Fife 191, a new tourist route in the Kingdom of Fife has launched and there’s something for everyone. From fishing villages to castles to food and drink spots, you can visit all of the beautiful locations by public transport too! In this blog post, I will share with you 3 day trips I did by bus while in Fife as a solo traveller. Each day trip includes two destinations close to each other that you visit without a car, but if you have a car you could probably fit in more places in a day but hopefully this will give you some ideas where to visit.
For this trip, I was based in Dunfermline so I started my journey from there each morning but you can easily get to these places from other locations in Scotland too. Stagecoach and Google Maps are great websites to plan your trips with. There are different ticket options to help save you money if you are planning to use the bus for a few days, such as day/week/month tickets
Day trip 1 - Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve and St Andrews
I took the X24 bus from Dunfermline to Glenrothes which took around 30 minutes and then got the bus 42 to Tayport which took an hour. I then followed the signs and got to Tentsmuir. I walked along the beach and it was so beautiful as it was sunny and frosty and got to see a lot of wildlife including different birds and seals.
While you are there, you can also find boxes with litter pickers and bags to pick any litter you may find to help keep the area clean.
After exploring for a couple of hours, I took the bus 92 to St Andrews which took 40 minutes. Once I got there, I walked straight down to the beach as I was starving and I was really excited to finally visit The Cheesy Toast Shack. I was very happy to see they had vegan options so I got a vegan cheese toastie with pesto as well as a delicious biscoff hot chocolate and enjoyed them on a bench overlooking the sea and the surfers.
I walked past St Andrews Abbey, and the Castle and walked around for a bit, went into some of the local small businesses and then watched the sunset by the West Sands Beach.
I then took the bus X24 back to Dunfermline.
Day trip 2 - Falkland and Lindores Abbey Distillery
On my second day of exploring the new tourist route Fife 191, I took bus X24 to Glenrothes and then bus 64 to Falkland. I followed Google Maps and did the Maspie Den walk.
I walked for about 30 minutes and ended up at a really cool waterfall that you can walk behind.
From there, I followed the signs to Pillars of Hercules which was about a 25 minute-walk and had a delicious vegetable curry and vegan shortbread and then had a look around their organic farm shop which has loads of plant-based products too.
I walked 20 minutes back to Falkland, explored the town and had some tea at a cute little shop called Fayre Earth where I had a lovely chat with the owner about travel.
Before catching the bus, I filled up my water bottle at a refill tap across from Bruce Fountain and then took bus 36 towards Perth and got off at bus stop “Melville Place”. From there it’s a 5-minute walk to Lindores Abbey Distillery.
I did a tour and learned so many interesting facts about the history of the distillery, including the fact that it is the officially recognised site of the first recorded distillation of Scotch whisky, all the way back in 1494.
After the tasting, I walked around the abbey ruins which date back to 1191 before catching the bus back home.
Day trip 3 - Dunfermline and Culross
You can easily get to the ancient capital of Scotland, Dunfermline by bus from many places in Scotland, including:
Edinburgh - X55
Glasgow - X24/X27
Dundee - X54/Flixbus/Megabus
Perth - X56/Flixbus/Megabus
Aberdeen - Flixbus/Megabus
St Andrews - X24/X59
You can check out Google Maps or the individual bus companies’ website for more information on bus routes and tickets.
I started the day with a walk through Pittencrieff Park then walked up to the Abbey which is where some of Scotland’s great kings and queens are laid to rest, including Robert The Bruce.
Then I had a delicious breakfast at 269 Vegan where I had the vegan benny and a lavender latte.
After breakfast, I walked a few minutes to Carnegie Library which has a free museum and art gallery as well as lovely views of Dunfermline. I would definitely recommend visiting while in the city.
After the library, I walked around the city for a bit and then took the bus 8A to Culross.
I loved walking around and admiring the well preserved buildings and cobbled streets and you might recognise some of them from the popular tv series Outlander.
I walked up to the Abbey and walked around the ruins of Cistercian monastery of the 1200s which was home to monks and lay brothers.
Culross Palace was closed for the winter so I didn’t get a chance to visit but it’s open again from April so I will definitely be back to visit.
I went to Bessie’s Cafe for a chai latte and waited for the bus back to Dunfermline.
Dunfermline makes a great base for other day trips by bus around Fife, including Fife East Neuk fishing villages, North Queensferry, St Andrews, Falkland, Lochore Meadows Country Park, Lindores Abbey Distillery, and so much more, but as I mentioned at the start, you can also get to these places from other locations in Scotland.
Have you visited Fife yet?
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