Northumberland, Edinburgh and Fife as we creep towards the Highlands

I’m writing this from the Fife coast near St Andrews on day 9. We are now settled into the day to day rhythm of van life and what a de-stress it is! My aim is to cover 4 days at a time on this blog so here goes with days 5 to 8…

Day 5 saw us leave the lovely village of Rothbury in the Northumberland hills and pay a visit to the historic town of Alnwick en-route to the coast. After a wander around town we hit the coast at Craster and walked the coast north to Dunstanburgh Castle. We particularly liked the coastline north of the castle with the wide sandy sweep of Embleton Bay and the weird curved rock strata on the beach. We made a late afternoon stop at Seahouses harbour on the way north so I could see the strange resident Eider x Mallard hybrid alongside a few tame Eider. That night we had our first campsite stay of the trip at Spindlestone Hideaway near Bamburgh where we treated ourselves to some local hawthorn honey and I was entertained by the local Tree Sparrows just yards from the van. Belinda was gutted to discover the lack of shower facilities there though - lol!

Day 6 was a full day on the atmospheric island of Lindisfarne walking miles and taking in the castle, church and monastery after crossing the causeway across. The castle was especially nice inside as it was converted to a lavish holiday home in 1911 by the editor of Country Life magazine. Late afternoon had us heading north on the A1 to Edinburgh where we settled in for the night in the picturesque spot of the New Craighall P&R! En-route we stopped in Berwick to photograph the famous bridge but were unimpressed with the town - apart from the Otter we saw fishing in the Tweed on the way back - bonus!

Day 7 was all about Edinburgh. We took the very convenient and quick train from the P&R to Edinburgh Waverley right in the city centre for the princely sum of £9 return for both off us! Edinburgh blew us away and was even better than we’d imagined and we spent hours and walked till our feet ached trying to see as much as possible. We shunned  the expensive tourist attractions and concentrated on exploring the streets and taking in the vibe. We managed to visit Carlton Hill, Edinburgh Castle, The Royal Mile, Princes Street Gardens, Dean Village, The National Gallery of Scotland, The Covenanters Prison, and, for me, the highlight of Greyfriars Kirkyard with its plethora of funeral art/architecture including the infamous mausoleum of George Mackenzie the former royal executioner. His poltergeist still haunts people today with many people getting marked with scratches and cuts if they enter his burial place! For a much needed sit down what better place to choose than The Oxford Bar, made famous by Ian Rankin in the Rebus novels and a fine unspoilt watering hole. 

Day 8 had us leaving Edinburgh and heading to I the north side of the Firth of Forth via the visitor attractions at Falkirk - namely The Kelpies and The Falkirk Wheel. The former was impressive but rather crowded and touristy and I personally preferred the wheel. It is the only rotating boat lift in the world lifting boats from one canal to another aqueduct many meters above - impressive! After that we crossed the Kincardine Bridge and headed to the fantastic historic village of Culross where we explored the narrrow cobbled streets and the NT property of Culross Palace as well as walking along the the waters edge and onto the rickety pier. Dinner in the Red Lion in the village as lovely with just a 5 minute stumble back to the van for the night!