Arbroath made my list of places to see in Scotland because of the famous abbey. It turned out that it actually isn’t the brightest shining spot in the town. Arbroath is not what you would call a charming little town. In fact, it is far from that. One thing makes up for the ordinariness of the rest of the town though. But about that a bit later on.
The Abbey was in my opinion not impressive enough to make the trip. This is probably because I have seen so many British churches and their ruins already that there is simply no comparison between them and this abbey. Nevertheless, it is one of the nicest parts of Arbroath and a definite must see when you are around.
The harbour, even though well maintained, was not the most iconic view either. Even the famous Arbroath Smokie (smoked haddock) did not live to my expectations and in my opinion, you can get a lot more amazing smoked fish on Polish coast. Still, it’s something one must try to judge by themselves.
Signal Tower Museum has an extensive exhibition and some interesting accents such as the lighthouse lamps which actually show you how huge they have to be to efficiently guide the ships even though all we usually see is a little dot of light in the distance. However, the museum also does not make Arbroath’s number one attraction.
I was already beginning to think that I should not have devoted so much of my time to Arbroath but when I made my way to the seafront promenade leading towards the Arbroath cliffs, I knew that it’d be something different.
So far, I have seen the white chalk cliffs of Eastbourne, cream limestone cliffs of Jurassic coast, grey granite cliffs of Land’s End and black serpentine cliffs of Lizard Point. Never before (in the UK) have I seen the red cliffs. And this is the colour of sandstone cliffs in Arbroath. I could go on about the geology of the region for quite a while (the alumni of the geological department, duh!) but it’s not the point. The point is, they really made my trip and if I were to do it all over again, they would be the only place I’d go to.
A bit of practical info:
- In order to get to Arbroath, you will need to take a train. The journey time from Edinburgh is about an hour and 40 minutes.
- Arbroath Abbey interiors are closed due to the pandemic (normally £9.00) but the exteriors are sufficient and free
- Kerr’s Miniature Railway (Scotland’s oldest miniature railway), which was struggling financially for a long time, will now officially close permanently tomorrow (10.10.20) so don’t put it on your Arbroath bucket list
- You might want to see Montrose when you’re around (half an hour from Arbroath by train). Apart from having quite a nice seaside, it has a basin with Wildlife Reserve and the House of Dun, which grounds are open to the public despite of the pandemic.
- If you plan to visit Montrose, buy a ticket Edinburgh-> Montrose as you can break a journey in Arbroath
- The costs present themselves as follows:
| Cost | Price |
| Return train ticket EDI -> Montrose | between £35 and £40 (no concessions) |
| Arbroath Abbey Entry | FREE |
| Signal Tower Museum Entry | FREE |
| Arbroath Smokie | Around £2.00 |
| Arbroath Cliffs | FREE |
| Total | Between £35,00 and £40,00 depending on the price of the train ticket |
For the end, I can’t help myself and I must post a few pictures from my train journey. After all the service from Edinburgh up North is my number one train route in the UK:
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