seaside near Edinburgh?

EricTheWeary

we are off to Edinburgh in a couple of  weeks, do some touristy things and drive up to the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies. MrsTheWeary wants to see something of the sea/ seaside on our trip ( West Midlands psychology of if you haven't seen the seaside it isn't a holiday) and whilst Edinburgh is almost coastal I don't know what in the area would afford stunning views and cosy cafes, walks along the beach and ice creams and what would turn out to be industrial seaports. 

Ta    

Funkfingers

EricTheWeary said:

walks along the beach and ice creams

At the seaside, in Scotland? Take yer thermals.

Caffeine_Vampire

Not exactly near Edinburgh but Ayr is lovely. 

tony99

Do you like nudie beach?

EricTheWeary

Funkfingers said:

EricTheWeary said:

walks along the beach and ice creams

At the seaside, in Scotland? Take yer thermals.

Sleeping in a campervan in Scotland in May there will be thermals!

Caffeine_Vampire said:

Not exactly near Edinburgh but Ayr is lovely. 

Wouldn't be that far out of our way although yes not exactly Edinburgh. 

Caffeine_Vampire

Ayr has that ‘traditional seaside town’ thing going on. Very slow pace of life. Don’t forget a baseball bat to ward off the midgies though. 

EricTheWeary

tony99 said:

Do you like nudie beach?

Probably not in May! 

I'm thinking more walks with the dog than sunbathing and naked volleyball. 

Seymour1

Portobello (beach) probably ticks all of the boxes. It is a couple of miles from Edinburgh City Centre with several bus routes into the city centre if you don't want to take the  car with you.

North Berwick is a nice seaside town best know for the bird sanctuary. It is about 50 miles East of Edinburgh Google to see whether there is enough to keep you occupied in the area for a day.  

Seymour1

Should have added that if you are driving up via the A1 you get plenty of views of the sea so you have the option of breaking the journey up there or back at one of the small towns on the coast.  I think that most such places have sandy beaches although ice creams are probably out of the local newsagents freezer

EricTheWeary

Cheers @Seymour1 I'd spotted Portobello beach on the map, although past experience suggests that beach can mean pebbles and washed up condoms. 

AustrianJohn

Drive up to St Andrews (home of golf and all that), about one hour north. The beach goes on for miles. They filmed the opening scene of Chariots of Fire there (it was supposed to be Broadstairs).

545454

For nice coastal walks, the stretch of coastline around Longniddry, Aberlady, Gullane, North Berwich, West Barns (Belhaven Bay) has really nice sandy beaches. Maybe 25-30 mins drive from Edinburgh. 

ewal

I agree with the Fife suggestion - lots of great beaches between Elie and Tentsmuir. Kinshaldy beach at Tentsmuir is a cracker and seldom busy.

ewal

If you're after a town beach then St Andrews - both West and East sands - is well worth a visit. It really is a perfect holiday town.

m_c

If you want the Edinburgh side of the Firth of Forth, Gullane Bay is lovely on a sunny day. The bents north of Longniddry a bit nearer Edinburgh are good, but more rocky.
However be aware that most beach car parks in East Lothian now have height restrictions and parking charges. You can however park in Gullane then walk out, or park on the side of the road from the coast road past Longniddry Bents heading into Longniddry, and walk back down.
Gullane does have a nice café. There is also the Bothy in Gosford estate (east of Longniddry(, and the Longniddry Inn does good cooking (nothing fancy, just good pub grub). If you want ice cream though, it's got to be Lucas in Musselburgh as you drive out of town!

You can head further south to the likes of Belhaven Bay, and Cove/Pease Bay (Cockburnspath).

Toms_Dad

Gullane and Portobello are both good suggestions and of course St Andrews is great, I went to Uni there, so I’m biased. I would also suggest Cramond. If you get the tide timetable you can walk out to Cramond Isle which is also very picturesque. I can also recommend Red Dog music in Haymarket if you feel the need for guitar related activity......

stimpsonslostson

North Berwick. 
Beach, ice cream, tea shops, pubs, chippy, boat trips round the Bass etc. It's a nice touristy place.
There's a wee seafood place on the harbour that's great. 
If you're staying in Edinburgh, you can get a train to N.B. (as us locals call it). 


If you're driving Tyninghame, SeaCliff, YellowCraigs are all lovely for walking. 
Dunbar is nice (Belhaven Brewery is there too). 

@Toms_Dad you can't recommend RedDog anymore. It was on Grassmarket not Haymarket & sadly closed 6months ago.

Cramond is a good shout- just check the tides for the causeway! 

stimpsonslostson

If you need ideas for things to do....

Music:
The Royal Oak does live music often- the first time I saw Kris Drever (check him out- he's great) was there. 

Similarly the Sandy Bells does folk ssessions daily (& is handy for the Old Town etc)
https://www.sandybells.co.uk

Touristy:
there are usually walking tours leaving from near St Giles on the high st. Try to find one that takes you to the catacombs- kinda spooky, kinda cool. 

The open top bus tours are a great way to see the city without walking your legs off- some of them take you to the New Town. I love Stockbridge/Dean Village/Botanics- Lots of nice pubs etc and Georgian architecture. 

The Modern Art Galleries are good & there's a free bus from the National Gallery on the mound. You can walk down the water of Leith to Stockbridge (a lovely neighborhood). 

If the weather is decent, Arthur's Seat/Calton Hill are a nice walk (As is Botanics etc)

The National Museum is GREAT- the views from the roof are spectacular too. 

Food/Drink:
Civerinos: Cool pizza place
Vittorias: (Italian) Edinburgh institution 
Beer Kitchen: Owned by Innes and Gunn, food is good and the beer is impressive 
Scran and Scallie: Gastropub owned by Tom Kitchin. 
Affrogato: excellent gelato. 
Howies- Good modern Scottish food.
BrewDog pubs- good beer 

Further afield:
Crammond Island- walk along a causeway at low tide. 
Roslyn Chapel- as mentioned in the DaVinci Code, but don't hold that against it!
Stirling- Lovely picturesque & small. You can do most of it including the castle in a day. 
Linlithgow- has a palace etc & is a short train ride from Edinburgh
Glasgow- has everything you could want in a big city. 
North Berwick- picturesque seaside town .

Leith (which is NOT part of Edinburgh!)- has been massively redeveloped & has LOADS of things to see/do/eat/drink. It's far less touristy than Edinburgh is. (Some tour busses will go there, or just use public transport) 
Royal Yaught Brittania is there- worth a look if that's your kind of thing. 
Mimis Bake House- their "Before noon tea" is brilliant (but remember to book). 

EricTheWeary

Gosh, lots of information.

I wouldn't like to imply that when we go away we are at all organised but have some names here of places. 

ICBM

Portobello if you want traditional run-down seaside-town vibes effectively 'in' Edinburgh. Cramond Island if you want to get cut off by the tide  (don't! The coastguard take a dim view of it). North Berwick if you want a nicer town atmosphere, Aberlady if you want a long walk to a much less crowded, countryside beach.

Not mentioned so far... Tantallon Castle near North Berwick in East Lothian - absolutely spectacular ruined castle with a couple of beaches within easy walking distance of the castle car park.

North Berwick isn't 50 miles from Edinburgh, by the way - it's about 20. It's Berwick-On-Tweed which is 50 miles away.

Nitefly

Not by the sea, but still in East Lothian, try the Tyneside Tavern in Haddington.  There's a plaque there where Fish from Marrillion used to sit and enjoy a pint.  Apparently when they were writing their first album they spent a lot of time there...