Walking the Fife Coastal Path

The scenic Fife Coastal Path runs around the coast of Fife for 117 miles from the Forth estuary in the south to the Tay estuary in the north.

I have walked several sections of the Fife Coastal path in the past just for my own pleasure and enjoyment,  so when I was asked recently to plan a tour for a couple who were interested in doing some walking, I suggested that they walk the most interesting sections of the Path, and I would drop them off and pick them up at intermediate points.

Entrance to the path at North Queensferry

The weather was fine for the day of the walk, which was a big bonus. We started with the Inverkeithing to North Queensferry section. It sounds a bit back to front, but by walking this section in a E-W direction you get fantastic views of the Forth Bridges.

View of the Forth Rail Bridge from the Path

Aberdour Castle

The next section was the path between Aberdour beach, known locally as "Scotland's Riviera", past Aberdour Harbour and round the headland to Silversands Bay. Good views out to Inchcolm Island from here. We then stopped at Aberdour Castle and also went inside nearby St Fillans Church.

Ravenscraig Castle 

Then we drove along the coast through Kirkcaldy and paid a visit to Ravenscraig Castle. The couple then walked through Ravenscraig park down to picturesque Dysart Harbour. We ate lunch at the cafe in the refurbished Harbourmaster's House next to the harbour.

Dysart Harbour

MacDuff Castle

The next section walked was along the seashore from East Wemyss along to MacDuff Castle, past the famous caves in the cliffs, some of which contain Pictish inscriptions and drawings.

Following this section, we drove along to St Monans, and the couple walked to the famous Windmill once used to pump seawater into the salt pans. 

St Monans Windmill

We had hoped to go inside the windmill, but unfortunately the key had already been taken by someone else. My original plan was for them to then continue their walk along to Pittenweem, followed by a walk around Crail, but the wife requested a town visit at this point, so after St Monans, we drove to St Andrews instead.

Visit to Alnwick Castle

A visit to Alnwick Castle is always a treat, I really enjoy taking people there because there is so much of interest to see and experience. My favourite part of the Castle is the interior - the sheer opulence of the State Rooms is breathtaking. I would love to spend a whole day just admiring and studying the paintings, the furnishings and the decorations, and talking to the room guides. But frustratingly, I find that my visitors often move through very quickly, hardly stopping to look at anything, and obviously I have to keep up with them!

I think for many families the main reason for visiting Alnwick Castle, aka Hogwarts, is to show their kids the locations of scenes from the Harry Potter films. The only trouble is the kids think they are going to the "real" Hogwarts and are usually disappointed when they can't see the whole "school" and don't get to meet Harry Potter and friends in person.

For some time there has been a tour available which shows people the various filming locations around the Castle. It was originally called the Harry Spotter tour, which I thought was a great name, but is now called Battleaxe to Broomsticks. 

But now there is an additional attraction for fans of Harry Potter - some of the characters from the films are being brought to life on various dates through the summer. I was there with a family on Thursday April 12th, and actors playing Harry Potter and Hagrid were giving an impromptu performance, interacting with the audience in an entertaining and humorous way. As you can see from the photo to the right, Hagrid cut quite an impressive figure, truly larger than life.

After their performance, I was impressed with the way the actors patiently posed for photos with all the family groups, so the kids could go home happy that they had met the characters from the films and had the proof to show all their friends.

Tour to Fort William 5th and 6th March 2012

Old Inverlochy Castle

The weather was great for the drive up to Fort William - sunshine all the way. Not so good on the way back unfortunately, overcast and showery.

Ben Nevis through the archway of Old Inverlochy Castle

Not much traffic on the road, so you really got the sense of the open road

Looking towards Aonoch Mor from the Commando Memorial 

Beautiful scenery on this journey, some of the best in Scotland, Glen Dochart, Rannoch Moor and Glencoe, probably the most impressive and majestic glen in Scotland. Of the easily accessible ones, anyway.

Most visitor attractions and other places such as restaurants etc that rely on the tourist trade are, not surprisingly, closed at this time of year. One little place that was open though was "Crafts and Things" in Glencoe Village, where we stopped for a coffee.

Commando Memorial, just north of Spean Bridge

As the photos show, in and around Fort William we visited the Old Inverlochy Castle and the Commando memorial.

Looking towards Glencoe from the beach at Onich 

Looking south across Rannoch Moor

First tour of the season

First tour of the 2012 season on Monday, 5th March, and it's to Fort William via Glencoe