The Fife Coastal Path - Lower Largo to St Monans
5 days ago
3 min read
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Distance - 8.75 miles (14km)
Estimated Time - 3-4 hours
Parking - Small car park on main street by the beach
Travel - good bus service connects the whole FCP
Route - Fife Coastal Path 5: Lower Largo to St Monans
A shorter part of the coastal path passing over long sandy beaches, through the dunes, a nature reserve and with the opportunity to add on a thrilling side quest of the Elie chain walk. Ruby Bay at Elie is a good detour spot to take in Lady's Tower and the Elie Ness Lighthouse.
We completed this section on New Years Eve 2025 in some lovely weather. We added this on to the section before this - East Wemyss to Lower Largo, to make this a bigger day out to make the most of the nice weather at that time of year. Usually you would start this route from the harbour or the beach car park, there is a well-known wooden totem pole sculpture named 'Malagan' near the shore, that is worth a quick detour. The sculpture was created by local artist Alan Faulds, taking inspiration from Papua New Guinea, the sculpture is designed to be viewed as a round piece of art and incorporates images from the sea and mythology.
We continued walked along the beach which was gorgeous golden sands with lots of interesting shells, but then we hopped up into the path through the Dumbarnie Dunes to allow us to pick up the pace. We passed a "clootie tree" which is a tree with coloured ribbons tied to it, I'm not sure the exact reason but they're often said to be for remembrance, wishing or hope. Now, I can't guarantee that this will be there when you do your walk but it was nice to see.
The path leads you onto a boardwalk section, curving in land at Largo Bay and bridging over the Cocklemouth Burn. We thoroughly enjoyed this part as it allowed you to walk across the marshes and I feel like at this point we spotted a lot of wildlife, including a big goose thing which I think is a Greylag Goose (pictured - please correct me if I'm wrong). From here, you can take a small detour to do some birdwatching at Ruddons Point or continue on through Shell Bay Caravan Park. Upon leaving the caravan park you will spot a lovely wood fired sauna in the bay, where we spotted some dippers braving it for their NYE swims. This is one of several Wild Scottish Sauna locations and is bookable if you feel up to a wee sauna and swim to break up your journey.
After a short section along by the beach you will start to ascend up a little hill. From here the views of Kincraig Head are epic, with the waves crashing down below onto the basalt cliffs - really dramatic. There is an option to descend a rather steep path that will take you down onto the cliffs where you can do the Elie Chain walk - you should ensure the tide is out and that you have suitable footwear on. We were pushed for time and it was really windy so on this occasion we chose to continue on the path along the high cliffs. This can be quite narrow in places with a steep hill down so do be mindful of your footing.
Before long you will come to the quaint seaside town of Elie, which is likely to be busy with seaside revellers. Providing golden beaches, tasty snacks and friendly pubs, it would be a nice idea to spend some time here soaking up the vibes. We were lucky to catch a gorgeous sunset here across the bay, which stopped us in our tracks for a while. From here, I would recommend a short detour from the signposted path into Ruby Bay where you can see the ruins of Lady's tower and Elie Ness Lighthouse. Then the path continues along the edge of the coastline passing Ardross Farm and Bowhouse which are further in land but a possible place to pick up some snacks if you should need to. The final part of this section takes you past the ruins of Newark Castle before arriving at St Monans Kirk, where this section comes to an end. From here you can enjoy an evening in the town or hop on the bus back to your starting point.
Happy Adventuring
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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
10. St Andrews to Newport
11. Newport to Newburgh
