DIARY OF AN ADVENTURER: THE EAST NEUK OF FIFE

The last thing on my list of things to do in Scotland was to take the tourist bus down the coast of Fife, stopping in all the little fishing villages along the way. The Fife Coastline runs 190km from the Forth Estuary in the south (Edinburgh), to the Tay Estuary in the north (Dundee).

This bus ride took me on a 35km stretch of the coastline in an area called the East Neuk of Fife (Neuk is the Scots word for nook or corner). All of the villages in this Neuk are popular summer holiday destinations for residents of Edinburgh and Glasgow and I can definitely see why!

Leven

I took the bus to the end of the line and arrived in the town of Leven. With a population of about the same size as Saint Andrews, I quickly learnt that there was not much here to see or do. Unfortunately it wasn't an overly clear day, like I imagine most days to be, and I could only just make out the mainland across the Firth of Forth. The oil rigs were in plain sight though and the wind was blowing a gale.

Leven Beach however looked like it would be a great place to have a picnic on one of those rare sunny Scottish summer days. It stretched quite a way along and was met at the far end by a golf course. Fife should be the golf course district of Scotland as each small town had at least two courses!

The town consists of one main shopping street, which actually makes me happy that Saint Andrews shops stretch onto two streets! I didn't spend very long here as I was keen to beat the rain and get all of my tourist photos along the coast!

Elie

Pronounced eey-lee, Elie is at the southern most tip of Fife. The tourist map I had with me didn't have a map of Elie on it but luckily there was one painted on the wall where I hopped off the bus! The beach in Elie runs parallel with the main street and I didn't have much trouble deciding to do a circular route of the village.

The map misled me to believe that the whole beach, which stretched the length of the village, was covered in a beautiful golden sand. Typically, I arrived at the only part of the beach which was covered in rocks. Fortunately the tide was out and I managed to carefully climb along, amongst the seaweed! What the map also didn't show was a small stream running along the beach which left me no choice but to run through getting my socks and shoes all wet!

Elie had the smallest pier of the villages I explored and there was only about five boats moored there, stuck in the sand at low tide. There is a beautiful picturesque lighthouse sitting out on the peninsular.

Pittenweem

This is the most active fishing port in the East Neuk, which made the harbour area really loud and smelly! The village is situated on a small hill overlooking the harbour and there are many small alleyways or 'Wynds' connecting the harbour with the main street.

The harbour takes up the majority of the coastline in Pittenweem, meaning there isn't any sandy beaches. Instead rocks line the coast around the harbour. There is a lot of small holiday homes for rent and a few new houses being built as well.

The only shops that exist in Pittenweem are tourist shops and the locals must have to go to nearby villages to do their grocery shopping. Everything was pretty shut when I was there, still too early for the summer tourist rush! It is a shame I am not going to be here for summer as I would love to see the place booming.

Anstruther

With 3,500 people, Anstruther has the largest community in the East Neuk. It is definitely the biggest of the villages and I could tell that there has been a lot of effort put into preserving the village.

If you look out to the North Sea, you can see an island called the Isle of May. It is the UKs primary puffin location and I would have loved to have taken a boat out there and explored! Another reason why I wish I was here over the summer!

The Anstruther Fish Bar claims to be have the best Fish and Chips in Britain, so of course I had to try it. There is usually a massive queue out the door for the place but luckily I went mid afternoon and was served within 15 minutes. As I don't like fish, I had the Chicken Goujon Supper (supper in Scotland means with chips), and it was unbelievable. By far the best Chicken Goujons I have ever eaten!

Crail

Crail is the closest to Saint Andrews, only 16km south down the coast. It has the nicest harbour area as it is a lot quieter than the other ones.

There used to be a castle on top of the hill overlooking the Harbour but now the only thing that remains is the outer wall with a small turret that looks out to the North Sea. This joins with the Fife Coastal Path which spans the whole coast and is one of Scotlands Great Trails. I walked along it for about a kilometre before heading back up to the main street of town.

Crail has a beautiful Church dated from the 12th century. It is surrounded by the creepiest graveyard ever where most of the gravestones have fallen over or broken. There is a big blue rock or 'Blue Stane' at the entrance way which is believed to have been thrown there by the devil from the Isle of May because of a grudge he holds against the church.

I had been putting off visiting this part of Scotland until the weather started to improve but unfortunately my trip was done trying to avoid the rain. I ran out of free days to do this trip when the sun was shining and decided I would rather see it in the rain than not at all! I am so glad I did it, it was such a magical place - and I didn't even get that wet!

"Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy, its unbelievable" - Matilda

I hope this has inspired you.

LARISSAJODEE x