Aberdour

Aberdour is a small town on the coast of Fife in central Scotland, and nowadays a commuter town for Edinburgh, with a population in 2011 of 1633.

Get in

Aberdour Station gardens

See Fife for inter-city transport.

Inter-city trains don't stop in Burntisland so you need to change at Edinburgh Waverley, Haymarket or Inverkeithing. Stopping trains run from Edinburgh (M-Sa twice an hour, Su hourly) via Haymarket (for airport), Inverkeithing (for Dunfermline) and Dalgety Bay, taking 32 min. They continue to Burntisland, Kinghorn and Kirkcaldy, then either Leven, or Markinch (for Glenrothes) and Perth, or Leuchars (for St Andrews) and Dundee. They no longer loop back to Edinburgh via Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes and Dunfermline.

1 Aberdour Railway Station has a staffed ticket office and machines plus toilets and a waiting room. There is level access to Platform 1 (for Kirkcaldy) and a ramp to Platform 2 (for Edinburgh).

Inter-city buses bypass Aberdour, look for connections at Halbeath or Edinburgh. Stagecoach Fife Bus 7 runs along the coast from Dunfermline to Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay and Aberdour, continuing east to Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy and Leven. It's M-Sa every 30 min and hourly on Sunday.

By car follow M90 over Queensferry Crossing (no toll) then take exit 1C onto A921 east towards Aberdour.

Get around

Aberdour is small and walkable. You can walk the Fife Coastal Path then ride back on the train or bus.

See

Aberdour Castle

• 1 Aberdour Castle. Sa-W 10AM-4PM. Castle built from 1200 and extended over the following centuries, then falling derelict from 1725; only the 17th-century wing is still roofed. It has attractive gardens and a beehive-shaped dovecot. Adult £6, conc £4.80, child £3.60. (updated Sep 2021)
• Aberdour House on the lane towards the castle is where the castle owners moved to. It's in good condition but privately owned, just admire it from the lane.
• The Sensory Garden is next to the railway station on A921. It was created in 2010 on the site of a former primary school. Open 24 hours, free.
• 2 Silversands is the main beach, half a mile east of town.
• 3 Hawkcraig Point is the headland south of Silversands; Room with a View restaurant is here. The derelict jetty was built to test radio-controlled torpedoes in World War One.
• 4 Black Sands is closer to town but is a quieter beach. The black is from coal outcrops on the sea bed, so coal grains continually wash ashore.
• 5 St Bridget's Kirk is the ruin of a church dating to the 12th century or earlier, all that survives of the old village of Dalgetty. It was abandoned in the 19th century and is now set in woodland along the Fife Coastal Path.
• 6 Inchcolm is the island seen to the south. It's historically part of Aberdour, and its abbey once governed St Bridget's Kirk, but to visit you need to take a boat trip from South Queensferry.

Do

• Fife Coastal Path: going east, keep just shore-side of the railway track. The path passes the castle then comes onto Silversands Bay, with a broad firm track (offroad bikes okay, street bikes at a pinch). Eventually it ducks under the railway and comes into Burntisland. Going west from Aberdour, leave A921 at Dovecot Park to come onto the trail to St Briget's Kirk then along the coast to Dalgety Bay and Inverkeithing.
• Golf: Aberdour GC is south edge of the village, white tees 5447 yards, par 67. A visitor round is £35 midweek, £50 weekend.
• Highland games are held in Inverkeithing in early August.

Buy

• Dalgety Bay two miles west has the shops, with Tesco, Aldi and Asda.

Eat

• McTaggart's Cafe is at 21 High St, open M-Sa 9:30AM-4PM, Su 10:30AM-4PM.
• Room With A View (Forth View Hotel), Hawkcraig Point KY3 0TZ, ☏ +44 1383 860402. W-Sa noon-2PM, 6-9PM; Su noon-2PM. Popular seafood restaurant out on the Point, with a couple of rooms. They'll pick-up / drop off in Aberdour. (updated Sep 2021)

Drink

St Bridget's Kirk

• Foresters Arms at 35 High St is open Su-Th 11AM-midnight, F Sa 11AM-1AM.

Sleep

• 1 Aberdour Hotel, 38 High St KY3 0SW, ☏ +44 1383 860325. 16-room hotel in a 17th-century coaching inn. Good service and dining, rooms are small, but there are larger rooms in the converted stable block. B&B double £90. (updated Sep 2021)
• Forth View Hotel, 3 Murray Place Burntisland, ☏ +44 1383 860 402. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: noon. 3 well appointed bedrooms with most offering sea views of Edinburgh castle and the Islands of the Forth. Breakfast: Continental using Local produce. Dinner must be booked at their restaurant Room with a View Seafood Restaurant restaurant at least one night in order to reserve a room. A minimum stay of 2 nights during August. £85-120. (updated Jan 2024)
• 2 Bay & Bridge, 9 Farmstead Rd, Dalgety Bay KY11 9HW, ☏ +44 7971 663440. Smart little hotel, great views and welcome. B&B double £130. (updated Sep 2021)

Connect

Aberdour has 4G from all UK carriers. As of Sep 2021, 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

• Burntisland is the next town west. The port is grubby but then comes a long beach.
• North Queensferry lies east under the iconic Forth Bridge. The coast further upstream is industrial.
• Dunfermline is Scotland's medieval capital, with an abbey, and the birthplace of tycoon philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.