The Burgh of Culross, Dysart and onwards

Wednesday 17 June 2026

Nido's parked up on a Camping and Caravanning Site Temporary Holiday Site (THS), overlooking the Firth of Forth, between Anstruther and Crail.  The Isle of May is visible through the windscreen.  This is an area I've sailed through many times when my ship - HMS WESTMINSTER - was in refit in Rosyth for 15 months.  Throughout that period, work took precedence and I had little time to explore the local area, but I'm making up for it now.  it's £12.50 per night, with full facilities, so we're booked in for a couple of nights, to use this as a base to explore the local area.

Overnight on Monday/Tuesday in Hayton was very quiet, except for the haunting cry of a Barn Owl hunting in the fields just outside the van.  Leaving yesterday morning, our journey took us up the M74, over the Kincardine bridge and onwards to the Royal Burgh of Culross.  This is Scotland’s most complete example of a burgh of the 17th and 18th centuries.  White-harled houses with red-tiled rooves line the steep cobbled streets which run from the market cross to the hilltop abbey.  In the centre is the ochre-coloured palace with its beautifully reconstructed period garden, complete with herbs, fruit and vegetables.  The palace only allows 8 visitors per 15 minutes to reduce the stress on its timber floors and by the time we arrived it was over an hour's wait.  So we decided to leave the palace tour for another visit and instead walked the steep cobbled tracks, overlooking the palace garden.  As we walked up the narrow, walled lanes, to wander around the old Abbey and Monastery,  it reminded us of a cross between Le Roque Gageac and St Circ Lapopie in the Dordogne.

Onwards, we drove east and parked up in Dysart harbour, just outside Kircaldy, joining three other vans.  The harbour and coastal path had taken a battering during recent storms and and the sea wall and defences were in the process of being rebuilt.  Ready for a walk, we followed the coastal path around the harbour, through a low tunnel and up past defensive walls and mature trees, eventually reaching the ruins of Ravenscraig Castle.  With only about 10 minutes before it was locked up for the night, our visit was brief!  Backtracking, we relaxed in the van with supper and an early night.

Overnight the wind increased and it rained until about 0700, when I took Salty out to chase rabbits (not really - he was on a lead!).  Our first stop heading along the coast was West Wemyss, for a mooch around the harbour.  Then followed a (expensive) food shop in the Sainsburys in Leven, before driving to Ruby Bay near Elie.  Day parking is only £2, with the option to park overnight for £15; with the toilet emptying point closed, this was an expensive option.  After a quick lunch we enjoyed a walk to the lighthouse, past the volcano lava outflow and onto the beach.  About 10 minutes drive and we were parked up by Pittenweem tidal pool.  With a stiff onshore breeze, it didn't look very enticing, but maybe on a warm summer's evening. It's possible to overnight in the car park for £10.

Pittenweem Tidal Pool

Tonight's park up was only another 10 minutes up the road and we spent the afternoon sat in the lee of the van to avoid a strong breeze, but taking advantage of the unexpected sunshine.  It's very quiet now and the Isle of May is lit by the evening sunshine as it sets behind us.