Day 27: Anstruther - Tuesday, 24 September

Weather: 9º - 13º - Cloudy, light rain at times 

Accommodation: The Waterfront 


Today was a travelling day driving from Inverness through the mighty Cairngorms, a mountain range in the eastern highlands, stopping at Pitlochry for lunch, visiting the fishing village of Crail and finally arriving at Anstruther for an overnight stay. 


The first part of the day was overcast with frequent showers as we drove along the busy A9. The low clouds lifted just in time for us see the wonderful high mountains as we drove along the valleys in the Cairngorm area.


We decided to take a small diversion from the A9 and stop at the small town of Pitlochry as we had visited it 15 years ago on our way back from John O’Groats. At the time we thought it was one of the prettiest villages and it still is. The many stone Victorian buildings along the Main Street had a large number of hanging baskets and pots of flowers making it a very attractive town. It’s easy to see why it’s a popular tourist destination. We stayed for an hour, had lunch and walked through the town before setting off again.




Our next destination was Crail, the picturesque historic fishing village on the Fife coastline and the place where my great, great grandparents, the Elders, came from. David Elder was the local blacksmith who sold his business and house in the late 1880’s and migrated to Australia with his wife and many children. Crail is also a tourist attraction with its small harbour and stone houses. There were quite a few tourists wandering the streets today - including us!  The tide was out and the harbour was mostly empty of water. The West Pier was designed by Robert Stevenson, the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson. 




We visited Crail Pottery, a small family-run pottery business which was a short sloping walk from the harbour. The business is set around a pretty courtyard with the diverse range of pottery they produce. Inside the shelves were full of lovely pieces reflecting the town’s scenes as well the sea.




In the town is the Crail Tollbooth which has an unusual tower dating from 1600 and an European-style roof. The weathervane on the spire is a smoked haddock rather than the usual the traditional cockerel. 



From Crail we drove seven minutes west to another pretty harbour town, Anstruther, our final destination for the day. It was only three o’clock when we booked in to The Waterfront. We were fortunate to find accommodation on the esplanade overlooking the harbour. 



We had ample time to walk around the harbour and the back streets. The drizzly, intermittent rain had gone and the harbour and small town looked lovely in the sunlight. 





Anstruther has the winner of the Scottish Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year for 2024. It’s The Wee Chippy on the waterfront.



We booked for dinner at the Waterfront’s restaurant as it had large windows overlooking the harbour and were lucky to be given a table at the front windows. 


Today was a day of travelling further south, seeing quaint, beautiful villages and little towns. We were fortunate with the weather as it mostly rained while we were driving. 


And finally…




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