I escaped Edinburgh on Sunday and decided to explore a famous old fishing village in the Kingdom of Fife. This town is famous for exactly three things: it is known as the home of golf, it has the oldest university in Scotland, and it was where a famous Prince fell in love with a commoner. If you guessed St. Andrews, then you’re right! Which of the clues gave it away for you, the sport, the education, or the love story? Well no matter what your answer, or even if you didn’t have a clue about any of them, St. Andrews is a bustling town of fairytale stone buildings and cobblestoned streets and no matter what your interests may be, it has a little taste of Scotland for everyone.
The bus from Edinburgh to St. Andrews was easy—once we found the stop. It was hidden back on George Street which runs parallel to Princes Street, the road which Waverly train station is on. The bus driver informed us that we could pay a group price as I was travelling with my two roommates and instead of paying £10 each for the roundtrip, we each paid £7. The ride was just under two hours as it makes other stops within Fife, but it was Sunday so the trains weren’t running, and we were happy to get a glimpse of the Scottish countryside.
St. Andrew’s bus station is located at the end of the main road called Market Street. If you take a left instead of a curved right out of the bus station though, you will end up looking out at the ocean and also the Old Course at St. Andrew’s Links, the 600-year-old golf course which fames the town as the “home of golf.” As we are not golfers, we didn’t spend long lingering around the greens and went up Scores Street, running parallel to Market Street and the ocean. We found ourselves in the midst of the University of St. Andrews, a beautiful old campus where indeed Prince William met Kate Middleton (there’s even a coffee shop near campus boasting to be the place they first met… for coffee!). We walked along the street and peeked at the old buildings and university quad, and eventually found ourselves at the entrance to a castle.
Not much appears to be left of the beautiful crumbled ruins of St. Andrew’s castle, but there are secrets hidden within every ancient fortress. The visitor’s center at both the castle and the St. Andrew’s Cathedral offers a great deal to visitors to see both attractions for just £8. Knowing we were going to explore the cathedral after, we went for the deal and wandered off in search of that ancient mystery.
It turned out that the castle’s secrets were clearly marked, directing us right toward the mine and counter-mine which was dug below the castle after it was sieged by the Earl of Arran in 1546. The mines have been well-preserved but they are certainly not for those who fear small, damp spaces. I got about ten feet in before I backed right on out, and therefore because I have no photos of the mines to show you, here’s one of me at the castle!
Our stomach’s grumbled on our way to the cathedral, and we decided to make a pit-stop for lunch. We crossed North Street and back to Market Street where the cobblestoned walk was bustling with people out shopping and walking around on that sunny Sunday afternoon. It was a bit too crowed for us, and we went in search of a place a little quieter. We came across a bar on South Street, running parallel to Market and North Streets, called The Rule which looked small and cozy from the outside. Without a glimpse at the menu, a rarity for us twenty-somethings on a budget, we walked into the bar and were shocked at the size of the restaurant! It travelled farther and farther back into the building, all the way out to a secret garden in the back courtyard. We sat at a spacious booth and glanced at the menu, very happy with the low prices, before going up to order at the bar (as I’ve learned you do at many pubs and bars in Scotland). I had a nice berry cider and a yummy chicken, bacon, avocado club with garlic mayo and “chips” all for £12. The bar is a student hub in the small town on the weekends and has meal deals to draw the students in.
Finally, we were on to the cathedral. The ruins have been preserved and by what is left you can only imagine the size of the cathedral in its heyday. We walked right on to the cathedral grounds to explore the green grass and ruins, and were confused as to why we had bought tickets to see the wide open space being explored by everyone. But, the woman at the castle had told us to look for two flags where the visitor center was, so we searched for the flags, finally spotting it to the right of the cathedral. We walked in and showed our tickets and we gained access to cathedral histories as well as a token to climb to the top of St. Rule’s Tower on the cathedral grounds.
St. Rule’s church had been on the cathedral grounds but predated it by nearly 200 years. The tower to the church has been preserved, and we took our token to the tower’s entrance and entered it into the box beside the gated turn stall. We had no idea what to expect of the tower, except for the potential of an amazing view of the town below. Inside was the narrowest staircase I have ever climbed and I have toured many castles and towers! People in Scotland must have been really small back in those days! Slowly but surely we spiraled up those stone steps, getting dizzy and praying no one was coming down from the top. But, as you can see, once we reached the open air of the tower’s roof, those narrow steps were forgotten—until about ten minutes later when we went back down.
