Easter on the Green, a St Andrews Holiday Weekend

I finally decided enough was enough. I've been living here in Scotland for five years and it was high time I visited one of the most popular tourist attracting places in the country. Easter weekend was a sunny and inviting one, so my friend and I jumped in the car and headed towards the east coast and St. Andrews.

Universally renowned as the home of Scottish golf (and therefore a place to be envied by any golfer) I've only passed through this Scottish town briefly in the past for the simple reason that I am not a golfer.

It is also true that in most circumstances, I opt for the less populated sights and go farther off the tourist trail, trying to avoid the bustle and rush that accompanies these highly enviable towns to visit.

However, five years is too long to remain in ignorance, and since I've dedicated 2007 as a year to spend thoroughly exploring my own country before venturing out to others, this was the first spot on my list to stop.

I must stay, despite my secret desire to turn the car north instead, heading to the grandeur and the wide open, and mostly empty, space that makes up the Scottish Highlands, when we arrived in St. Andrews to east coast blazing sunshine, I was glad of the choice that I made.

This is a city that is so much more than golf. It has the feel of a coastal town—which it is—but also a bit of local buzz and culture from the constant influx of tourist and what the tourism industry brings with it. As I said, I often avoid such places, but let’s face it, the economy and culture that comes from a place being high on people's 'to visit' list, makes for a very exciting and often luxurious environment.

St. Andrews is not a big place, and so if you’re with someone who's come for a long day of golf and you are simply not interested in that side of the scale, long wandering strolls through the streets and the shops with all the restaurant options is a wonderful and very relaxed way to spend an afternoon.

It’s a beautiful town and with some stunning architecture and ruins, all of which are very unique and stand out that little bit from the rest of Scotland.

Quick Tips:

St. Andrews has a bit of a different vibe from other Scottish towns I have been to. I think this will be partly due to it's location on the east coast, which is by far the sunniest and the flattest area of Scotland.
If you’re visiting for the golf or the scenery, I highly recommend you make your trip between late April and August, as there is actually a very good chance you will find it sunny. This particular weekend was early in April and still the sun was blazing and even though the wind was still chilly, it warmed progressively as the day went on. Summers in Scotland seem to be getting drier and warmer every year, so if you plan a trip from between June and August, you have a very real chance of some beautiful sunny and windy days. The sea is right at the door step of St. Andrews and you can easily walk to the coastal trail via the ruins and the castle path.
This also means that the seafood in St. Andrews is incredibly fresh and tasty and if that is your thing, it’s a worthy way to spend an afternoon. There is no limit to your choices of seafood—or any other type for that matter—of restaurant.
I only had the time on my day trip to visit one Italian restaurant, but I spent most of my walk around town making mental notes of where to try eating the next time I visit.

There is a very laid-back vibe to this place despite its crowded streets. It's a small place and so it becomes especially crowded on holidays and special occasions. If at all possible, it is best to avoid the holiday weekends or any golfing tournaments that may be taking place, unless of course you are entering or watching them. It's a university town, and a hot tourist spot, so there's always a lot going on, but it will obviously be a little less crowded off the holidays or during weekdays.
Even so, on a brilliantly sunny Easter weekend, the crowds were not menacing or overly unpleasant. Taking photos becomes a little bit more difficult, but otherwise it's still a very chilled and nice environment.

I highly recommend that you join in and buy an ice cream and wander through the ruins of the cathedral while you're there.

Best Way To Get Around:

There is no way to get around St. Andrews other than walking.
It is very easy to arrive by car from either of the cities, Edinburgh or Glasgow, and is a pretty straight shot by car, taking about two and a half hours from Edinburgh city center on the A91. Don't forget to take a pound as you will be going over the fourth bridge which is tolled. Once you arrive, you are stuck with the hassle of trying to find parking, which seems to be St. Andrews biggest downfall as far as I can tell. My first time through St. Andrews, we actually drove through and exited as quickly as we came, leaving it for another time because the parking and congestion was so bad. It’s expensive and rather difficult to find a spot in town. If you do have to park, it may be worth your while driving out of the center of town and walking back in. If you are prepared for it, it isn't quite as bad, but the streets are small (as they are in Scotland) and the congestion builds up quickly with people circling hoping for a spot to open up.
If you’re not in dire need of your car for the trip, I would recommend the train. There are lots of trains and buses that run easily from Edinburgh and Glasgow to St. Andrews, drop you off within easy walking distance, and then you are free to roam at will with no worry about parking meters or wardens. The train across is a very nice experience, very chilled, but a bit more expensive depending on when and how far in advance you book. The bus is much cheaper and a straight shot, but is a little bit less pleasant. It's not far to go, though so if you are on a budget this is very useful, and remember, British buses as a rule are very good and in no way related to the fiasco you get from American Greyhound buses, and for a much cheaper price.

Once you are in the city, it’s very easy to get around on foot. The town makes a simple half loop around and most of the shops are on these main streets, along with several nook and cranny streets to explore. Also there are the ruins and the coast walk.

Maybe one of the hardest decisions you will make at your time in St Andrews will be where to eat. This town is packed full with nice little nook and cranny restaurants, and since the best thing to do here is simply wander around and see what the town has to offer, you're going to stumble across a lot of wonderful places to eat.

If you are lucky, and are visiting for more than a day, then you will have the opportunity to try out several of them, which will make the decision a little less tricky. But if you are staying just a day, I can heartily recommend the restaurant that I settled on.

If you are lucky enough to arrive on a sunny day (as we did) then the restaurants, pubs, and cafés will be spilling out into the already crowded side walks with people enjoying their meal and the sunshine.

This was so true, in fact, while walking the town it was hard to find a place to sit and enjoy the sun without being too crowded.

Despite my ongoing quest as making each journey cost as little as possible, and scouring the place for a cheap little café with nice sandwiches and a couple empty chairs, my travel companion was choosing where we ate this trip.

In the end we found ourselves wandering into an Italian restaurant (of which there have in quite a few British cities but that we had never tried) called Zizzi.

The niceness of the decor and the fact that they had no outdoor tables seem to make most of the throngs outdoors miss it entirely - as we almost did. But the menu sounded wonderful and even though it was a bit pricier than I usually pay, it would be a very reasonable and average lunch price for most people.

I was immensely pleased with it from start to finish. So much so that as soon as I got back home I looked them up online to see where they are in Edinburgh. The decor was beautiful, very tasteful and simple with out being extravagant. The atmosphere was quiet and sun spilled in from a sky light in the centre of the open restaurant. It was surprisingly spacious, and the service was very good.

Even on this busy Saturday on Easter weekend it was relatively quiet and our food came quickly. We both decided to try something a bit different and were ecstatic with both our choices.

I had the Pappardelle ai Frutti di Mare, a light, mixed seafood pasta in a tomato and lemon oil sauce (at a very reasonable £7.55) and my friend had a Della Zia, a crayfish pizza with mascarpone, rocket, and mozzarella (at £7.95) The pizzas are made there in the huge pizza oven you can see from the restaurant and it was all cooked to perfection. The seafood in both of our meals was incredibly fresh and the portion sizes were perfect. An excellent restaurant.

Every once in a while I see a really great business idea and only wish that I had been standing there with a big bundle of cash to invest when the idea was conceived.

A tasty little ice cream café in the middle of St. Andrews South Street, is one of those ideas.

What surely just began as a good idea has become a sort of phenomenon. Even though there is no better accompaniment to the often warm, East coast coastal days you get through out the summer in St. Andrews than a huge and tasty dripping cone; the greatness of Janetta's Ice Cream is renowned, and it’s not uncommon to see folk bundled up in the winter time, carrying around an ice cream cone.

A cream/chocolate shop and a café as well as an ice cream shop, this place is ideal for the visitor, in any kind of weather. Ideally suited near the end of South Street, on the cathedral end, there simply is no better way to finish off a lovely St. Andrews meal than to get a heaping scoop of Janetta's ice cream and take a meandering wander through the ruins just two minutes walk away.

This is a fantastic place, with a huge and very enticing menu of ice creams, coffees, hot chocolates, and teas, as well as having a bit of a café lunch at the adjoining café next door.

Having been tempted by the delightful smell of pastry following us around the back streets all day, my friend and I had been on our way to find a bakery after finishing our lunch. But the sight of the massive crowds of people passing by with amazing looking ice cream soon changed our minds.

It was not hard to find by the huge line of people stretching down the street waiting for a cone, and if you happen to pass it when the line is small I highly suggest you jump in right away.

I would imagine that if someone where to paint a picture of St. Andrews South Street, it would include many of its pedestrians carrying and lovingly eating big ice cream cones. This would be due almost entirely to Janettas.

For me the best moments when travelling are when all these little things come together - you find a place and have a nice meal, the weather is just right, you find just that little extravagance to top off the experience and then go exploring.

It's really not hard to put these elements together in St. Andrews, and I can finally see what all the fuss is about. No, you don't have to love (or even like) golf to enjoy a weekend in St. Andrews. It's a beautiful place and with great little cafés like Janettas you really just can not go wrong.

It may strike those visiting for the first time to see the 'St Andrews Cathedral' when driving into town.
For the cathedral that is generally known as the 'Greatest Cathedral in Scotland,' you may find yourself wondering just where the actual cathedral is. To call it cathedral ruins is a more accurate portrayal of the area, but this is what - in my photographer's opinion - does indeed make this the greatest cathedral in Scotland.

St Andrews has long been an important religious hub in Scotland (going as far back as 732 AD where stories and fables abound regarding St Andrews bones arriving there by ship from Greece.) But what is known is how important a point it has historically been, religiously speaking, and how great a cathedral it originally was.

The history of this little corner of St Andrews is deeply rich, and I highly recommend that you read into it before you go. As much as I would love to start recounting all the trials and wars that have made the ruins what they are today, it would take far too much time and I wouldn't get to expound on what an amazing place it is today. But I do recommend that you learn some of its history, as it will enrich the experience of seeing it all first hand.

On my first drive through St Andrews, I could well have let it slide past as another Scottish town that I may or may not get back to explore further, except for one, jaw-dropping scene that made me certain I would return with camera and a lot of film.

It's impossible to drive through town with out passing the cathedral, and it is one of the most impressive things I have seen in all of Scotland.
Aside from being a photographer's dream spot, it's an absolutely wonderful place to wander and explore.
It's right at the end of the two main streets in St Andrews you will probably have to walk right past it at some point. It’s not more than a 5-minute walk from anywhere in town.

There is a charge to go into the visitor centre in the undercroft of the refectory, (at £4, though you can get a combined ticket for both the cathedral and the castle for £7) but if you are on a budget, or just inclined to do so, you can wander about the ruins and the graveyard for free.

I really can't say enough what a great spot this is. The sunny, grassy hill around the ruins was filled with locals sunbathing and reading, and some tourists snapping photos and looking on in wonder.
The views are amazing - take a good long stroll through the whole place, you can get off some amazing shots.
And when you've seen all that you can of these spectacular ruins, there is a little path way at the end that leads to the castle.

In a country utterly filled with castles and ruins and the grandeur of old stone battlements hanging precariously on the edge of rocky cliffs, St. Andrews Castle easily holds its own.

The remains of this castle which was used as the main residence for bishops and archbishops of St. Andrews as early as 1200 AD still stand amazingly picturesque on the edge of the coastline on the shores of St. Andrews.

Aside from its stunningly beautiful profile - with the castle rising up out over the edge of the cliffs with the sea crashing into it, and the hills of the lowlands in the distance - this was the place of some of the more important events in Scottish history. Like all of St. Andrews, the castle which houses its bishops became the centre point for a lot of religious activity in Scotland, and being such, was the target of many invasions during the wars of Independence.

What remains of the castle today is not the original structure, it has been rebuilt many times over the years through various wars and invasions. The structure still standing was probably built around 1400. But that in no way diminishes the feel of antiquity that is impossible to miss in the remaining stone, and when you see its location and solid building it is easy to see that it was built with 'defending itself' in mind.

In my time in the British Isles I've had the opportunity to see, visit, and photograph many castles. Some spectacular and other's fairly ordinary. If for nothing but the surrounding setting and the stunning outline, I would have to rank St. Andrews high on my list of most beautiful Scottish castles.

As most other attractions in St. Andrews, it too caters nicely to those with or without a budget for spending. Some castles, I have found, are hardly worth driving to if you can't afford to get in, as the view is obscured or simply not worth photographing. But St. Andrews is perfectly set up to enjoy - even if you can't afford (or are not inclined to pay) the entrance fee. Having said that, it is a very reasonable fee of £5, (and for £7 you can gain entrance to both the castle and the cathedral, which is very reasonable indeed.)

The immense history of the place may well leave you intrigued to see the detailed interior of the castle, but if not it is still very easy to enjoy from its Eastward view on the costal path.
Stroll through the ruins of St. Andrew's cathedral and graveyards until you come to a path on the left hand side of the wall. Step out onto a walking path that runs the length of the coast down to the stone pier.
A quick glance to your left and you can see the stunning profile of these castle remains. Take photos until your heart is content!
This is a stunning spot, and easily worth a stroll to see.