Day out in East Scotland

[jopparocks]

Yesterday brought the end of stay local restrictions in Scotland so took a day off and went for a run in the van. Not allowed to stay overnight anywhere so it was a round trip. This is the first time we've had the van out since last September. Intention was to go to Tentsmuir in Fife and have a picnic and walk in the forest and on the beach. We travelled from Edinburgh. Departed mid morning and made our way over the Queensferry crossing into the Kingdom - traffic was light and we saw very few other motorhomes or caravans. Passed the Kirkcaldy turnoff and after that very, very light traffic. Went into Dundee to say a safe hello to daughter who is at uni there and then crossed the Tay Bridge back into Fife. Weather was beautiful. Drove along lovely coastal road through Tayport with a glorious view of Broughty Castle standing proud commanding the entrance to the Tay and drove the 10 or so miles to Tentsmuir but a sign said car park full .
Decided instead to carry on to St. Andrews where we parked up next to the centre and spent a sunny few hours acting as tourists visiting the ruined cathedral next to the rugged shoreline and then down to the harbour for a cup of tea. What was amazing is that the car park was nearly empty (and free) and although there were some people walking about it was very quiet for such a sunny day. Cafes were open although it was service at the doors.
Back to Edinburgh at 8.30 driving back along the M90 which was practically deserted. Nice day out on a surprisingly quiet day (except for tentsmuir).
This area and further up the east coast into Arbroath and Montrose tend to be neglected with the emphasis on the NC 500 but the east coast is beautiful and I would recommend it anytime if you want to miss out the madness of the north west coast.
Oh and the van even after all those months stuck on the drive started first time and drove without a hitch.
Hope you all can get some pleasure out of your vans in the coming months even if it is for little day trips.
cheers
Martin

 

[Grianan]

Where could you park in St Andrews? I’d like to do a wee trip up as son choosing unis next term ...

 

[Dramfineday]

Where could you park in St Andrews? I’d like to do a wee trip up as son choosing unis next term ...

Big car park near the bus station and a few smaller ones in that area too. There's also a biggish car park at the swimming pool as well as limited on street parking.

Discovered Tentsmuir when doing the Fife costal trail. Great place

 

[Grianan]

Big car park near the bus station and a few smaller ones in that area too. There's also a biggish car park at the swimming pool as well as limited on street parking.

Discovered Tentsmuir when doing the Fife costal trail. Great place

Thanks ... definitely a wee trip for the summer.

 

[Gellyneck]

Yesterday brought the end of stay local restrictions in Scotland so took a day off and went for a run in the van. Not allowed to stay overnight anywhere so it was a round trip. This is the first time we've had the van out since last September. Intention was to go to Tentsmuir in Fife and have a picnic and walk in the forest and on the beach. We travelled from Edinburgh. Departed mid morning and made our way over the Queensferry crossing into the Kingdom - traffic was light and we saw very few other motorhomes or caravans. Passed the Kirkcaldy turnoff and after that very, very light traffic. Went into Dundee to say a safe hello to daughter who is at uni there and then crossed the Tay Bridge back into Fife. Weather was beautiful. Drove along lovely coastal road through Tayport with a glorious view of Broughty Castle standing proud commanding the entrance to the Tay and drove the 10 or so miles to Tentsmuir but a sign said car park full .
Decided instead to carry on to St. Andrews where we parked up next to the centre and spent a sunny few hours acting as tourists visiting the ruined cathedral next to the rugged shoreline and then down to the harbour for a cup of tea. What was amazing is that the car park was nearly empty (and free) and although there were some people walking about it was very quiet for such a sunny day. Cafes were open although it was service at the doors.
Back to Edinburgh at 8.30 driving back along the M90 which was practically deserted. Nice day out on a surprisingly quiet day (except for tentsmuir).
This area and further up the east coast into Arbroath and Montrose tend to be neglected with the emphasis on the NC 500 but the east coast is beautiful and I would recommend it anytime if you want to miss out the madness of the north west coast.
Oh and the van even after all those months stuck on the drive started first time and drove without a hitch.
Hope you all can get some pleasure out of your vans in the coming months even if it is for little day trips.
cheers
Martin

Oh no! Don't tell me you missed the opportunity to get fish and chips from The Wee Chippy in Ainster!

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[snailtrailer]

That sounds like an absolutely perfect day out and one you will never forget.

 

[Gellyneck]

That sounds like an absolutely perfect day out and one you will never forget.

Naw! Naw! Naw! They missed oot the best chippy in the world!

 

[Garfields]

Your in Scotland nowhere is that busy in the same way you get in Englandshire There are the odd exceptions
We were doing one of the well know local walks on Thursday and it was a couple of hours before we came across anyone
There must have been others about as there were some cars in the carpark or they may have been hiding from us

 

[Dramfineday]

I had a walk around Portmore Loch, near Peebles, yesterday. Only saw two other people in the several hours I was out. Glorious sunlit uplands - the real ones, not the ones associated with politics

 

[bridgedino]

West Sands Road. Perfect spot in St Andrews, hard grassy parking area, overlooking the dunes and beach. No tight turns or bottlenecks, and free

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[bridgedino]

Tentsmuir is lovely but you need to get there by 9am to be sure of a space

 

[buntyb]

Remember £2 for parking as its a bit off the beaten track to get there and not have coins to pay. No sign of contactless payment when we were there 3 weeks ago

 

[big bertha]

Yesterday brought the end of stay local restrictions in Scotland so took a day off and went for a run in the van. Not allowed to stay overnight anywhere so it was a round trip. This is the first time we've had the van out since last September. Intention was to go to Tentsmuir in Fife and have a picnic and walk in the forest and on the beach. We travelled from Edinburgh. Departed mid morning and made our way over the Queensferry crossing into the Kingdom - traffic was light and we saw very few other motorhomes or caravans. Passed the Kirkcaldy turnoff and after that very, very light traffic. Went into Dundee to say a safe hello to daughter who is at uni there and then crossed the Tay Bridge back into Fife. Weather was beautiful. Drove along lovely coastal road through Tayport with a glorious view of Broughty Castle standing proud commanding the entrance to the Tay and drove the 10 or so miles to Tentsmuir but a sign said car park full .
Decided instead to carry on to St. Andrews where we parked up next to the centre and spent a sunny few hours acting as tourists visiting the ruined cathedral next to the rugged shoreline and then down to the harbour for a cup of tea. What was amazing is that the car park was nearly empty (and free) and although there were some people walking about it was very quiet for such a sunny day. Cafes were open although it was service at the doors.
Back to Edinburgh at 8.30 driving back along the M90 which was practically deserted. Nice day out on a surprisingly quiet day (except for tentsmuir).
This area and further up the east coast into Arbroath and Montrose tend to be neglected with the emphasis on the NC 500 but the east coast is beautiful and I would recommend it anytime if you want to miss out the madness of the north west coast.
Oh and the van even after all those months stuck on the drive started first time and drove without a hitch.
Hope you all can get some pleasure out of your vans in the coming months even if it is for little day trips.
cheers
Martin

Sister has a static at Tayport and looking forward to travelling up on 26th if allowed to cross border. I agree about Montrose area her last van was near Johnshaven and you could walk to there along coastal path.

 

[jopparocks]

Tentsmuir is lovely but you need to get there by 9am to be sure of a space

Been going their since I was a young 'un growing up in Dundee. A total gem of a place but it has been getting busier and busier over the years. Use to be able to drive down and park in amongst the trees for free but as with all these things it had to be 'organised' by the council so that it could be 'improved' for visitors. Everywhere has to have a 'visitor centre' now. Nothing is just left wild and free.

 

[irnbru]

Not allowed to stay overnight anywhere so it was a round trip.

Who said you cant? Nothing wrong with you staying within your own local authority area. I know theres a few funsters that disagree but thats cos they dont like being proved wrong IMO. Several SIGNIFICANT posts in the "travel Scotland " thread.

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[JamesT@Dundee]

Where could you park in St Andrews? I’d like to do a wee trip up as son choosing unis next term ...

Best place we find (stress free parking) is the West sands area. It's a walk into St Andrews but there's usually plenty of space if you go beyond the main area near the golf club. There is a barrier halfway along the road (near the toilet block) but parking on grass before you get to the barrier is fine. Good place to walk dog(s)!

There's also the carpark mentioned in the original post. Though, during normal times, we find it gets filled fairly quickly.

Tend to avoid any attempt to find parking within the town (unless you have a small van).

 

[IanFraser]

West Sands Road. Perfect spot in St Andrews, hard grassy parking area, overlooking the dunes and beach. No tight turns or bottlenecks, and free

View attachment 486594

We park here every time, don’t know why anyone would want to park in town unless not good on their legs. The only sad thing about this St. Andrew’s don’t like MoHo’s, last time we did this & after a lovely walk in a nice day along beach before intending on heading home we had a ‘lovely’ notice plastered on the windscreen warning us of dire consequences should we be thinking about parking up overnight!

 

[JamesT@Dundee]

Ah. We haven't had a notice yet.
Really think they should be a bit more progressive and emulate Findhorn on this.
Have an area near the toilet block for a number of overnighters and a voluntary fee.

Open to abuse but then any of these systems are...

 

[lorger]

We’re heading up the East coast for a few days next week, we’re visiting Forfar and Stonehaven. Not been up that way for years and I mean years so looking forward to it.

 

[Catpirate]

This is us at Loch Leven nature reserve near the east coast at Kinross. The Car park is big, we stopped overnight and were the only ones (this was in August), no charge. Has a water tap and toilet block open in the day. Has a small bar/cafe and if you like brown trout you can hire a fishing boat (bring own tackle)

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[jopparocks]

This is us at Loch Leven nature reserve near the east coast at Kinross. The Car park is big, we stopped overnight and were the only ones (this was in August), no charge. Has a water tap and toilet block open in the day. Has a small bar/cafe and if you like brown trout you can hire a fishing boat (bring own tackle)

View attachment 486780

Definitely one for us to give a try.

 

[jopparocks]

Who said you cant? Nothing wrong with you staying within your own local authority area. I know theres a few funsters that disagree but thats cos they dont like being proved wrong IMO. Several SIGNIFICANT posts in the "travel Scotland " thread.View attachment 486622

That's a crucial distinction irnbru. Thanks for that.

 

[deleted79651]

This is us at Loch Leven nature reserve near the east coast at Kinross. The Car park is big, we stopped overnight and were the only ones (this was in August), no charge. Has a water tap and toilet block open in the day. Has a small bar/cafe and if you like brown trout you can hire a fishing boat (bring own tackle)

View attachment 486780

Elaine and I were talking 1/2 hour ago about making Loch Leven our first overnight trip after the new [to us] motorhome is delivered on Wednesday! Thanks for the photo and the information.

Steve & Elaine

 

[irnbru]

Elaine and I were talking 1/2 hour ago about making Loch Leven our first overnight trip after the new [to us] motorhome is delivered on Wednesday! Thanks for the photo and the information.

Steve & Elaine

Bet you are excited

 

[Catpirate]

Thank you irnbru, as I am sure you were aware this is quite an historical loch and the island castle is where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned. I found when the mist is on the loch in the morning enchanting and the walks are lovely.

Loch Leven (Kinross) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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[deleted79651]

Bet you are excited

Just a little. I can start doing the '3 more sleeps' countdown now! Only worry is that it looks as though the motorhome will arrive on the same day as a pair of Helinox Chairs; and the handover will need to be carried out in the Leisure Centre Car Park because we have only On Street Parking. Would be ironic if we get a 'Tried to deliver your motorhome but you were out, so we took it back to Essex' card because we were dealing with the chairs

Steve & Elaine

 

[Catpirate]

sorry meant to address marchie. Hope you enjoy your new motorhome. I went on on to see the dolphins at Dornoch, not a fan of the 500 having been there in the 70s (and worked in Thurso). I love Scotland and the people, have many friends in Plockton (self proclaimed jewel of the west)

 

[spitfire]

Oh no! Don't tell me you missed the opportunity to get fish and chips from The Wee Chippy in Ainster!

View attachment 486426

And smokies in Arbroath !

 

[Catpirate]

PS Love the north of Scotland, just find what was once undiscovered is now overcrowded. Absolutley love Ben Tongue and Ben loyal and Dunnet Head is spectacular.

 

[Catpirate]

Love the Smokies, and the whiskey at Dalwhinnie to my mind a lovely soft malt. Good times

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