Day Trips

Getting Around – St Andrews & NE Fife

Stagecoach Bus offer a St Andrews DayRider for £3.60 (£2.70 with Student ID) and a North East Fife DayRider (includes travel to/from Dundee) for £6.50 (£4.90 with Student ID).

St Andrews and Nearby

St Andrews may be a small town but we promise there’s still plenty to do and discover! Whether you’re a history geek or a surfing fanatic, there’s something for everyone in this wee town on the North East Fife coast.

If you are a student, use your gown (or borrow from a friend!) to access the St Andrews Castle for free and explore the history of our ancient town.
Spend some time at the St Andrews Botanic Garden, a fairly well-kept secret due to its location on the edge of the town, but well worth a visit on a nice day.
Walk / bike / bus to Craigtoun Country Park, only 2 miles from St Andrews, for a picnic, the playpark, some rowing on the lake, crazy golf, bouncing on trampolines, or just to lose yourself in the beauty of the landscape. Note that many of the attractions are closed in winter.
Take a walk (or sunbathe if you are very lucky!) on one of the three gorgeous beaches. It is very easy to forget their existence when you get caught up in student life!
Visit Jannettas Ice Cream shop (and try the cone dipped in melted chocolate…yum!)
And, of course, don’t forget the amazing array of golfing opportunities – we’re not the ‘home of golf’ for nothing!

Fife

Visit Fife is the county version of Visit Scotland, with lists of events available as well as a Guide to Fife and brief outline of the places to visit. Top recommended activities in Fife include:

A day in Anstruther (Ainster to the locals) with fish and chips from the Anstruther Fish Bar and a trip to the Scottish Fisheries Museum which explains the history of the local fishing villages
Walk, cycle or take a bus to Leuchars and visit Tentsmuir Forest (and Morton Lochs and Kinshaldy Beach), and enjoy the scenery, fresh air, cycle paths in the woods, and occasional horse-riding opportunities on the beach. A lovely trip for a beautiful day.
A walk around the Fife Coastal Path from St Andrews towards Crail, or any other section on the route. The gorgeous fishing villages of the East Neuk – Anstruther, Crail, St Monans and Pittenweem (with its fantastic Cocoa Tree Cafe) – should be all seen and appreciated, but you can easily travel between them by bus (the 95 bus goes all around the coastal villages and you can get unlimited travel for £8.30 with a Fife Dayrider) if you don’t feel particularly energetic.
A ferry trip to the Isle of May from Anstruther, to see the gorgeous seabirds and other wildlife resident in the area (April-September)
Visiting the unique medieval village of Falkland, well known for its gorgeous Royal Palace -but there is more to Falkland than that. The Centre for Stewardship, with its A-listed House and over 1500 acres of farm, forest and other land, is a fascinating place where people are learning to live and work more sustainably. Home to both Zero Waste Scotland and One Planet Food, the Centre hosts a range of events and courses at the Stables Workshop and around the estate.
A visit to Dunfermline, the Ancient Capital of Scotland, to see the Abbey and Palace where Mary Queen of Scots (Saint Margaret) and King Robert the Bruce are buried (amongst others), as well as Andrew Carnegie’s Birthplace Museum and the beautiful Pittencreiff Park he gifted to the town.
Getting Around – Dundee & Edinburgh

Buses 99, 99A, 99B, 99C and 99D provide a fast and reliable link between St Andrews and Dundee, with services up to every 7 minutes during the day and night services on Friday/Saturday nights for the party animals among us. A North East Fife DayRider (includes travel to/from and within Dundee on Stagecoach) is £6.50 (£4.90 with Student ID).

Unlimited travel around East Scotland (taking you as far as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen) with the East Scotland DayRider is only £9.00 (£6.70 with Student ID), so make the most of it! The fastest bus to Edinburgh from St Andrews is the X59.
Use Buses 99, 99A, 99B, 99C and 99D (as above) to make the trip to Leuchars Station before hopping on one of the regular services (Scotrail/LNER/CrossCountry) towards Edinburgh. More expensive than the bus but great savings can be found with Advance tickets and the use of a Railcard.

Dundee

Dundee, an old industrial town famous for its three industries of jute, jam and journalism, is the closest city to St Andrews, and the place students tend to escape to for a night out or some serious shopping therapy. However, there are a number of other interesting places to visit once you’ve fulfilled your shopping needs!

A trip to Discovery Point to explore the RRS Discovery, a ship built for Antarctic exploration, is always well worth the time, with events and heritage talks on at the centre throughout the year if you would like to know more about the city’s history.
The Olympia Leisure Pool is a lot of fun, with its water slides, waves, whirlpool and areas for proper swimming.
Dundee Contemporary Arts, with its exhibitions, films, courses, workshops, talks, festivals and other events, is well worth keeping an eye on over the year, or stopping by if you are in the city to see what is going on.
Camperdown Country Park is the biggest public park in Dundee, with open areas, a wildlife centre, and children’s entertainment including boating and climbing frames. The adjacent Templeton Woods are great to wander around, and the nearby leisure park, with its ice rink and cinema provides activities for if the weather turns nasty.
If indoor climbing is your thing, Avertical World is the place to go. With both courses and free climbing on offer, plus a cafe to relax in after (or to hide in while your friends prove themselves!), you could spend at least a good couple of hours here.
Football is widely-recognised to be our national game, and Dundee Football Club and Dundee United Football Club are our closest teams. If you’ve never seen a game you should make the time to go!

Edinburgh

Edinburgh also has its local page of Visit Scotland, and as Scotland’s Capital City always has a lot going on culturally, politically, scientifically and socially. The Edinburgh Guide has the comprehensive run-down of things going on in the Capital.

Edinburgh Castle is the major tourist destination, but it is pretty expensive, so if you go make sure to make your visit count!
Visit the Camera Obscura and World of Illusions for some interesting photos to add to your Facebook.
A trip to the German Market, Outdoor Ice Rink and Fairground Rides on Princes Street at Christmas time – always worth at least one visit a year, with the dark nights perfect for creating that cosy winter feeling while allowing you to still get back to St Andrews on or before the last bus / train.
Take a trip over to Edinburgh in the summer, when the festival season (International, Book, Fringe, Film, Science, Mela, Art, Storytelling, Jazz & Blues, and more) brings an amazing array of performances of all types (and standards!). Also look out for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo if you are up for seeing some mass-bagpiping and lots of tartan and uniforms.
The Scottish Rugby Team are based in Murrayfield, near the Haymarket Train Station. You should see at least one rugby match, and here would be a good place to do so!
The street party for Hogmanay in Edinburgh is world-famous – no one does New Year like the Scots!
Getting Around – Glasgow & Others


The quickest way to get to Glasgow is the X24 bus which goes directly there, with the X26 taking slightly longer. Arbroath can be reached by taking a bus to Dundee and changing to Service 39 or Service X7 (also goes to Aberdeen). You can head for Perth using Service 16/16B or Service X7 after you arrive in Dundee.

You can also take one of the regular Megabus or Citylink services that leave Dundee Bus Station providing connections across Scotland and further afield, including to London Victoria.

Unlimited travel around East Scotland on Stagecoach (taking you as far as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen) with the East Scotland DayRider is only £9.00 (£6.70 with Student ID), so make the most of it!

Visiting Glasgow by train from Leuchars is possible, but requires a change at either Dundee (also calling at Perth & Stirling) or Edinburgh Haymarket.

Trains to Perth and Stirling require a change at Dundee but direct services to Aberdeen and Arbroath run from Leuchars.

Glasgow

Glasgow, known as a great destination for its culture and shopping opportunities is easy enough to get to, but if you are taking a day trip make sure to leave early so you have plenty of time to explore. Things not to miss include:

Football! The Old Firm teams (Rangers and Celtic) are widely known for topping the Scottish Leagues, and for their rivalry. Any game they are playing is worth attending! The Scottish Football Museum is also a good visit for those into ‘the beautiful game’.
The Glasgow Science Centre is Scotland’s leading science attraction, with a Science Mall, IMAX, the Glasgow Tower ride and Scotland’s Best Planetarium. Whatever you level of scientific knowledge and interest, there is plenty there to see.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Scotland’s most popular free attraction, with 22 themed, state-of-the-art galleries and an incredible 8000 objects, including a Spitfire. The architecture of the building itself is also gorgeous, so don’t forget to look up!
Shopping in the Buchanan Galleries, Buchanan Street, Sauchiehall Street, the St Enoch Centre and many other centres and areas is some of the best in Scotland, and most all on one easy-to-walk route. A shopaholic’s dream!
A former European City of Culture, Glasgow is host to most of Scotland’s national arts organisations, including Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Youth Theatre, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. All of them host fabulous events throughout the year – check out their sites individually or What’s On to get an idea of all the events in the city on a particular date.
The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) including the SSE Hydro,  host a range of events from huge concerts to wedding shows, to stand-up comedy and everything in between.

Other Day Trips

Scotland has such much to offer! The VisitScotland website has an interactive map allowing you to explore Scotland’s stunning regions, towns and cities – there’s bound to be something for you!

The gorgeous Georgian market town of Perth is a nice place to visit, where you will find a range of activities. Located in a beautiful area of countryside, the journey to Perth is particularly pretty in autumn when the hillsides are ablaze with colour.

To get there by public transport you generally need to get to Dundee (by bus) then take either the train or one of a number of buses onwards to Perth.
Stirling is Scotland’s newest city, combining the history of the Castle and Wallace Monument and beauty of the landscape with a range of shopping opportunities. The website has a large range of information for visitors, so take a look.

There is no longer a direct bus service between St Andrews and Stirling – so a trip to Dundee (via bus) is required before taking an onward train connection.
Arbroath, famous for its smokies (line-caught haddock, smoke-cured over smouldering oak chips) and north-east of Dundee, is the cute harbour town where the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland’s formal declaration of independence from England, was prepared in 1320.

To get to Arbroath you need to take a bus to either Leuchars or Dundee and then a train from there, but the whole journey is less than an hour.
Aberdeen, also known as the Granite City (you’ll see why!) has been the home of Scotland’s oil and gas industry for over 40 years. It’s a place where the harbour meets the city centre, where you may just see the harbour’s resident pod of dolphins playing in the waters or enjoy a beach stroll alongside some serious shopping.

You can take a direct train from Leuchars to Aberdeen (via Dundee) or hop on the scenic X7 bus from Dundee, which takes in a beautiful route following the coast.