10 Amazing Things You Need to Do in Beautiful St Andrews Scotland
St Andrews Scotland is a beautiful historical town in the Kingdom of Fife.
Now many of you may have heard of St Andrews because it is known as the home of golf.
Or maybe you know there is a university in the town.
But I’m betting it wouldn’t be a destination you’d put on your list to stay for a couple of nights as you made your way around Scotland.
Well, I think it should be.
And I’m going to give you 10 reasons why — 10 things to do in this lovely Scottish town.
So, you know the drill.
We’ll start with where St Andrews is.
Then dive into all the reasons it should be on your Scottish itinerary.
Where is St Andrews?
This town of 18,000 is located in the Kingdom of Fife, 55 miles northeast of Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth.
It takes a good hour to an hour and half to drive to St Andrews from the capital city.
Unfortunately there is no train station in St Andrews but the town can be reached by training to Leuchars — about 5 miles away — and then taking a bus into town.
So you can use public transportation very easily if you don’t have a car.
St Andrews is a coastal town, sitting along the North Sea.
And it does have some lovely views across the water for sure.
Now we know where St Andrews is so let’s dive into what there is to do.
Play golf or at least visit the home of golf
Feel free to skip over this section if you want.
However, even if you aren’t a golf fan, you may want to at least take a stroll around the Old Course as it’s quite picturesque.
For those who are golf fans, you may want to play one of the 7 courses that are part of the St Andrews Links.
While the Old Course is the favorite, I’ve heard the other courses are fabulous.
The Castle Course, which is a bit outside of town, has some of the best views.
But it’s also the 2nd most expensive to play.
If you don’t want to play, you can take a tour of the Old Course.
This is what I did in 2017.
Bo Fraser, now of Scotland Your Way, was my guide. (It’s how we met.)
The tour is an awesome way to learn about the history of golf and get some good stories too.
The World Golf Museum might also be of interest as it’s quite good.
If you aren’t a golf fan, you may simply enjoy taking a walk around it just for the fantastic scenery.
Visit the Cathedral
Okay.
Let’s get this out there.
St Andrews is an old, historical town.
So if you love history, then St Andrews Scotland is for you.
The cathedral, which was built between 1158 and 1318, is just ruins now.
However, it was huge so some of these imposing ruins still stand.
St Andrews was an important religious structure and it was also a pilgrimage.
You see, St Rule (St Regulus) supposedly brought the remains of St Andews (one of Jesus’ apostles) to what is now St Andrews in the 4th century.
There was an older church/monastery on the grounds.
But they decided they needed something bigger and grander so up went the grand cathedral.
In its heyday it drew pilgrims from all over and was incredibly impressive.
Now we just have the ruins.
And, as of the time of this writing, they have the ruins closed off due to unstable masonry.
But you can still get an idea of what St Andrews Cathedral was like.
We are all hoping they open the site back up soon.
Explore the University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews is the third oldest university in the United Kingdom.
That’s right.
Third.
Only Oxford and Cambridge are older.
This makes it the oldest university in Scotland.
And the University of St Andrews draws in students from around the world with quite a few from the US.
The university buildings are spread out so there’s not just one area that is the University of St Andrews.
A good guide, like Bo from Scotland Your Way, will be able to give you a good tour of what buildings are part of the University and what is part of the town.
There are some incredible old buildings though and some great stories to go along with the architecture.
I personally love wandering around old universities and colleges.
Oh, and for you Royal watchers — This is where William and Kate (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) did their university studies and where they met.
Visit the castle
St Andrews does have a castle.
But unlike so many of the castles of Scotland, this one was more of bishops’ house, housing the wealthy bishops that served as the head of the important St Andrews.
The location is striking as the castle sits on a promontory above the sea.
It was built around 1200 and was used until the mid-1600’s when it was no longer used and it fell into disrepair.
There are some good stories, myths and legends around the castle.
You can visit the castle but, like the Cathedral, it is temporarily closed as they are inspecting the structure as a precaution.
Hopefully, it will be open soon as well.
Walk around the harbor and pier
Just off of East Sands(see below) is the small harbor of St Andrews.
In its heyday this harbor would have had about 50 boats.
Now it has about a dozen fishing vessels that bring in quality shellfish as well as a handful of pleasure boats
So while It’s not very big it is worthy of some time.
There are some interesting historical buildings along the water.
And the pier is long so you can take a walk out it to get some views of the sea and the coastline.
*Sigh*
It’s beautiful!
Wander the streets and wynds
One of the best things to do in St Andrews is to simply wander.
There are the main streets that offer up places to eat, drink and shop as well as some fabulous architecture.
But then there are these little narrow pedestrian ways called wynds that are simply delightful to stroll down.
Go get a little lost in St Andrews because you will most likely stumble upon something interesting — a building, a small garden or a statue.
St Andrews is a superb town for wandering!
Stroll on a beach — or 2
There are 2 beaches in St Andrews — East Sands and West Sands.
East Sands is closest to the harbor and the Cathedral.
It’s a lovely beach that always seems to be changing.
I actually found some sea glass on this beach.
And I witnessed a small group of women wild swimming — in December — sans wetsuits.
That’s right.
They were just in regular swimsuits.
Brave souls!
West Sands is by the St Andrews Links.
It is a longer stretch of sand than East Sands and backed by sand dunes.
This is a gorgeous beach for sure with the town off in distance as you walk back.
The sand here seems a bit finer so I found all kinds of cool patterns on the shore created by the waves.
And West Sands was used in the movie Chariots of Fire so I often refer to it as “The Chariots of Fire Beach”.
Both beaches are popular with locals.
You’ll see people walking with dogs, their kids, elderly parents or on their own.
Strolling on one of these beaches is a must for your time in St Andrews.
Stop in a cafe or pub
Being a university town, St Andrews has a plethora of cafes and pubs.
Northpoint is where William and Kate met and is a good cafe from the reviews.
I went into Con Panna for tea and a treat with Bo.
It was good choice.
There are loads of cafes!
Then there are pubs.
I didn’t visit a pub on this visit (COVID!) but there are a few that I’d like to check out on the next visit.
The Criterion is one as is the Scottish chain BrewDog.
I would highly recommend the cafe in the British Golf Museum as the service is excellent with friendly staff and a good array of food and warming teas and coffees.
Plus the view is awesome over the Old Course and West Sands.
Delve into all the everyday history
As I walked around St Andrews with Bo as my guide, I learned a lot about the everyday people who lived in St Andrews over the centuries.
She showed me the fishermen’s homes with stairs leading up to the elevated front door.
The boats would have been housed below.
Bo also pointed out marriage lintils over doors or somewhere on the outside of buildings.
These would have initials and a date signifying that CB and RF married in the year of 1725 for instance.
Pretty cool.
This is the everyday history you can find as you walk around St Andrews.
Discover Craigtoun Country Park (just a wee bit outside of St Andrews)
There is a lovely park just a wee bit outside of St Andrews called Craigtoun Country Park.
It has grassy areas, some old buildings and structures, gardens, a pond and some nice trails for walking, playing, and letting your dog get some good exercise.
At the center of the pond there was a Dutch Village that is no longer kept up, but still looks nice enough.
There’s some history to this park as it was called the Mount Melville Estate and owned by a prominent family as far back as 1698.
The house that you see there now was built around 1901 but hasn’t been used in about 50 years.
There is hope that it will be restored as someone does own it and has plans to remodel it once the money can be secured.
In the meantime, the park is simply a wonderful spot to take a walk, let the kids play and let the dogs have some fun!
And hang with the locals.
If you fancy a spot of tea or a treat, there is cafe in the park.
Gotta love Scotland!
Are you ready to put St Andrews on your Scotland itinerary?
I have to admit that I really fell in love with this town.
It’s really a beautiful place with lots to keep you occupied for a few days.
And I know I’ll be returning to St Andrews later this year.
Have you been?
Drop your comment on St Andrews below.
Please note that Wander Your Way is only recommending international travel to those who are vaccinated and feel comfortable doing so. This is because travel to Europe is complicated.
If you do decide to travel internationally, please do your research or use a travel planning service such as Wander Your Way. Please stay up to date using official sources like the WHO and CDC.
I am continuing to write about incredible destinations and to offer tips on travel to Europe, so that you will find some solace in these posts — so you dream about travel and learn about places. And hopefully make that bucket list! This way when we can all fully travel again, you’ll be ready to go.
And if you are ready to go soon, please contact Lynne for any assistance you may need.
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