Once you’ve followed our Find Us guidance, to help direct you to Aden Country Park, you will see there are four carparks to choose from. In general, the two large carparks are the best places for visitors to park. Not only are they close to the main park facilities, but these carparks also have disabled parking bays, toilets nearby, and the carparks are soon to be kitted out with Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points too.
After arriving at the park, we thought it might be handy to provide you with a rough guide to the top ten things to do in Aden Country Park.
Once we’ve completed the renovation works (hopefully by Spring 2023) we would highly recommend that you come and check out our new Visitor Centre. The centre will provide visitors with key information about the park, its heritage, facilities, and guidance on how to navigate around the park.
Aden has a brilliant new children’s play area which is well equipped and caters for people of all ages and abilities. Surrounded by trees, the play area has a beautiful setting, and is always popular with visitors.
The Aberdeenshire Farming Museum brings to life the story of Northeast Scotland’s farming past. Popular for school visits, the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum is also a great place to take the whole family, grandparents especially love to reflect on what life was like in their day.
Aden offers the perfect opportunity for relaxation over a delicious cup of coffee, scone, tray bakes, ice cream or light lunch. Following the recent refurbishment, the Aden Café, is a great place to enjoy either before or after exploring the stunning park grounds. Not to be missed.
The Aden Craft & Gift Shop offers something for everyone. Along with a range of toys, souvenirs, books, hot and cold drinks, snacks, and range of locally made arts and crafts, all at fair prices, but it also sells duck food for our resident ducks.
After picking up some duck food from the onsite Craft & Gift Shop, head down to the Aden Lake for an opportunity to feed our resident ducks. Feeding ducks is a great activity for all the family. It allows children to get closer to nature and nurture a lifelong love of animals, and adults to sit back and enjoy the relaxing activity.
Pooh sticks is a simple but fun game, first invented by the famous bear of the same name. Once you’ve gathered some sticks, head down to either of the bridges at the stunning Victorian arboretum and let the games begin. On the count of three everyone must throw their stick into the water below, the stick that floats underneath the bridge fastest wins.
The ruined ‘Big House’ provides a great insight into the former Aden Estate. It’s also an ideal place for a game of hide & seek! Perhaps the nearby tree house can be base camp!
If dining alfresco is your thing, either come prepared or visit the Aden Café or Aden Craft & Gift Shop for some supplies. Aden offers numerous picnic sites, often with ample open space for some post lunch frisbee, football or kite flying.
Aden is also a great place for our four-legged friends. On lead, Aden offers numerous walking routes to explore, off lead, Aden also offers a purpose-built dog agility area, and large exercise area where dogs can stretch their legs.
