Leuchars to Tayport (10 miles)
This whole splitting of the Fife Coastal Path into stages has been done with public transport in mind. Trying to construct walks of reasonable distances with the option of taking a bus or train back to the starting point. Inevitably there are legs where the distance is lengthy and there is no realistic way of shortening it unless you shuffle around in two cars or have a third party pick you up. This walk is a bit of a slog, including many miles through Tentsmuir Forest. But it's flat!
Start at Wessex Avenue in Leuchars and follow the waymarkers towards the forest. After around 5 miles we find ourselves in a large public car-park with seasonal refreshments and toilet facilities. There are also picnic tables, making this an ideal location for lunch. The forest is massive, covering 50 square miles and was planted in the 1920s. Originally the landscape was sand dunes and moorland.
There are many paths and tracks within the woodland and the coastal path markers can get swallowed up by the vastness. So keep your eyes peeled. Basically we are curving round the headland as shown in the map below. Always keep the water to your right. Do explore a minor path or two leading towards the actual shoreline for fantastic views across the sands. Look out for a sign pointing to the ice house - formerly used to store salmon and nowadays home to a bat colony. Once round Tentsmuir Point, look for gaps in the trees which allow you to see across the Firth of Tay to Angus.
Eventually the forest thins out and the town of Tayport becomes visible in the distance. Make your way to the harbour area and that pretty much takes us to the 10-mile mark. The Harbour Café provides refreshments and Cobbies Inn just along the road serves the usual keg beers (plus bottles from the Eden Brewery). Bus 42B runs back to Leuchars in just 15 min and departs hourly.
