St Andrews - St Salvators

Fife holiday 2026 #13

The unexpected gem of my perambulation of St Andrews was the beautiful college chapel of St Salvator, dating back to 1450 but much changed since then (largely due to the Protestant Reformation when it was stripped of most of its iconography). What we see now owes much to the Gothic Revivalist style popular in Victorian times, and some sympathetic modern additions, but the chapel retains a dignity and serenity that I found most appealing. 

Behind it is a quadrangle of university buildings. I gather that the Prince and Princess of Wales resided in St Salvator's Hall during their first year at St Andrew's University (which is famously where they met) but the buildings behind the chapel are not the student halls of residence, which lie beyond. 

As I was nearing the Chapel, a large tour bus stopped outside to deposit its passengers. I upped my pace in order to get inside before they did! So I at least had a few peaceful moments to myself, and took all the interior shots with my phone in order to speed up the process. I am quite pleased with how they turned out.  

As I left the Chapel, I noted a man in a full Scottish kilt outfit entering. I then realised that there was about to be a wedding. Guests were gathering outside the main entrance on the street side of the Chapel and there was a bagpiper who began to play, so I was delighted to see that. It was an unexpected bonus, since if I'd arrived a few minutes later I would not have been able to go inside. Serendipity. 

St Andrews - Golf

Fife holiday 2026 #12

Amongst its many claims to fame, St Andrews prides itself as 'the home of golf'. Golf has been played here since at least the 15th century. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club was formed in 1754 and its iconic clubhouse (the rear of which you can see in my photo above) was built in the mid-1800s. It is the ruling authority for golf in every country in the world other than the USA and Mexico. Beyond the clubhouse, the famous Old Course regularly hosts major championships. In the foreground of the photo above, the grassy area is known as the Bow Butts and was used for archery. 

I couldn't get a good shot of the clubhouse frontage as there were hospitality tents in the way. It's on the left (below) and the other lovely building is the Hamilton Grand, formerly a hotel, then halls of residence for the university and now luxury apartments.  It featured in the film 'Chariots of Fire', as did the West End beach in the distance in my last photo. 

People come from all over the world to play golf here. There was some serious equipment on show, and if you forget anything there are plenty of shops selling all the clothes and gear.

There are of course, monuments and plaques commemorating famous golfers. This one is Tom Morris (1821-1908) 'The Grand Old Man of Golf', who was born and died in St Andrews. 

As I mentioned earlier, the long sweep of sand beyond the golf courses is known as the West Sands. The two mile long beach was the iconic filming location for the legendary opening running scene of the 1981 Oscar-winning film 'Chariots of Fire'.

St Andrews - Historical sites

Fife holiday 2026 #11

The plan for the final day of our holiday was to walk from St Andrews to Kingsbarns, a distance of some 7 miles across quite remote country (lots of golf courses again!). I and a couple of friends decided we'd rather spend the day in St Andrews, a university town with a wealth of interesting sights. So we hopped on the bus. I still walked more than 5 miles around the town, so I did get a good workout albeit at a slower pace, with more coffee! 

The bus station was near to the West Port, a gate into the town built in 1589, designed to impress visitors, which it still does I guess. 

My first port of call was the ancient cathedral, now a ruin. I was rather disappointed in it, to be honest, mainly because the grounds were covered in temporary and unsightly metal fences. These have been erected around gravestones and monuments that are judged to be unstable (most of them, in fact!). It seems they are waiting for the relevant families to pay for repairs... but I guess in many cases there is no family left. The dominant structure is St Rule's Tower, part of the original St Rule's Church that preceded the cathedral. Built in the 1100s, it drew pilgrims to the shrine of St Andrew. The Cathedral, consecrated in 1318, was the most important church in medieval Scotland. Part of the grand west entrance still survives. 

There's the foundations of a Cloister and a Chapter House, where the canons would meet to do church business. Several of the priors were buried under its floor and today you can see some of the medieval, stone coffins.

Next stop for me was the harbour, not large by the standards of some we'd already visited but an important presence to the south west of the town. 

Then I meandered along the seafront, passing St Andrews Castle. Destroyed and rebuilt several times during wars between the Scots and the English, it was rebuilt by Bishop Walter Trail in 1400 and became the main residence of the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews and the administrative centre of the Church of Scotland. It was also a notorious prison. It went through many turbulent times, including a siege in the mid 1500s, as a result of the entwining of church and national politics. It was abandoned and finally fell into ruin in the late 1600s. 

Beyond the castle, the seafront road (The Scores) is where many of the university buildings are situated so I wandered along enjoying the grand old buildings and the more modern structures that have been shoehorned in among them. 

 

Kingsbarns to Crail #2

Fife holiday 2026 #10

The beaches had lots of rocky outcrops stretching into the sea so, had we had time, there were rockpools and sandy coves to explore, with all the wildlife, flotsam and jetsam that the tide brings in. 

We saw more eider ducks - quite a little nursery of baby chicks darting around. There were also some shelducks with babies, which were lovely to see. 

When we stopped for lunch I did a bit of beachcombing and found beautifully marked stones - and some sea glass. I was delighted by that, as many times I've searched for it on shores and never found any. There was in fact quite a bit - little turquoise, green and white fragments, softly polished by friction in the sea. Can you spot the tiny piece in the photo? 

Some of the flotsam was less desirable, though I still found a kind of beauty in the tangled ropes and mangled lobster pots. 

Somewhere along the way we passed Constantine's Cave, of historical significance, with ancient carved crosses, Pictish animal symbols, and fragments of Roman glass and pottery discovered inside. Local lore claims that King Constantine I (or II) used the cave or was killed there by Viking raiders in AD 877, though this appears to be a myth. 

And everywhere we saw blue sky, blue sea and colourful flowers. It was a good day. 

Kingsbarns to Crail #1

Fife holiday 2026 #9

The next day was much brighter, a more pleasant day for walking. For logistical reasons, we walked this part of the coastal path in the opposite direction, starting at Kingsbarns and ending in Crail. It was a walk of only about 6 miles, though up and down and scrambly over rocks and sand. Beautiful though. It was a more remote part of the coast with fewer settlements and mostly we were walking alongside golf courses. That was fine apart from the many signs that said 'On hearing a shout of FORE, cover your head and turn away.' Great... except that I was never going to hear anyone shout Fore, was I? (She wondered what the white object flying towards her was... and then it hit her!') Thankfully we all got back unscathed. 

The sunshine made a remarkable difference to the colours and clarity of the sea, and I delighted in the many bright wild flowers we saw along this stretch. 

Scotland's white sand beaches would be a real draw if the weather was consistently warmer. We felt privileged to have them more or less to ourselves! 

 

Anstruther to Crail

Fife holiday 2026 #8

As the light got murkier and the rain got heavier, we were glad to approach Anstruther, the largest of the East Neuk fishing ports. It made its fortune from catching herring but now relies on tourism. The harbour here was filled with leisure boats and yachts. Can you see the rain pitting the water? By now we were pretty soggy so we found a bus shelter large enough to hold all of us while we ate our packed lunches! Not the most salubrious setting but at least we could draw breath and adjust our clothing and damp backpacks. 

Somewhere on the way out of Anstruther, as it segues into Cellardyke, we passed this sculpture of a shoal of fish, crafted in metal by local artist Marion Smith. 

A little further on, one of the small cottages had a lively display of Saltire flags, marking their delight (I guess) at Scotland's place in the World Cup football tournament. 

As we left the villages, the path along the seashore became quite attractive, with lots of wild flowers. These are sea pinks/thrift - so pretty. 

There were some interesting weathered and sea-worn rock formations too, with holes and arches, known as the Caiplie Caves or The Cove. They are said to have links to the monks like St Adrian who had a monastery on the Isle of May, and one of them was home to a hermit prior to WWII.  

Eventually our familiar 'home' harbour at Crail came into view. This part of the coastal path walk from St Monan's to Crail was in total about 8 miles and is possibly one of the more interesting stretches, passing through all the historic fishing villages. The wet conditions made it somewhat less appealing than it might have been so I was glad I'd spent time the day before exploring parts of it in more detail. Ironically the rain eased off as we returned to Crail. Isn't that often the way? 

Some of the larger houses on the cliffs at the west end of Crail had lovely gardens. We enjoyed this riot of lupins, their colours straight out of a paintbox.  

Then a wet day turned into a gorgeous evening, with golden light that gave way to a wonderful sky later in the evening. We watched a big cruise ship coming down the Firth of Forth. I've done a bit of sleuthing and I've discovered it's a Cunard ship, Queen Anne, leaving a stop-over in Edinburgh on a cruise around the British Isles. Hooray for the internet!