Fife Coastal Path: St Andrews to Crail

St Andrew, one of the original twelve apostles, travelled to Fife in the 1st century AD – so the legend says. Accordingly, the cathedral, founded in 1160, and its city were long the religious heart of Scotland. Protestant churchman Patrick Hamilton was executed by burning at St Andrews in 1528; his initials are set in the paving outside St Salvator's Chapel, where he died. But the Establishment didn't have everything its own way. In 1559 the cathedral was sacked by Presbyterian zealots, followers of John Knox, and has stood in ruins ever since.

St Andrews is still a typical old Scottish burgh, with narrow wynds, courtyards and closes. The town has grown substantially and is now a major holiday and golfing centre as well as the home of Scotland’s oldest university, founded in 1410 by the Augustinian priors at the cathedral. The town's West Sands stretch north for nearly 3 miles (5km) from the Old Course to Out Head on the Eden Estuary, a noted bird reserve. The East Sands are only slightly smaller.

Links with the Past

Golf (or 'gouf') is first recorded in 1457, when King James II attempted to ban the game because it interfered with archery practice. Mary, Queen of Scots was an early player. Up and down the Fife coast, the 'links' or sand-dune grasslands are ideal ground for this ancient Scottish game – the bunkers found on every golfing fairway are artificial reconstructions of Fife's sand dunes.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club was founded at St Andrews in 1754. The 18 holes of the modern course derive from the layout of the Old Course at St Andrews, as standardised ten years later.

Maiden, spindle and sea cave

The coastline is a mix of hard, black volcanic lava with pale brown sandstone, giving a variety of weirdly shaped sea stacks. The Coast Path passes just out of sight of the Maiden Rock, but the Rock and Spindle sea stack is impossible to miss. The tall, slender pinnacle is supported by a cartwheel of basalt columns: the same formation as the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland or Fingal's Cave off Mull, but here splayed apart into a rosette. Further down the coast, Buddo Rock is sandstone eroded into hollows and an arch, but standing slightly above today's high tide mark. The waves that shaped it landed on a slightly higher shoreline, at a time when Scotland was still weighed down with ice.

Pass to right of the cathedral on a lane under two stone arches. A footbridge behind the harbour leads to a tarmac path along the East Sands. The path climbs to the cliff-top below caravans. In open ground, the main path forks up right, along the top of the sea slope (smaller, lower paths give views of Maiden Rock sea stack). After 1 mile (1.5km) the path drops to the shoreline, soon to pass the tall, slender rock pillar called the Rock and Spindle.

The path reverts to the cliff-top then drops again to pass the deep, overgrown Kittock’s Den. It continues up-and-down along the steep slope, with a section below small cliffs where you clamber over a boulder or two. (At extreme high tide this section is impassible.) This foreshore section is where you might spot shelly fossils here and there in beach stones. It leads to the eroded natural arch of Buddo Rock, which is an extraordinary formation.

As the path regains the clifftop, turn inland towards Boarhills and turn left before the village across to Burnside Farm. Turn right before the farm to cross Kenly Water, turning down the burn through woods back to the coast.

The coastal path continues past an old salmon-fishing bothy, to the long sandy beach of Airbow Point. At its end a branch path is signed as the alternative route through Kingsbarns. The main path continues between sea and golf course to the car park and picnic site near Kingsbarns.

Beyond Kingsbarns the path is more developed, as it passes through part of Cambo Estate, with a tea room a little way in from the coast. Cambo is famous for snowdrops and has a variety of walks and accommodation. The Coastal Path passes through the end of its woods (here the alternative through Kingsbarns rejoins), then takes to the foreshore past yet another golf course. In another 1 mile (1.5km), the path again takes to the foreshore below a low cliff, and may briefly be covered at the highest tides.

Beyond Balcomie golf course, you pass Constantine's Cave, where King Constantine met his death after losing a battle to the Danes in AD881. Now Fife Ness is rounded, the turning point from the North Sea into the broad Firth of Forth. After passing through a nature reserve the walk continues below the former Royal Naval air station, called HMS Jackdaw during World War II.

The path passes through a caravan village to enter the beautiful fishing village of Crail. Dip below a white windmill tower, then head up to Castle Walk below a stone turret. Keep ahead down to Crail's small and unbelievably picturesque harbour.