North Queensferry to Burntisland

Part Two of the Fife Coastal Path begins at North Queensferry at the Waterloo monument and ends in the town of Burntisland. This section is 18.5km long and again is quite an easy walk, slightly longer though but a very pretty section. There are a couple of busy roads to walk beside but the paths are wide and in good condition. It should take roughly 5-6 hours. If the most impressive part of the first section were the 17th Century villages then the highlight of this section has to be the stunning shorelines and harbours
If you have already completed the first section you were probably too knackered to have a walk around North Queensferry so try and take the time to do it now. Be sure to have a nose inside the smallest working lighthouse in the world down by the shore and follow the path right around to the left to walk right under the Rail Bridge. There is also a free car park here, where we parked to start the walk. The walkway down to the water in front of the lighthouse is where the ferries used to leave to go over to the Forth before the Road Bridge was opened.

In the car park we found the first Coastal Path board with a map and info and the Waterloo Monument is just down the path, the start of this section is just to the right of this. We passed Carlingnose Point, which is a wildlife reserve and had more of those amazing views. Ahead a little we reached the beach of Port Laing before heading inland to the town of Inverkeithing, an industrial town, also famous for being a large shipbreaking hub.
Following the path we passed St David’s Bay and walked to Donibristle Castle, where James Stewart, the 2nd Earl of Moray was killed by George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly. Only the wings exist of the original building now but a wrought iron screen, said to be the finest early 18th century wrought-iron screen in Scotland, connects them. After walking through the communal gardens and keeping to the surfaced path we passed the small harbor and sailing club and took the path through the houses to the shores of Dalgety bay.

I’ve always liked Dalgety Bay, it may sound silly but I’ve always found it very clean! I always fancied living here one day. It’s a modern town, named after the original town of Dalgety, the only part of which is left is Bridget’s Kirk, which we passed also. Built only 40 years ago, this town is popular with commuters travelling to Edinburgh for work.
We stopped for lunch at Louie Brown’s, a modern restaurant/deli and had a gorgeous meal before heading inland up the hill. A little further on we walked through the golf course at Western Aberdour before we reached the village itself. With its winding high street and cute little shops it’s a lovely little place, worth a look also here is Aberdour Castle, a Historic Scotland property with beautiful gardens. The path leads down to a picture perfect harbor, complete with flower baskets, small fishing boats and gorgeous views. We spent some time here before taking the path up to the lighthouse then back down to the next bay, the award winning Silver Sands beach.

After a nice walk though the woods and spotting a waterfall and some seals we headed into Burntisland to complete our walk. This was a long walk but worth it for the views from the shores of the villages. My favourite part was the harbor in Aberdour and the walk through the woods to Burtisland. Also Silver Sands beach is nice, especially in the summer, it’s where we go when the sun comes out long enough to get a tan, which isn’t often here is Bonnie Scotland.