Crail Village - Fife Coastal Path

There is a wonderful long-distance path which is now completed and runs from the Forth Bridge to the Tay Bridge along the coast of Fife - a distance of 81 miles according to the maps! If you're based in Crail for a holiday then you have the option to start a walk from Crail towards either Elie or St Andrews. You can tailor the length of the walk dependent on your stamina and ability, and you have the option of walking one way and getting the bus back.

Before we had children, we used to spend a lot of time walking along the footpaths bordering the Forth, sometimes starting from Crail, and at other times taking a bus further along the coast and walking towards Crail. There's great satisfaction to be had in a short walk as far as The Haven in Cellardyke with the promise of a pint at the end of it - or in going even further and making The Ship Inn at Elie the target. But we always found the going easier when there was a picture of a pint in mind!

Setting off in the other direction (towards St Andrews) is much more difficult going. The main problem in this direction is that the Kenly Burn at Boarhills has to be forded or crossed somehow and this can present problems for the inexperienced. We see from the official website for the Fife Coastal Path that the route now shows this section going quite a long way inland from Hillhead towards Boarhills Farm, then turning back towards the coast at the Village of Boarhills.

We'd definitely recommend the Crail - Fife Ness - Kingsbarns section. This would be around 6 miles or so one way - some of it feels quite remote and there are lovely sea views.

If you're out of practice, or walking with younger walkers, then it's probably better to do some of the easier sections of the walk - for example between Pittenweem and St Monan's or Anstruther and Pittenweem. Each of these sections is only a couple of miles and there are reasonable points of interest on the route, such as the harbour at Pittenweem and the Windmill and Salt Pans at St Monans.

So if you're a walker, there is easy access to the Fife Coastal Path from Crail - put your boots on and set off in the direction of the sea, then turn left towards St Andrews or right towards Elie!

You can look at the official website for the Fife Coastal Path for more information about the route, and details of what you're likely to encounter on the way. If you need more information about the route once you're in Crail, we'd recommend visiting the Tourist Information Centre at Crail Museum (behind the town hall in Marketgate).

Susan McNaughton
October 2006