve · 16/01/2026 20:09

Foos ye doos hen?

I am very well, thank you 😁

OP posts: