Running for 117 miles along the coast of Fife like a long piece of squiggly string laid along the edge of the land is the Fife Coastal Path. It runs through an incredible variety of landscapes and since walking stretches of it a few years back, I’d forgotten what an absolute delight it is. So when my old friend Bart was visiting, I decided to head there for the weekend to show him something a bit different to his usual mountainous home in the Pyrenees. Over two days, we walked the section of the path between Leuchars and Leven.
The first few miles were at odds with the rest of the trip as we were accompanied by rumbling traffic beside a busy main road. It was a relief when the route then joined a section of disused railway line to continue into the genteel atmosphere of St Andrews. Pringle-jumpered golfers practised their swing and throngs of tourists milled around the quaint streets of the ancient town centre. The old harbour provided us with a haven, its stone walls reaching out into a still, blue sea like a pincer claw.
The outline of Fife is often likened to a Scottie dog’s head and as we left St Andrews we were starting the long trek along the coast towards the dog’s nose at Fife Ness. The coastline here was an interesting juxtaposition. For a few miles we were walking along rugged beaches where wild geese dropped out of big skies to land on quiet bays and bruise-coloured clouds sent down the rain in drenching sheets. Then the next few miles we found ourselves crossing luxury golf courses. Two soggy, damp hikers with sheep poo on their shoes mixing with smartly dressed, wealthy golfers.
There was great variety as well. At one point the trail headed inland and cut a route across farms and fields where we picked blackberries for an evening dessert. Then we returned to the coast through the lush, dripping gorge of a river, overhung with trees and green ferns. The beaches themselves switched between sweeping crescents of pale or russet sand that were a joy to walk on to rough beaches of rocks and boulders that tired us out.
By the time we reached the Scottie dog’s nose and turned the corner, it was early evening. A grassy shelf on a quiet bay provided the night’s wild camp spot. To the east there was sea as far as the eye could see. But to the south the water was broken by the squat outline of the Island of May. With sheer cliffs at one end like a huge baleen plate and a tapering tail at the other, the island made me think of a giant whale drifting on the surface of the sea.
Next morning, under a hot, late summer sun, we continued our trek west down our Scottie dog's chin. Our view was no longer endless sea now but the distant coastline of East Lothian on the other side of the Firth of Forth. The unmistakable hump of North Berwick Law was our sundial, its ever-changing angle marking the passage of time and distance. The morning sun picked out the guano-covered lump of the Bass Rock rising sheer from the sea and there were sea monsters as well in the bizarre shaped rock formations along our route.
As we trekked further west, the character of the walk changed again as the Coastal Path linked together the charming old fishing villages of the East Neuk. The route stuck faithfully to the shore here so that we found ourselves walking through charming, old harbours and along quaint promenades where the fisher cottages were so close to the sea that you could cast a line from your bed. The old villages here were lovely with stone buildings stacked steeply above the harbours and narrow cobbled lanes winding between them. Some of the old harbours were obviously devoted to leisure craft these days but those at Pittenweem and Anstruther still had working boats bringing in the fish.
As we trekked the final few miles along the sweeping sandy beach of Largo Bay, the path meandered through sweet smelling dunes. On our horizon, the industrial outline of Leven clamoured up into the big skies that we’d enjoyed for the last two days. It signalled the end of our walk as offshore oilrigs drifted on the surface of the sea instead of whale-like islands.
Fact File
More photos on Flickr - click HERE.
Start: Leuchars
Finish: Leven
Public transport: Train from Edinburgh to Leuchars. Bus from Leven to Kirkcaldy then train back to Edinburgh.
Our route: On exiting the train station turned right along Station Road and then left along Toll Road - at the bottom the Fife Coastal Path is joined. The route is very well signed so I won't set it out here but maps and info can be found on the Fife Coastal Path website. Note that a couple of sections between St Andrews and Fife Ness need to be passed when the tide is not high. On entering Leven we left the promenade and followed signs for the bus station, a couple of minutes walk away. In Kirkcaldy got off the bus at the stop before the bus station as that's closer to the train station.
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