St Andrews and Whisky

Most day trips out of Edinburgh pick a single thing and run with it: a loch, a castle, a city. The St Andrews and whisky route does something rarer. In a single day you take in the prison that held Mary Queen of Scots, the village that doubled as 1940s Inverness in Outlander, the Home of Golf, and the abbey where Scotch whisky was first recorded in writing in 1494. Four stops, four pieces of Scottish history, and you're back in Edinburgh before dinner.

Here's what each stop is, and why it earns its place on the itinerary.

The Kingdom of Fife

Cross the Queensferry Crossing heading north out of Edinburgh and you're entering the Kingdom of Fife, a peninsula of farmland, fishing villages, and royal history that styled itself a kingdom in the Pictish era and never quite let go of the title. It's quieter than the Highlands, gentler than the Borders, and packed with sites the average Edinburgh visitor never sees.

The Fife coast is also where Scottish royalty came to play. Falkland was a hunting lodge. St Andrews was the ecclesiastical capital. Lindores was where the king's whisky came from. You're driving through what was, for centuries, the leisure ground of the Stuart court.

Loch Leven and Lochleven Castle

The first stop is Loch Leven, a freshwater loch ringed by gentle hills that sits just across the Fife border in neighbouring Perth and Kinross, serving as the perfect gateway to the region. On a small island near its centre sit the ruins of Lochleven Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned in 1567 after the disastrous end of her third marriage. She was forced to abdicate from the castle in favour of her infant son James, and spent eleven months as a prisoner before escaping in May 1568 with the help of a young member of the Douglas family.

The ruins are atmospheric rather than grand. What makes the stop is the setting: still water, soft hills, and the weight of what happened on that small island four and a half centuries ago.

Falkland

Falkland was Scotland's first designated conservation area, and one look at the village square tells you why. Cobbled streets, traditional Scottish architecture, and Falkland Palace itself, built in the early 16th century as a royal hunting lodge for the Stuart kings and queens. Mary Queen of Scots came here regularly. James V died here in 1542.

For Outlander fans, Falkland is also where the show filmed scenes set in 1940s Inverness, including the Mrs Baird's Guesthouse exterior. You'll recognise the square. There's free time here to wander, look at the palace, and get a coffee before the next leg.

St Andrews

St Andrews does three things at once. It's a coastal town with cliff paths and a long sandy beach. It's home to Scotland's oldest university, founded around 1410, where Prince William and Kate Middleton met as undergraduates. And it's the Home of Golf.

You'll have proper free time in St Andrews to do whatever interests you most. The cathedral ruins are dramatic: founded in the 12th century, once the largest church in Scotland, sacked during the Reformation and now a roofless skeleton with a graveyard at its feet. The castle ruins on the cliff edge are smaller but worth the walk for the bottle dungeon and mine and counter-mine tunnels from the 16th-century siege.

For golfers, the Old Course is the obvious pilgrimage. Golf has been played on these links for over six centuries, and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754, still writes the rules of the game from its clubhouse beside the 18th green. You can walk the Swilcan Bridge on the 18th hole when no play is on, which most visitors do.

For everyone else, the university quads, the harbour, the West Sands beach (where the opening scene of Chariots of Fire was filmed), and the cafes along Market Street will fill the time easily.

Lindores Abbey Distillery

The afternoon stop is the heart of why this is called a whisky tour. Lindores Abbey was founded in 1191. In 1494, the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland recorded that Friar John Cor, a Tironensian monk at Lindores, was supplied with "eight bolls of malt to make aqua vitae" for King James IV. That single line is the earliest written record of whisky distillation anywhere in the world.

The abbey itself fell into ruin after the Reformation, but in 2017 a working distillery was built on the same site, and is now producing single malt whisky on the ground where Friar Cor distilled his aqua vitae five hundred years ago. You get a guided tour of the modern distillery, see the abbey ruins, and finish with a tasting of the whisky and their Aqua Vitae spirit (a recreation of the medieval style, made with botanicals).

Non-alcoholic alternatives are available for anyone who'd rather not drink, and the history alone makes the stop worth it whether you're a whisky drinker or not.

Why this is one of the best day trips from Edinburgh

Most Edinburgh day trips are landscape-led: lochs, mountains, hairy coos. This one is history-led, with the landscape thrown in. You get royal history (Mary Queen of Scots, the Stuart court at Falkland), ecclesiastical history (St Andrews Cathedral, Lindores Abbey), the origin story of Scotch whisky, the origin story of golf, and a dose of Outlander filming locations, all in a single loop through Fife.

It also has the rare quality of being interesting whether or not you golf, drink whisky, or watch Outlander. The setting carries it.

Practical details

• How far is St Andrews from Edinburgh? Roughly 50 miles, about an hour and a half by road via the Queensferry Crossing.
• Tour timings: departs central Edinburgh at 8:25am, returns by approximately 5:30pm.
• Group size: small-group, maximum 16 guests, in a comfortable minibus with a driver-guide.
• Best time to visit: April to October for the best Fife coast weather and longest daylight, though the tour runs year-round.
• What to bring: comfortable shoes for the cobbles in Falkland and the cathedral grounds in St Andrews, layers, and a waterproof.

Frequently asked questions

How to visit St Andrews from Edinburgh

You can take the train (Edinburgh to Leuchars, then a bus or taxi to St Andrews, around two hours total each way), drive yourself (about an hour and a half each way), or take a guided day tour. A guided tour is the only option that combines St Andrews with a distillery visit and other Fife stops in a single day, with no logistics on your end.

Can you visit St Andrews and a distillery in one day?

Yes, comfortably. Lindores Abbey Distillery is about thirty minutes from St Andrews, and our tour combines both with stops at Loch Leven and Falkland on the way, returning to Edinburgh by early evening.

Things to do in St Andrews on a day trip

The essentials are the cathedral ruins, the castle ruins, the Old Course and Swilcan Bridge, the university quads, and West Sands beach. With a few hours of free time you can comfortably do three or four of these, plus lunch at one of the cafes on Market Street or South Street.

Best whisky day trips from Edinburgh

The Speyside distilleries are too far for a comfortable day trip from Edinburgh (you're looking at four hours each way to Glenlivet or Glenfiddich). Lindores Abbey, by contrast, is under two hours from the city and has a stronger historical claim than any Speyside distillery: it's literally the birthplace of recorded Scotch whisky. For a single-day whisky experience from Edinburgh, it's hard to beat.

Is St Andrews only for golf lovers?

No. Roughly half the people on this tour have no interest in golf and have an excellent day. The cathedral and castle, the university, the cliff paths, and the food and drink scene are all reasons to go.

Book the tour

Our St Andrews and Whisky tour from Edinburgh covers Loch Leven, Falkland, St Andrews, and Lindores Abbey Distillery in a single day. Small group (maximum 16), departing central Edinburgh, with a knowledgeable driver-guide and plenty of free time at each stop. Book direct for 10% off with code GO26.