One of the amazing things about Edinburgh is that in just a few hours drive you can be up in dramatic Glencoe, the picturesque forests and lochs of Perthshire or the winding roads of the beguiling Highlands on your next adventure but you don't need to travel far for a day to remember-here are 3 day trips that I LOVE that are all within just an easy hour’s drive from Edinburgh.
Firstly one of my all time favourite places in Scotland: St Abbs a pretty coastal fishing village in the Scottish Borders. With its rugged setting, and stunning cliffs its easy to see why it was chosen as the filming location for New Asgard, home to Thor in the Avengers superhero movie!! The village comes with its very own story as it is named after Æbbe, a 7th-century Northumbrian princess who struggled ashore here after being shipwrecked and promptly founded a nunnery.
Park up in the car park at St Abbs Head, which is a National Nature Reserve managed by National Trust for Scotland. It comprises of 200 acres of wonderfully wild and rugged coastline with sheer cliffs rising dramatically 300ft above the water. Walk the 4 mile circular route of paths bedside the cliffs, walk out onto the grassy promontories-it can get pretty windy here! Standing on the edge of the cliffs you’ll see the colony of 50,000 seabirds which nest on the cliffs including guillemots, razorbills, puffins, kittiwakes, and fulmars feeding their young and hear the unforgettable sound of thousands of seabirds calling. f you're lucky you may even spot seals on the rocks below! From here you can look back across the sparkling waters and see the village and harbour of St Abbs, it’s honestly just breathtaking on a sunny day.
Along the trail you’ll spot the iconic St Abbs Head Lighthouse which was built in 1862 following the sinking of the ship, “Martello” five years previously. The lighthouse was designed and built by the lighthouse-designing brothers, Thomas and David Stevenson who were the father and uncle of Treasure Island author, Robert Louis Stevenson. The Stevenson family built over 80 lighthouses between them, many of them iconic including Cape Wrath, Dunnet Head, Neist Point, Bass Rock, Rattray Head and Chanonry Point.
Alongside its cliffside walks, St Abbs is the perfect spot for diving, and you’ll see the lobster and crab fishing boats in the harbour or out at sea. No trip like this is complete without a fish and chips sitting in the harbour and a cider sitting outside the cute wee pub in the neighbouring village of Coldingham.
Next up is the lovely seaside town of North Berwick and its surrounding area. The town has some supercute houses, a great ice cream parlour, Alanda's Gelateria, and plenty of independent coffee shops and eateries. There’s always one place I head to, hoping it's open, as it’s weather and season dependent: the relaxed vibe of the Lobster Shack in North Berwick Harbour. The feeling I get seeing it’s open is that same feeling you get when spotting the empty window seat in your favourite coffee shop! Pick up a box of freshly caught lobster with garlic and herb butter and chips for enjoying in the harbour or on the beach washed down with their Lobster Shack Lager. Happy days!
Another one of the independent businesses not to be missed in North Berwick is the wonderful Bostock Bakery. Artisan organic crusty bread with real soul. Oh and pastries and coffee to die for too. And that’s before I even mention the interior!
Also don’t miss the cool Steampunk Coffee for more independent coffee shop vibes with its camper van parked out the front.
There’s so much to do in this area: Take a hike up Berwick Law, a walk along the gorgeous Seacliff Beach with views out to Bass Rock or a wander around the stunning ruins of Tantallon Castle perched above the coast.
So hard limiting this to three but my third day trip would be out to picturesque Culross in Fife. If you're after a few hours wandering around a village that looks like it's straight out of a fairytale this is the one for you. From the moment you arrive in the village you'll be transported back in time but its charm is that it's still a thriving, living village. With its gingerbread-like houses, its winding, cobbled streets and bells from the church ringing out every hour it feels like you've been time-travelling. Culross is Scotland's most complete example of a burgh from the 17th and 18th centuries, many parts of it being owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland.
It's famously become iconic lately for being one of the filming locations for Outlander (the fictional village of Cranesmuir) and no wonder. Culross Palace Gardens feature as the herb garden of Castle Leoch where Claire collects plants for medicinal use; the ochre-coloured Culross Palace and its interior was used as the tavern on the way to battle and many of the buildings in the village as well as the famous Mercat Cross were used in important events and plotlines in the show.
Take a wander along the charming, steep, cobbled Tanhouse Brae with its white and terracotta houses and red-tiled roofs. It runs from the merkat cross up to the 13th century remains of Culross Abbey on the hillside above the village. You'll spot some great street and house names, among my favourite were Cat's Close, Hagg's Wynd and Old Shoemaker's House. Cute or what?
The history is in the very fabric of the village: Culross' Townhouse was formerly used as a courthouse and a prison for witches awaiting trial on the Firth of Forth and even the cobbles tell a story-the smaller cobbles on the edge of the lane allowed the free flow of waste and rain water away from the roadway while the larger, flatter stones laid in the centre of the street were for the wealthier people to walk along so that they wouldn't get their feet so wet or dirty. If you were a person of the lower-classes, and were caught walking in the middle of the cobbled street, you could be either locked up in the Town House or nailed by your ear to the Tron post!
Obviously no day trip is complete without a coffee pitstop so I stopped for a delicious latte at the Biscuit Cafe, housed up the steps above a cute pottery shop. Get there early in the morning and you'll have the village almost to yourself, you can park for free in the main car park and spend a few glorious hours being transported back in time.
Hope you've enjoyed these ideas for day trips from Edinburgh and let me know if I've missed your favourite or if you end up checking any of them out. I'd love to hear from you! For more of my upcoming Edinburgh and Scotland tips you can just subscribe to my journal below.
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