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New York Times
05-08-2025
- New York Times
An Inn-to-Inn Walk on Scotland's Idyllic East Coast
After days of North Atlantic gloom, the sky was an unblemished blue, and frothy waves crashed on the rocks edging the Fife Coastal Path in eastern Scotland, sending flocks of ruddy turnstones wheeling over farm fields inland. The Fife Coastal Path stretches 117 miles from Kincardine to Newburgh, following basalt shores and linking fishing villages to the golf mecca of St. Andrews. It's a walk for nature lovers, popular with through-hikers and my chosen destination for testing the value of surrendering control. As an independent traveler, I spend hours plotting itineraries. This time, I'd entrusted Macs Adventure, which plans self-guided walking trips, with the details. Macs and companies such as Inntravel and InnWalking handle hotel reservations and route planning in walking trips designed for individuals rather than groups. Luggage transfers between lodgings sweeten the deal, freeing travelers to tote only their day packs. For my test run last fall, I chose a relatively short trip from the Macs portfolio, which is primarily Europe-focused, with a few itineraries in Japan and New Zealand. The four-night itinerary on the Fife Coastal Path, which included lodging, breakfasts, luggage transfers and access to the Macs app, which has a detailed map, starts at $795 a person sharing a double room; as a solo traveler, I paid $965. A reasonable price, I thought, figuring that if I planned it myself, I would have paid only about $165 less. But ceding planning meant accepting someone else's idea of a perfect trip. Could my inner control freak let go? A Good Start I began my trip on a Saturday in Kirkcaldy, a roughly 40-minute train ride from Edinburgh. Macs reserved a room for me at the Strathearn Hotel, a former 1880s villa opposite the coastal remains of the 15th-century Ravenscraig Castle where I would begin walking the next morning. At the hotel pub, I met Graeme Mitchell, the owner of the Strathearn, nursing a Tennent's Lager while his wife, Loraine, pitched in behind the bar on an afternoon busy with birthday and anniversary parties. Few in the packed pub were staying in the 15 rooms upstairs, but many locals offered their advice on my route, including where to have a bowl of soup (Crail Harbour Gallery and Tearoom), visit a farmer's market (Ardross Farm Shop) and find the best fish and chips (the village of Anstruther). Since the Macs itinerary didn't include meals, I relied on substantive hotel breakfasts and trail snacks to see me through each day of walking. The Strathearn set a high bar with its generous offerings — I chose two poached eggs on avocado toast — the next morning. Afterward, I entrusted my backpack to the front desk clerk for the handoff to a taxi that would transfer it to the next hotel, and set out with little more than a water bottle. Caves and Castles Below Ravenscraig Castle at low tide, fingers of seaweed-covered rock extended from a rocky beach into the placid sea, allowing me to set out on the sand for Leven, roughly 10 miles ahead. At times, rising tides would push me onto higher ground where parallel trails were edged with white and purple asters. Towns dot the Fife Coast, providing a continual diet of discovery. It wasn't long before I reached Dysart and its 18th-century stone-walled harbor where skiffs rested in the shallows. Stacks of lobster traps leaned against stone buildings, and the nameplates of boats such as Nauti Buoy, Dubbie Braes and Breadwinner decorated a corrugated metal shelter. With an entire day to travel just 10 miles and no bag to slow me down, I often wandered from the path, ducking into a cafe in West Wemyss for tea and diverting far from the trail for ice cream at the Perfect Scoop in East Wemyss. Back on track, I passed the Wemyss Caves, concealing 1,500-year-old carvings by the ancient Picts people. Above them, I scrambled up a steep path to the ruins of MacDuff's Castle, built by the Earls of Fife in the 14th century, and magnificent sea views. In Leven, the path became a paved sidewalk along the oceanfront, busy with dog walkers and strollers on a cloudy but bright day. Just past the town center, I turned a block inland to reach the Lomond Guest House, where I was welcomed by the innkeeper and reunited with my backpack in a cozy second-floor room. Tired by the five-hour walk, I called a cab to go three miles up the shore for dinner at the Crusoe inn (hake with creamed potatoes was £21.95, or about $29) and a chance to stare out to sea from a stationary spot. Tees and Tides From Leven, the beach path traversed soft dunes and then grassy banks that delivered me to the edge of a golf course. A worn groove across a fairway indicated my course despite a warning sign: 'Extreme care is required if using this access way. You are at risk of being injured by golf balls.' Hands over head, I dashed to the far side of the Lundin Golf Club. Scotland has a tradition of open access to private land for walkers — details can be found in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code — and in the next agricultural stretch signs reminded hikers not to make excessive noise or disturb the animals. One farm posted a picture of an angry bull to deter entry. Gradually the path, uncrowded in the shoulder season, climbed a series of cliffs crowned by the ruins of World War II lookout posts. Descending a hill beside the Elie Golf Course, I helped a player search for his ball on a rocky beach. Another cliff-top view introduced the tidy town of Earlsferry and its neighbor, Elie, linked by nearly a mile of golden sand. Since the Victorian age, travelers have visited the area, known as East Neuk, where picturesque villages are nestled in valleys and quarried jetties quell the churn of the sea. Elie's harbor walls curl around to protect the beach and its dunes, site of the Elie Seaside Sauna, with a picture window framing tranquil views of dune grass. I booked an hourlong session (£12) at the end of the day's walk and found myself in a stifling chamber where the thermometer read 95 Celsius, or 203 Fahrenheit. It was enough to drive me and my seven sauna mates into the North Sea despite chilly waters. Booked at the nearby Ship Inn, a stylish, six-room hotel in a series of waterfront cottages, I put my feet up on the bay window of my oceanfront room and, using supplied binoculars, watched oystercatchers foraging at low tide. The inn's restaurant highlights locally grown, raised and caught food (at dinner, wild mushroom stroganoff was £21.95, and lobster linguine £29.95), another Macs win for ensuring that, after a long hike, I could explore the region's locavore culinary scene without leaving the hotel. A Wild Coast Coastal erosion has pushed the first two miles of the trail leaving Elie to the A917 roadway. But at low tide, I found the beach route open and left town via the coastal ruins of the 1770 Lady's Tower, built for the wife of a local industrialist who, when she wanted to skinny-dip, would have a servant ring a bell warning the townspeople to stay clear. As a pod of dolphins swam past, a bird-watcher offered me a close-up through his high-powered scope. The most scenic stretch of the walk, the 10.5-mile route to Crail, passed the Ardross Farm Shop filled with locally raised foods, intriguing tide pools, flocks of pink-footed geese and the moody 13th-century ruins of Newark Castle. Lobster traps lined the stone wharf of St. Monans, and beyond it a windmill marked the location of former salt pans. I wandered into art galleries in tidy Pittenweem, admiring the whitewashed walls and terra cotta roofs that reflect the town's historic trade with Belgium and the Netherlands. In the next village, Anstruther, I heeded the advice of a Strathearn regular and ordered crispy haddock and chips (£14) at Anstruther Fish Bar facing the harbor. Reluctant to give up the last isolated section of the trail, I lingered over the final four miles as the wind rushed waves onto driftwood-strewed shores. The route eventually reached the walls of Crail that buffered the town from the sea, not far from the homey Honeypot Guesthouse, where I again claimed my bag. The next morning, as I hoisted my eight-pound pack for the bus trip to St. Andrews nearby, I realized Macs had inserted itself into the love-hate relationship I have with luggage, in which I love the wardrobe refresh but hate the weight. Unencumbered, I saw more and ached less, two priceless outcomes. Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2025.
BBC News
01-08-2025
- BBC News
Thorney Island footpath reopens after two-year closure
A circular walk on a peninsula off Chichester Harbour has reopened after a two-year closure for repairs. Thorney Island, which is separated from the mainland by a narrow channel called the Great Deep, is part of the Chichester Harbour Site of Special Scientific Interest. The 8-mile (13km) circular Thorney Island Coastal Path closed in October 2023 for repairs to its eastern side. A West Sussex County Council (WSCC) spokesperson described the footpath reopening as "good news". The statement added: "The Thorney Island Coastal Path has reopened to the public after we received confirmation that the works to the bridge and path had been completed and inspected."Thorney Island, a designated special protection area, has been joined to the mainland since 1870 after the reclamation of 72 hectares of tidal mudflats. It includes 2,800 hectares of intertidal mudflats which are internationally recognised for their importance for wildlife. It is home to species including brent geese, oystercatchers, lapwings,curlews, skylarks and circular walk takes in sites including Stanbury Point, St Nicholas' Church and Longmere Point. Thorney Island was taken over by the Ministry of Defence in 1984 and became an army base. The King Charles III and Sussex Border Path run around the entire perimeter of the peninsula.
