There are the 8 wonders of the world… but have you heard of the 8 wonders of East Scotland? Fairies, dragons, dinosaur fossils and East Neuk’s own little solar system. Better yet, it can all be reached by bus!
Dunino Den
This place is incredible. Full of mystery and magic and only a short walk from the bus stop behind the Dunino church, with buses up to every hour on the X60 route. Home of fairies and mythical creatures, Dunino Den is a hotspot for any supernatural fanatic.
Dunino Den has everything from a man-made staircase, Celtic crosses, carved rocks set in a peaceful stream and beautiful ribbon offerings hanging from the trees. A wishing stone stacked with coins is also at Dunino Den which is thought to be as old as the 1600s. This natural wonder shouldn’t be missed.
Saint Salvator's Unlucky PH
St. Andrews is great, but have you heard of this superstition? If you are passing St. Salvators quadrangle (amazing public quadrangle with a Hogwarts vibe) there is a large PH embedded into the ground in front of a very old and grand doorway. This embedded message is the spot Patrick Hamilton was burned at the stake in 1528.
Patrick supposedly puts a curse on any student who walks over the embedded message in front of the quadrangle and ultimately, they would fail their degree. If you stand in front of the building (not on the PH message!) and you look up, you can see the fire damage crawling up the wall above the door. If you look even closer some say you can see a supernatural looking face carved in the wall, which is believed to be Patrick Hamilton himself.
But there is hope for any students that do accidentally step on the “PH symbol”: apparently going for a quick dip in St. Andrews Bay will reverse the curse. In all honesty, it’s maybe a better idea to just avoid standing on the embedded symbol because St. Andrews Bay is pretty chilly at the best of times!
If you fancy trying to spot the mysterious face in the medieval burnt wall, this spot is only around a 5-minute walk from St. Andrews Bus Station.
The Dragon of Dundee
Dundee city is known to be the creative birthplace of Oor Wullie, The Dandy and Frankenstein but did you know there is a dragon legend there too?
If you head through to Dundee by bus, you will have probably passed a massive green dragon in the town centre? (or you will see it now you know about it) That big green dragon represents a story from many years ago which gave the name to Baldragon High school and Strathmartin road.
A farmer once lived a very long time ago on the outskirts of Dundee. This farmer had nine daughters and one day the farmer sent his eldest daughter to fetch some water. After a few hours had passed with no sign of the daughter, he then sent another daughter. Again, when the daughter had not returned, he sent another, until he had sent all of his daughters and none of them had returned.
The farmer went to investigate where his daughters had gone and with a shock, he found a big, green, scaley dragon sleeping it had eaten all of his nine daughters! The horrified farmer fled back to his village. The boyfriend of the youngest daughter found and slayed the dragon in anger. The man who slayed the dragon was called Martin.
You can visit Martins stone a 6th century gravestone with an engraved image of a dragon. This mysterious stone can be found near Bridgestone in Dundee. The Stathmartin Road is said to be named after the saying “Strike! Martin!” which was shouted when Martin slayed the dragon.
Anstruther Solar System
Space travel isn’t quite ready for budding travellers… but Anstruther in Fife is the next best thing! A 1-10,000,0000 scale of the solar system is scattered around Anstruther. Definitely a cool day out for any planet lovers.
Jump on the X60, which operates up to every hour along the beautiful East Neuk coast for Anstruther.
Anstruther has a beautiful harbour which is well worth a visit. Along with the world-famous fish and chip shops that line the Highstreet on the harbour. They all sell absolutely cracking fish suppers.
Another well worth visit is the Scottish Fisheries museum which is enriched in East Neuk history.
Puffin island
An island that has seen pirates and smugglers, Is the home to the most beautiful birds including 45,000 pairs of breeding puffins! Jump on a bus to Anstruther (X60 which runs up to every hour or the 95 service on a Sunday) and take a boat tour out to the island.
Dolphins on the Tay
There isn’t anything better than seeing dolphins off the coast. Fife and Tayside are a hot spot to see these beautiful animals in the wild. Jump on the 73/73a from Dundee along to Broughty Ferry and catch a great boat trip to go see these majestic dolphins which are thought to be resident in the Tay in a pod of 60. More info here.
Crail fossils
The East Neuk meets Jurassic Park. 335 million years of history at Crail beach and surrounding areas. Crail is packed full of interesting fossils and defiantly deserves a visit from any budding palaeontologists or even Steven Spielberg fans.
Crail is a beautiful town full of seaside charm and history. Crail is well worth a day trip to see beautiful buildings, a golden sand beach and charming shops.
The Old Course - St Andrews
The greats of golf are regular visitors to the most famous golf course in world including Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. With Beautiful links fairways and sandy bunkers, this is a must visit on the 8 wonders of East Scotland list. You can even spot a celebrity if you are lucky! Interesting fact the picture-perfect bridge coming up to the 18th hole just isn’t a photo stop it was actually built over 700 years ago to help shepherds get their livestock across the burn!
That is our list of 8 wonders of East Scotland. All weird and wonderful places are well worth a visit this summer. If you fancy visiting any of these places check out our journey planner