West Sands

Fife is blessed with some great beaches, but surely St Andrews’ West Sands is the most famous. This is where the movie ‘Chariots of Fire’ was filmed, and budding athletes can still batter along the firm, wide sands today, living out their sporting and/or celluloid fantasies. Or you could try a bracing paddle in the North Sea or hike right to the very tip of the beach, which is popular with ornithologists checking out the rich bounty of seabirds. Beware the tides, though, as the ‘beach’ here can quickly become a sand bar, which then becomes rapidly becomes the sea, after which you may need to make a Chariots of Fire-style dash to make it back to dry land.