After the Edinburgh Marathon: St Andrews

The Route: Edinburgh → Leuchars → St Andrews → Leuchars → Edinburgh Logistics: ScotRail to Leuchars, around 1 hour, then the connecting Stagecoach bus into St Andrews itself, about 15 minutes. Marathon Month: May Duration: 2 nights

Edinburgh Waverley ──(60 mins ScotRail)──> Leuchars ──(15 mins bus)──> St Andrews
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                                          Edinburgh Waverley ◄──(60 mins)──── Leuchars ◄──(15 mins bus)──┘

Edinburgh Marathon's own Musselburgh finish sits beside the oldest documented golf course in the world, and St Andrews, across the Firth of Forth in Fife, takes that thread further: the Old Course here has been played since at least the 15th century and remains the sport's spiritual home. Late May in Fife means longer daylight than the marathon itself gets and water still cold enough that a walk along West Sands beats a swim. The journey involves a ScotRail service to Leuchars, the nearest station, followed by a short connecting bus, together taking around 75 minutes from Edinburgh Waverley.

Nights One and Two: St Andrews

St Andrews carries three separate identities that overlap in a town small enough to walk across in twenty minutes: a medieval ecclesiastical centre, home to Scotland's oldest university, founded in 1413, and the acknowledged birthplace of organised golf. The ruined cathedral, once the largest church in Scotland before the Reformation stripped it for stone, still dominates the eastern end of the old town from its clifftop position.

The primary recovery asset is West Sands beach, a wide, flat two-mile stretch of sand made internationally recognisable by the opening scene of Chariots of Fire, filmed on this exact beach. At low tide the sand is firm enough for an easy, level walk in either direction with no gradient at all, and the beach is long enough to extend or cut short depending on how the legs are managing two days after a marathon.

Secondary attractions include the cathedral ruins and adjoining graveyard (entry to the tower approximately £6, the ruins themselves free to walk through), and the Old Course itself, walkable along its public right of way even without playing, with the Swilcan Bridge, golf's most photographed crossing point, a short stroll from the town centre. St Andrews Castle, a smaller ruined clifftop fortress next to the cathedral, adds a second free-to-view ruin within the same short walk.

Where to stay: Rufflets Country House, just outside the town centre, offers quieter garden grounds a short taxi ride from the old town. The Russell Hotel, on The Scores overlooking the sea, puts West Sands and the cathedral both within easy walking distance.

Where to eat: The Adamson, in a converted former doctor's surgery on South Street, does a seasonal Scottish menu that takes bookings, worth arranging ahead for a Saturday evening. Northpoint Café, near the university, is the better call for a slower breakfast between the beach and the ruins.

Getting Home

The connecting bus back to Leuchars runs regularly through the day, timed loosely around train departures, with the ScotRail service back to Edinburgh Waverley taking around an hour. Runners flying home from Edinburgh Airport should build in the full return journey plus tram or bus time onward to the airport, since St Andrews itself has no direct airport connection.