East Neuk of Fife

The East Neuk, meaning east corner, runs from Elie through St Monans, Pittenweem, Anstruther and Crail, villages that traded directly with the Low Countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and took their architecture from it: crow-stepped gables, forestairs and red pantile roofs, the tiles arriving as ship ballast. Decline set in with the herring collapse and by the 1930s the buildings were failing; the National Trust for Scotland's Little Houses Improvement Scheme bought, restored and resold them, which is why the harbours look as they do. Anstruther holds the Scottish Fisheries Museum and a chip shop that has won national awards repeatedly. Pittenweem still lands a working fleet and runs a fish market. Boats go from Anstruther to the Isle of May, a seabird island with puffins and a colony of grey seals.

Background

Facing the Firth of Forth and the North Sea, the East Neuk is a coastal area of Fife in Scotland. Neuk is the Scots word for a nook or corner. The area is known for its fishing villages and their distinctive pan-tiled roofs. It extends from Lundin Links to St Andrews and takes in the villages of Elie and Earlsferry, Colinsburgh, St Monans, Pittenweem, Arncroach, Carnbee, Anstruther, Cellardyke, Kilrenny and Crail, together with the land just behind them, as far as the upland area called the Riggin o' Fife.

Source: Wikipedia, "East Neuk"

What's there

• The Dutch-influenced houses - crow-stepped gables and red pantiles from ballast.
• The Fisheries Museum - Anstruther's collection in a group of harbour buildings.
• Pittenweem's working harbour - a landing fleet and fish market still operating.
• The Isle of May - a seabird island reached by boat from Anstruther.

When to go

May to September for boats to the Isle of May and the best weather; puffins are there from April to July. The Anstruther chip shop queue is long in summer. Winter is quiet and many businesses close.

Before you go

The villages are small and can be seen quickly; the interest is architectural rather than in attractions. Parking in Crail and Pittenweem is very tight. Isle of May boats cancel often for swell.

Nearby

St Andrews lies north; the Fife Coastal Path links all the villages on foot.