Glenrothes – Coastal Road Trip

Day 29 – Glenrothes to Berwick upon Tweed

We started today by heading back east to the coast at Crail, as we’d run out of sunlight yesterday evening after leaving St Andrews. From Crail we then looped back west along the coast, crossing the Firth of Forth before continuing along the coastline to Berwick upon Tweed.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, North Berwick, Telescope, Bass Rock — A telescope at North Berwick.

Crail

Coastal Road Trip, Crail, Harbour — A quiet Sunday morning on Crail seafront.

Pittenweem

Coastal Road Trip, Pittenweem, Harbour, Fishing Boats — Fishing boats gathered in Pittenweem Harbour.

Elie Ness

Coastal Road Trip, Elie Ness Lighthouse — A modern lighthouse on the headland at Elie Ness.

Lower Largo

Coastal Road Trip, Lower Largo, Alexander Selkirk Statue, Robinson Crusoe — A statue of Alexander Selkirk mounted on a house in Lower Largo, the inspiration behind Robinson Crusoe.

Coastal Road Trip, Lower Largo, Colourful Bollards — Colourful bollards on the Lower Largo seafront.

Dysart

Coastal Road Trip, Dysart Harbour, Kirkcaldy — Just outside Kirkcaldy, the quaint Dysart.

Coastal Road Trip, Dysart Harbour, Kirkcaldy, Sea Beams, Donald Urquhart, 9 vertical oak beams, blue, sea different light, — And an interesting coastal art installation by Donald Urquart just by the harbour. The 9 huge vertical beams painted to represent the colour of the sea under different light.

Aberdour Castle

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdour Castle, Julian, Jarno — Yep, no idea either, but we seemed to be enjoying ourselves at Historic Scotland’s Aberdour Castle.

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdove Castle, Beehive shaped Doocot, Dovecote, Pigeon, Dove, House — We weren’t sure what this building was on the terraced gardens that lead down to the castle orchard. Anyway, it turned out to be an unusual beehive shaped doocot.

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdove Castle, Beehive shaped Doocot, Dovecote, Pigeon, Dove, House, Inside — And inside the doocot, looking to the sky.

Firth of Forth Bridges

Coastal Road Trip, Firth of Forth, Crossing, Forth Road Bridge — Crossing over the Forth Road Bridge. It was really busy, with lots of police and tourists around, then we realised it was the opening week of the new Queensferry Crossing bridge.

Coastal Road Trip, Firth of Forth, Forth Road Bridge, Queensferry Crossing bridge — From South Queensferry, looking back to the Forth Road Bridge, and the new Queensferry Crossing behind.

Coastal Road Trip, Firth of Forth, Queensferry Crossing bridge, Pedestrians — The Queen would be visiting to officially open the new bridge tomorrow. In the meantime the bridge was open for pedestrians to cross.

Coastal Road Trip, Firth of Forth, Forth Rail Bridge — And the equally impressive Forth Rail Bridge sitting opposite the other two bridges. OK, enough bridges for the day…

Royal Yacht Britannia

Coastal Road Trip, Royal Yacht Britannia — As we skirted around the north of Edinburgh we decided to make a stop at the Royal Yacht Britannia, one of the highlights of our day.

Coastal Road Trip, Royal Yacht Britannia, Dining Room — In service from 1954 to 1997, and now kept as a museum piece. A fascinating insight into the royal life on the seas.

Coastal Road Trip, Royal Yacht Britannia, Rolls Royce — The Royal Roller kept on board for visits to local Kings and Queens.

Coastal Road Trip, Royal Yacht Britannia, Verge Inn, Royal pub, Corgi, Julian, Jarno, Beer — Having a royal beer in the royal pub with the royal corgi. Love the bar name 😉

Coastal Road Trip, Royal Yacht Britannia, Games, Operation, Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble, — So The Queen likes a game of Operation! Good for her.

Coastal Road Trip, Royal Yacht Britannia, Washing Machines, Corgi, Launderette — Royal washing machines in the royal launderette.

North Berwick

Coastal Road Trip, North Berwick, Law — North Berwick in the shadow of the Law hill. A lovely little town and harbour.

Coastal Road Trip, North Berwick, Coloured doors, Storage, Harbour — Colourful doors in the harbour boatyard.

Coastal Road Trip, North Berwick, Telescope, Bass Rock — A handy telescope to view Bass Rock, 3 miles out to sea in the outer part of the Firth of Forth.

Bass Rock

Coastal Road Trip, Bass Rock, Lighthouse — White from bird life. Thousands of gannets visit the island every year, and as many as 150,000 in high season! Poor lighthouse, bet that needs repainting quite a bit!

Coastal Road Trip, Bass Rock, Lighthouse — We tried to zoom in, this is about as close as we could get. You can just about make out the thousands of gannets hogging every bit of the island and circling in the sky.

Tantallon Castle

Coastal Road Trip, Tantallon Castle, Field — The red sandstone Tantallon Castle, as we drove east out of North Berwick.

Torness

Coastal Road Trip, Torness Nuclear Power Station — Another regular along our trip, every few days passing a coastal power station. This time Torness Nuclear Power Station, peeping over the blurred fields as we drove past along the A1 to the Scottish border and Berwick upon Tweed.

Daily video

Day 28 – Aberdeen to Glenrothes

Wow, another beautiful day in Scotland. We will spend the morning in Aberdeen, before following the coastline down to Dundee, then across to St Andrews, before cutting slightly inland for the evening at Glenrothes.

Photo of the day

Coastal Road Trip, Montrose, Scurdie Ness, South Esk, Lighthouse — Scurdie Ness Lighthouse.

Aberdeen

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdeen, The Listener, Sculpture, Trumpet, History, Urban Myth — Exploring some street sculptures in Aberdeen centre, here the trumpet like ‘The Listener’.

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdeen, William Wallace, Statue, Aberdeen St. Mark's Church of Scotland — The Scottish knight Sir William Wallace, with the dome of St. Mark’s Church in the background.

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdeen, St. Mary's Cathedral — St. Mary’s Cathedral, a service was in progress, so we didn’t go in.

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdeen, River Dee, City Scape, Torry Point Battery, Jarno — Jarno viewing his empire. OK, just checking out the view over Aberdeen and the River Dee from Torry Point Battery.

Coastal Road Trip, Aberdeen, River Dee, Torry Point Battery, South Breakwater, Ship — A ship leaving the bustling Aberdeen Harbour past the South Breakwater.

Coastal Road Trip, Coast Road, Doonies Farm, Cove, Road, Train Track, Path, Bridge — And the same ship in the distance as we drove south along the coast road out towards Cove. A road, railway line and footpath all following the same coastal route out of Aberdeen.

Dunnottar Castle

Coastal Road Trip, Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven — The remains of the medieval Dunnottar Castle perched on near vertical cliffs over the North Sea. It was super busy this Saturday lunchtime. As we had a long way to travel still, we didn’t stay long, continuing on towards Stonehaven.

Catterline Bay

Coastal Road Trip, Catterline Bay, Todd Head Lighthouse — The almost perfect arc of Catterline Bay, with Todd Head Lighthouse peeking over the headland in the far distance.

Scurdie Ness

Coastal Road Trip, Montrose, Scurdie Ness, South Esk, The Beacons — Just past Montrose we parked up at Ferryden, then walked along the South Esk River to the old nautical navigation beacons.

Coastal Road Trip, Montrose, Scurdie Ness, South Esk, Lighthouse — Then around the corner we arrived at Scurdie Ness Lighthouse.

Coastal Road Trip, Montrose, Scurdie Ness, South Esk, Dolphins — As we walked along we were followed by a pod of dolphins playing in the South Esk.

Coastal Road Trip, Montrose, Scurdie Ness, South Esk, Dolphins — They seemed to be having great fun.

Arbroath

Coastal Road Trip, Arbroath Abbey, Julian, Jarno — Checking out the remains of Arbroath Abbey. We’ve really had our fair share of castle, cathedral and abbey remains along this trip 😉

Coastal Road Trip, Arbroath Signal Tower Museum — Arbroath Signal Tower Museum on the sea front.

Dundee

Coastal Road Trip, Dundee, The McManus Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum — The McManus, Dundee’s Art Gallery & Museum.

Coastal Road Trip, Dundee, Desperate Dan Statue, Jarno — A cartoonish character in a funny hat, and Desperate Dan.

St Andrews

Coastal Road Trip, St Andrews, Castle — The evening light on St Andrews’ Castle (yes, another ruin).

Coastal Road Trip, St Andrews, Castle, Entrance, Bridge — As it was late in the day, the castle was now closed, so we wandered around the outside of the castle and the charming St Andrew’s lanes.

Coastal Road Trip, St Andrews, Cobbled Street — All was quiet, now that most of the tourists had left for the day.

Coastal Road Trip, St Andrews, Cobbled Street, Cottage — A typical stone cottage on the way back to our car. Next stop Glenrothes for the night.

Daily video