The Fife Coastal Path - Anstruther to Crail

Oct 29

3 min read

1

36

0

Distance - 4.25 miles (6.75 km)

Estimated Time - around 2 hours

Parking - Paid parking at Anstruther harbour or free parking on St Andrews Road

Travel - the 95 stagecoach bus connects most of this section of the route

Route - Fife Coastal Path 7: Anstruther to Crail

A popular, straight forward and scenic walk. This section of the Fife Coastal Path connects you between the two picturesque fishing villages, and past interesting caves where you can explore. On a good day, the Isle of May and Bass Rock can be seen clearly in the distance.

The walk begins at Anstruther Harbour - the home of the famous chip shop (100% worth a visit), the departure zone of boat trips to the Isle of May, and an area that is usually thriving with tourist activity. If you have time to spare, I would suggest spending some here enjoying the waterfront.

The first section of the route begins with a walk through the streets, via a narrow and winding pavement. This part is not very scenic, but every so often a gap in the houses will allow you to catch a glimpse of the sea. It is not possibly to actually walk along the waterfront here as it's people's gardens. Personally, this wasn't my favourite part as it was too busy and not very scenic but after passing through Cellerdyke harbour you are back by the coast again, but not before you pass alongside the caravan site and the smells from East Neuk Burgers fill your nostrils. Honestly, I was drooling at this point, it smelt so good and the menu is incredible. If I didn't already have a sandwich in my backpack, I'd have probably ordered one of everything 😋. This is also the home of the Cellardyke Seaside Sauna - a horsebox sauna beside the tidal pool.

After a short while of walking on the grassy coastal path, where it is a lot more secluded and away from the towns, you will come across Caiplie Caves - this is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite part of this whole walk. These prehistoric caves are super cool to explore, with the largest cave around 10m deep and 5m high. You will definitely want to spend some time here, even admiring the cool colours and patterns on the sandstone. You can also stand on top of the caves (you can get on top safely from the back) if you have a head for heights - this makes for a pretty cool picture to send your friends.

After leaving the caves, you will pass some run down farm houses. There was a sign here stating that the path was closed, but I couldn't decipher which path it meant, so I just carried on and it didn't seem to cause much issue or detour. Crail will eventually come into view - this is though to be the most photographed fishing village on the Fife Coast and it is easy to see why, with it's charming cobbled streets and little fishing cottages - it really is atmospheric. I took a detour here down to the little bay, where people were swimming in the sea as if it was a summers day.

There is a place on the harbour to buy fresh fish and lobster rolls. And it is also worth mentioning the Crail Harbour Tearoom which does delightful lunches and has a beautiful outdoors area where you can sit and gaze out to the North Sea.

I finished off with a little stroll around the town before heading to catch the bus back to my start point.

Happy Adventuring :)

Sections of the Fife Coastal Path

1. Kincardine to North Queensferry

2. N Queensferry to Burntisland

3. Burntisland to East Wemyss

4. East Wemyss to Lower Largo

5. Lower Largo to St Monans

6. St Monans to Anstruther

7. Anstruther to Crail

8. Crail to Kingsbarns

9. Kingsbarns to St Andrews