Here are details on the services on the A90, starting at Edinburgh and ending at Aberdeen. Please note that this does not cover the section between Dunfermline and Perth as this is superseded by the M90. Also on Motorway Services Online: Services on the M9 and the M90.
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Ferrymuir
No HGVs.
At South Queensferry, Lothian, EH30 9XX. [Google Maps link]
Also accessible to traffic on the A904 and the B800.
Facilities: Tesco (supermarket), Tesco (Greenergy), Frankie and Benny's, Burger King, Dakota Hotel[website]
Services type: Single site located at a junction.
Notes: Located on what was until recently the main road between the M9 and the M90, now the B800.
The Tesco filling station is open 24hrs
South Queensferry
At South Queensferry, Lothian, EH30 9YJ. [Google Maps link]
Also accessible to traffic on the A904 and the B800.
Facilities: Brewers Fayre (Queens Crossing), McDonald's (with: Drive Thru & WiFi), BP (with: Car Wash), M&S Simply Food, Wild Bean Cafe, Premier Inn[book rooms]
Services type: Single site located at a junction.
Notes: Located on the A904 just of the junction. Yes, the same junction as the previous service area, and there used to be a third one here: the South Queensferry Hotel to the north-east of the junction still has an operational Shell forecourt with Autogas LPG but not much else.
The BP filling station is open 24hrs
Bullionfield
Westbound only.
Between Perth and Dundee, Dundee, DD2 5EG. [Google Maps link]
Facilities: BP (with: Wild Bean Cafe, M&S Simply Food & LPG)
Services type: Single site located between junctions on the westbound side only.
Notes: none.
This site is open 24hrs
No HGVs.
Between Forfar and Brechin, Angus, DD8 3QE. [Google Maps link]
Also accessible to traffic on the B957.
Facilities: Finavon Hotel Pub-Hotel, Cafe @ Finavon (with: Costa), Peggy Scott's (with: Spar)
Services type: Two sites located on the northbound carriageway (southbound access available).
Notes: Another service area which has had a junction built around it, originally it was located off a dangerous staggered crossroads junction.
Peggy Scott's is quite a new creation and only opened in about 2003. Before that Peggy Scott herself operated JG's Diner. J.G. were the first two initials of the gentleman who originally set up two restaurants – on at Inchture (see above) and the one at Finavon. He then sold them in the 1990s to two different owners with Peggy buying this one and continuing to run it as JG's Diner for a few years. The Finavon site originally had a Texaco filling station as well but this was closed and bulldozed in the mid 1990s. The restaurant and the shop for the filling station originally shared the same building until the shop closed with the filling station. In 2002 Peggy Scott then built a totally new building which opened in 2003 as Peggy Scott's instead of JG's. The new building lies just to the north of the old one. Inside Peggy Scott's is very new and clean looking and sports a small gift area and a very Scottish menu.
The hotel (with Costa inside it) is a separate service area, about 100 yards south.
Stracathro
Between Brechin and Stonehaven, Angus, DD9 7PX. [Google Maps link]
Facilities: Gulf, self service restaurant, shop, toilets
Services type: Single site located at a junction.
Notes: An old site, Stracathro is probably pre-1960s and is located on the original A90 (at the time known as the A94). The filling station used to be on the northbound side and the services southbound. When the A94 was upgraded it was sent slightly east of the services, with a new junction serving them and the neighbouring hospital. BP built a new filling station alongside the services building, putting everything on one side. The old filling station is now derelict. Shell then took over the new filling station and charged a ridiculous price for fuel, so bad that they no longer display cost on any of the signs for the filling station and just let people find out the bad news once it is too late. The pumps themselves are quite funny too: They are totally silent so you do not hear a hum to know they are ready once you put the nozzle in the fuel filler of your car. Hence lots of people standing around for ages wondering why the pump is taking so long to activate! Gulf took over the filling station in 2010 and continue to operate it.
On the side of the building reads "Ye may gang far and fare waur", which loosely translates to "you can go far afield and not be assured of finding anything this good". The services are very much a typical truckstop in that it looks like a cross between art deco and a portacabin, with a basic '70s décor and a very bumpy car park. The menu is also typical of a truckstop, but in this case in a good way.
Stracathro also has plenty of free, overnight parking and for this reason alone, the truck drivers love it and there are always lots of lorries parked outside. This, coupled with the sheer Stracathro experience, means that it should still be here for many years to come. Legend has it that the site of Stracathro services was once the scene of a battle in Scotland but this is unconfirmed.
The filling station here is open 24hrs
With thanks to Alan Simpson for the information used on this page.