Friday 18th April 2025

We set off around lunchtime as we both had the day off for Easter, so we decided to head via Loch Leven’s Larder which was very busy.

I grabbed a couple of very local Abernyte Brewery beers and a scotch egg and sausage roll and some gjetost cheese!!

Gayle waited an impressive 10 minutes for sandwiches which we scoffed in the van before heading on to St Andrews, they were nice enough.

We’ll definitely be back, it was hard to believe that it was almost 3 years since we were there last.

We took the scenic route to St Andrews and pitched up on 95, this was a mirror of the last time we were at St Andrews, handy for the shower blocks, but few campervans in amongst a lot of large caravans.

We levelled up (only one side) and hooked up and set off into St Andrews, last time we were here we didn’t make it into the town, so this time we were determined.

It was bright but a bitterly cold wind, and we headed out the back of the site and down the hill, in a lot of ways it’s quite similar to Tantallon at North Berwick, and we followed the path past the flowering gorse and down to East Sands.

We walked along the beach, hardly anybody there, but it was cold. And again, the sands were very clean and not a lot of detritus, no errant crab parts or jellyfish to spot.

We popped back onto the path and passed the legendary toastie shack…we weren’t hungry but vowed to return.

St Andrews is bigger than North Berwick, and while there’s a lot of good old “castles” and the remains of the cathedral etc, it’s not as charming.

We popped into the St Andrews Brewing Co and I had their own lager and while Gayle opted for cider, we had a fun afternoon with a couple of packets of crisps and spent some valuable time relaxing.

After our drinks we were hungry, so we wandered the busy streets looking for somewhere to eat and after a complete circuit of the centre of the town we returned to the first place we spotted, Mozza on Bell St, a cocktail and ginormous pizza later and we were sated.

We wandered back up the path to the site in light rain, watched an episode of an old tv show and went to bed.

Saturday 19th April 2025

We were up with purpose, but the skies wanted something different, again it was overcast and cold, but we had a great breakfast of heck sausage rashers and cheesy hot cross buns, very tasty.

We pulled on walking shoes and headed back into town along the path, this time we followed the path past the old cathedral and castle and towards the old course.

We skirted the edge of the golf course, we were heading towards Balgove Larder and we arrived around 12pm.

It was mobbed, we had plans for lunch there, but it was very busy, so I grabbed a couple of things to lose in our store cupboards (Romesco sauce!!) and we headed back into town.

On the upside, the sun had come out providing a bit of warmth against the cold winds.

We had cheese, wine and charcuterie in the van (sensibly stocked up before we left) and spent a relaxed afternoon and evening reading until it was time for bed.

Sunday 20th April 2025

Again, it was murky, I was straight into the showers which are pretty good.

We wandered round to the onsite restaurant and had breakfast, it was very good (apart from no square sausage) but the haggis was great and the black pudding was very good too.

This time we were heading for west sands, with fanciful ideas of a picnic on the beach.

It was cold and overcast, and we followed a different route, down the main road towards town and along Lamond drive, not as picturesque as the coastal path.

We arrived at 12:30 and the beach was surprisingly busy, blue skies were starting to part the cloud and we wandered along the broad and long beach for a while.

It’s a stunning bay, well worth the walk.

We popped into the Dook cafe for a coffee, it was mobbed and they lost our coffee order which was only apparent after it emptied out, but it was quickly remedied and I had an amazing Brookie which is a brownie/cookie and very tasty.

Gayle had a pistachio and white chocolate croissant which was surprisingly filled with cream, apparently it was very good too.

After this we wandered back towards the site and again spent the afternoon resting in the sun, Gayle wasn’t feeling too good, but we managed round to the Braes again and I had a good burger while Gayle opted for lasagne.

We watched to until bed time.