The Cave

The cave is one of my favourite bits of Pittenweem - which gives the village its name (the place with the cave - so inventive). On the way down Cove Wynd which you find at the far end of the high street past the Church of Scotland you will find a cave with a gate on - this is where St Fillan lived around 600AD, and is worth a look - you can get the key from the Cocoa Tree cafe. St Fillan was associated with the monastery on the Isle of May which you can see from Pittenweem Harbour. It has been reconsecrated by the church and restored after centuries of use as hermitage, smugglers stash and then a rubbish dump.

Shopping

Not exactly something you can do until you drop, but you can give it a good go. St Andrews has a reasonable selection - it reminds me a bit of Marlborough on Sea - with your usual Monsoon, Fat Face and the like - it even has a Sam Thomas for the Edinburgh Yummy Mummies. It also has loads of more independent and quirky shops which is great - Bonkers is great for gifts and it's great to buy a decoration at the Christmas Shop, just because you can. Thank goodness there is also a Waterstones.

YOU HAVE TO BUY A CAKE FROM FISHER & DONALDSON - it's the rules. You have not techinically been to Fife unless you do this - www.fisheranddonaldson.com.

Pittenweem has some interesting antique shops - and a great general store. One of the nicest shops is the Funky Scottish Gallery which sells hand painted plates and ceramics, as well as other local crafts - very friendly!

Wet and Rainy

Let's face it - at some point it will happen. This need not be a disaster as you are near pretty much most of the indoor part of Scotland within reason.

Visit Dundee for the Sensation Science centre, http://www.sensation.org.uk/, or Edinburgh for the fantastic National Museum, http://www.nms.ac.uk/ and everything else it has to offer.

Nearby St Andrews has a pretty good pool for an afternoon with a kids pool and a chute, http://www.fifestyle.co.uk/leisure/east_sands.htm.

The cinema in St Andrews is also really good - with those premium extra-comfy seats if you need it - http://www.nphcinema.co.uk/.co.uk/.

Castles

My favourite place to go is Kellie Castle - very close to Pittenweem. It has a beautiful walled garden for the kids to run about in, some lovely sculpture by Lorimer, a cafe, a shop and one day when I'm grown up I'll be allowed to look around the house. It's National Trust for Scotland (which means you can use yr NT card). Enjoy. http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/38/

For those with historical bent (you know who you are) you might also like Falkland Palace - v Mary Queen of Scots. Also has a nice garden. http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/93/

Also great for exploring - St Andrews Castle and St Rule's Tower at St Andrews Cathedral (lovely ruin, brilliant view from the top) - http://www.visit-standrews.co.uk/standrewscastle.cfm, this website has all you need to know.

Beaches

After you've sorted out food (and the nearest supermarket is the Co-op in Anstruther - there is a Sainsbury's in Leven and a Tesco in St Andrews if the cheery demeanour of the shop assistants in the Co-op is too much to take) - next check out some beaches.


My top three are:



1. Kingsbarns - beautiful, sandy, fantastic rock pools, http://www.multimap.com/maps/#map=56.29929,-2.65775134&loc=GB:56.29929:-2.65775:14kingsbarnsKingsbarns,%20St.%20Andrews,%20Fife,%20Scotland,%20KY16%208. The turning is just before you go into the village heading towards St Andrews - it looks like a farm track.



2. Pittenweem - not big, but within walking distance and very cute. Special bonus is the playground overlooking the coast if you walk up the hill.












3. St Andrews or Elie - can't decide.

After chips, chocolate!

So - the next thing to think about is more food. Happily Pittenweem has a new lovely coffee house called The Cocoa Tree. I love this place - it's not big but they are good with kids and do a damn fine hot chocolate - great on a rainy day. They also make bespoke belgian chocolates in-house if you are that way inclined...

You can also buy ice-creams down by the harbour in Pittenweem, but for the deluxe experience visit Janettas in St Andrews. They are the BEST! Also there is a cafe attached which has a good kids' menu and is very child-friendly - but there are a lot of other really good eating places in St Andrews so my main recommendation for Janettas is the ice-cream (they have 52 flavours, my fave is scottish tablet) - http://www.janettas.co.uk/.

Ok - things to do in Pittenweem and round about. First of all the important stuff - where to find good fish and chips. Pretty good in Pittenweem high street, but the famous fish and chips come from Anstruther, the next village up. Very nice, but beware big queues at certain times - still worth it though! www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=anstruther&countryCode=GB, www.anstrutherfishbar.co.uk/.