Go East For a historic holiday
North Berwick and Dunbar are perfect for a break with a past
FROM medieval castles to jet-age aircraft, seabird sanctuaries and big sandy beaches, East Lothian packs a lot into a small, fun-filled package.
The region is a doddle to get to, with trains to Dunbar and North Berwick from most parts of Scotland and northern England.
It’s packed with activities that will keep kids of all ages happy whatever the weather, and accommodation ranges from luxury campsites to cosy inns and grand hotels.
There are great places to eat and drink too — take your pick from harbourside seafood restaurants, family-friendly pub grub, or gourmet dining.
For history buffs, Tantallon Castle is one of Scotland’s most spectacularly sited medieval ruins.
It sits less than five miles from North Berwick on the cliffs overlooking the Firth of Forth.
Not surprisingly, the 14th Century red sandstone pile is a favourite TV and movie location. Just as spectacular — and in much better nick — is Dirleton Castle. It’s a little closer, on the west side of North Berwick, and boasts colourful gardens surrounding medieval battlements. Entrance to Tantallon or Dirleton is £5.50 and you can find more details on both at (historicscotland.gov.uk).
For active holidaymakers, there’s heaps to do on land and at sea in this part of Scotland.
From North Berwick, the Scottish Seabird Centre (£8.95; seabird.org) offers boat trips out to the Bass Rock and Craigleith island, where gannets, puffins and other seabirds soar in great flocks.
You can paddle your own canoe with Dun Eideann Sea Kayaking (£40, duneideannseakayaking.com) or take surfing lessons with Coast To Coast Surf School (£35; c2surfschool.com ) at Belhaven Bay.
Back on dry land, the John Muir Way and North Sea Trail stretch along the coast of the Firth of Forth and the North Sea. You might not feel like trekking the whole 50 miles, but there are super stretches of dunes, cliffs and beaches to be explored between North Berwick and Dunbar (visiteastlothian.org/activities-walking.asp).
One of the most attractive
stretches of the trail takes you along the coast at Belhaven Bay and through the John Muir Country Park (free; eastlothian.gov.uk), and in Dunbar you can find out more about the life and work of the founder of the conservationist movement, born here in 1838, at John Muir’s Birthplace (free; jmbt.org.uk).
If you’re a golfer and have a stay of two or three days you could perhaps play Gullane, Craigielaw and Dunbar. Gullane offers championship quality links golf courses with dramatic views across the Forth to Edinburgh and Fife.
Gullane No 1 has a long history of hosting international championship events and is an Open Championship qualifying course. It hosted final qualifying for this year’s Open, played at Edinburgh’s Muirfield.
Gullane No.2 has also been used for Open Championship qualifying and the Seniors Open Amateur.
Gullane No.3 is the shortest of the three golf courses but still provides a stern challenge for club golfers of all abilities.
Laid out by Old Tom Morris, Dunbar is more than 150 years old and oozes history and tradition. It’s a final qualifying course too and while Craigielaw is a new links it is one of masterful design (by Donald Steel) and presentation. So much so that it has already staged several national events, amateur and professional.
Near East Linton, you can feed the ducks at the postcard-pretty Preston Mill and Phantassie Doocot, East Linton (£6.50; nts. org.uk). There are tours every 45 minutes between 12.30pm and 5pm, offering a fascinating glimpse into the history of this giant medieval dovecot, where pigeons were kept for their meat, and watermill.
Nearby, there’s more recent history at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield (£9.50; nms.ac.uk/flight), where the collection includes everything from historic light aircraft to a huge Vulcan nuclear bomber and one of the last surviving supersonic Concordes.
The area is blessed with great places to stay and some terrific restaurants.
Ducks is a charming pub-style hotel with a renowned restaurant.
Located in the peaceful village of Aberlady it offers a bar/bistro and a formal restaurant. The dinner menu is impressive and is complimented by a reasonably priced wine list. Local produce and a good chef has resulted in two AA rosettes for food. In the pub local ales and a good selection of drams await. There are 23 rooms and they start from £115 for bed and breakfast per room. As the emphasis is on Ducks being a restaurant with rooms, they have a winter break of £60 if eating at Ducks Restaurant.
For something different, kids will love camping in comfort at Harvest Moon (harvestmoonholidays.com), midway between Dunbar and North Berwick.
The tents here are more like rooms with canvas walls. Each has a wooden floor, shower and WC with box beds. There’s a well-equipped kitchen and a woodburning stove keeps everything cosy.
A fabulous sandy beach is just yards away and there are ponies, lambs, ducks and bunnies nearby. For an extra £10, you can even have your own hen, clucking away in its own coop beside your tent and laying what must be the most expensive fresh laid eggs in Scotland — the chook only lays one a day, so over the weekend that works out at £5 per egg.
Tents sleep up to five people and cost from £550 for three nights.