2. Aberdeen Maritime Museum ( Scotland )

Aberdeen Maritime Museum is a maritime museum in Aberdeen, Scotland. The museum is situated on the historic Shiprow in the heart of the city, near the harbour. It makes use of a range of buildings including a former church and Provost Ross' House, one of the oldest domestic buildings in the city.The museum tells the story of the city's long relationship with the North Sea. Collections cover shipbuilding, fast sailing ships, fishing and port history, and displays on the North Sea oil industry. It also commands a spectacular viewpoint over the busy harbour.

Collection highlights include ship plans and photographs from the major shipbuilders of Aberdeen including Hall, Russell & Company Ltd,Alexander Hall and Sons, Duthie and John Lewis & Co. Ltd and Walter Hood & Co.Displays include ship and oil rig models, paintings, clipper ship and "North Boats" material, fishing, whalers and commercial trawlers, North Sea oil industry, and the marine environment.

Open Tuesday-Saturday 10.00AM-5.00PM, Sunday 12.00PM-3.00PM. This attraction, rated five-star by the Scottish Tourist Board, offers an extraordinary insight into the mechanics and technology of ships and oil rigs, Aberdeen's rich maritime history and the lives of some of the people who have worked offshore in the North Sea for the past 500 years.

The newest part of the complex is a blue, glass-fronted building on the cobbled Shiprow, just minutes from Union Street. Inside is a spiral walkway, rising upwards around an eye-catching model of an oil rig. Connected to this structure are the much older buildings which take visitors through a series of castle-style corridors and staircases to reach the numerous room sets, historical artefacts and scale models. 

If your time in Aberdeen is limited, go and see this. There is so much to see, and even the buildings themselves are worth a look. There is also a restaurant - slightly expensive, but the food is pretty good. Admission free.