Skip to content
Voykit
Back to St Andrews

In the print dialog pick “Save as PDF” to keep it on your phone. A5 makes a pocket booklet; A4 suits a desk printer.

Include in the print. Unchecked sections stay on screen, dimmed, and drop out of the PDF.

Voykit pocket guide · United Kingdom

St Andrews

Give St Andrews one full day and one night: the golf, the ruined cathedral and the castle fit in a walkable half-day, and the town empties after the students leave.

St Andrews is a small Fife coastal town built around a 1413 university and the Old Course, the course that fixed the 18-hole round. Everything worth seeing sits inside a 1 km walk: cathedral ruins, the castle with its siege mine, two quads, the harbour and two beaches. Most travellers come as a day trip from Edinburgh or as a golf pilgrimage; one night lets you see it after the coaches leave.

LondonAbbots LangleyAbbots LeighAbbotsburyAberaeronAbercastleAberdareAberdaronAberdeenAberdourAberdyfiAbereiddyAberfeldyAberffrawSt Andrews200 kmdots: other places in this guide
Sketch, not to navigate by: shapes follow this guide’s areas and places, not official boundaries. North is up.
Country
United Kingdom
Best months
May–Sep
Avoid
Nov–Feb (short days, cold wind); Open Championship weeks (July 2027) when rooms sell out and prices jump
Stay
1 night

Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.

Essentials

Currency
GBP
Money
Currency is the pound sterling (GBP, £). Cards and contactless work almost everywhere; some places are card-only.
Daily spend
Budget £55–85 excl. bed · Mid £85–140 excl. bed · High £140+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
SIM and data
EE, Vodafone (merged with Three in 2025) and O2 run the networks; prepaid SIMs sell in supermarkets, phone shops and airport vending machines, no registration needed.
Emergency
Police, fire, ambulance 999 · NHS non-urgent 111 · Police non-urgent 101
Plugs
Types G · 230 V · 50 Hz · Three-pin Type G only; European, US and Australian plugs need an adapter. Bathrooms have two-pin shaver sockets only.
Tipping
Restaurant with table service: 10–12.5% if no service charge is on the bill; check before adding more.; Pub or bar: Not expected; 'and one for yourself' offers the bartender a drink.; Taxi: Round up or 10%.; Hotel porter: £1–2 per bag.; Tour guide: £5–10 per person for a day tour; free walking tours expect £10–15.
Water
Tap water is safe everywhere. Free refills are common; restaurants will bring tap water if you ask.
Toilets
Public toilets are scarce and some charge 50p–£1 or are card-only. Stations, museums, department stores and pubs (if you buy a drink) are the fallback.

What things cost

ItemPrice
Coffee£3–4.50
Fish and chips£10–16
Pint of beer in a pub£5–6.50
Cathedral entryFree
St Andrews Castle entryAdult £10, child £6, conc £8
British Golf Museum entryAdult £17.50, conc £15.50, child free
St Andrews Aquarium day passAdult £16, conc £15, child £13
Botanic Gardens entryAdult £6, conc £5, under-18 and students free

Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.

Get in

By air

EDI · Edinburgh Airport
Best flight choice. Tram or bus to Edinburgh, then train to Leuchars and bus 99, or Stagecoach Jet 747 to Inverkeithing for the train.
GLA · Glasgow Airport
Good range of flights; train from Glasgow needs a change at Edinburgh Haymarket or Dundee, about 2 h 30 min total.
DND · Dundee Airport
Loganair from London Stansted twice daily Mon–Fri, once Sunday; Apr–Oct also London City and Belfast City. 25 min by bus 99 from Dundee.

Typical fares

Leuchars station → St Andrews, bus 99
about £3, 10 min
Taxi Leuchars station → town centre
about £20
Edinburgh → St Andrews, bus X59
about 2 h, hourly, last bus 17:50
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card

Get around

Walk. The centre is compact and the one-way system and expensive central parking are designed to keep cars out. Bus 99 links the bus station, Guardbridge, Leuchars station and Dundee; bus 95 runs down the coast to Crail, Anstruther and Leven. Taxi ranks are at the bus station and on Bell Street.

See and do

Known for

  • Old Course and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club
  • University of St Andrews (founded 1413)
  • St Andrews Cathedral ruins
  • St Andrews Castle and its siege mine
  • West Sands beach

Day trips

WhereHowTime
AnstrutherStagecoach bus 95 south along the coastAbout 40 min
DunfermlineBus or train via Inverkeithing, or drive over the Queensferry Crossing1–1.5 h
KirkcaldyTrain from Leuchars via Inverkeithing, or busAbout 1 h
GlenrothesBus X24 or X59, or Moffat & Williamson bus 64 via CuparAbout 1 h
BurntislandTrain from Leuchars via InverkeithingAbout 1 h 15 min
LevenStagecoach bus 95 south along the coastAbout 1 h 15 min

Sleep

Town centre (Market Street, South Street, North Street)
Everything walkable; guesthouses and small hotels in stone terraces. Book early for graduation, golf tournaments and university term weekends.
Near the Old Course and West Sands
Old Course Hotel and larger hotels; sea views and golf access, higher prices, 10–15 min walk to the bus station.
Leuchars or Guardbridge
Cheaper beds outside town on the bus 99 corridor; you trade walkability for a 10–15 min bus ride.

Phrase card

EnglishSay or show
Excuse me / SorryExcuse me / Sorrystandard English
Thank youThank youstandard English
Can I pay by card?Can I pay by card?standard English
Where is the toilet?Where is the toilet?standard English

Etiquette, safety and scams

Etiquette

  • Greeting: Handshake at first meeting; 'hi' and first names quickly; avoid: Cheek kisses with strangers
  • Conversation: Weather is a safe opener; understatement and self-deprecating humour; avoid: Asking about salary or class
  • Queues: Join at the back; avoid: Pushing onto buses or trains before others get off
  • Apologies: 'Sorry' is said constantly, even when not at fault; avoid: Taking it as an admission of blame
  • Pubs: Buy rounds in a group; wait at the bar without waving money; avoid: Clicking fingers at staff
  • Nations: Call Scots Scottish and Welsh Welsh; avoid: Calling the whole UK 'England'

Scams and watch-outs

  • Central parking is limited and expensive; use the free car parks at Petheram Bridge, Murray Place or Woodburn Place and walk in.
  • The sea is cold year-round; West Sands and Castle Sands are for walking, not swimming without a wetsuit.
  • Old Course tee times are ballot or package only; the other St Andrews Links courses are the realistic way to play.
  • Major tournaments fill every bed in town: check dates before booking travel.
  • Castle Sands is cut off at high tide and rocky at low tide; check tide times before rock-pooling.

A low-crime small town; the real risks are cold water, fast tides at Castle Sands, uneven ruined masonry and unlit lanes after dark. Standard UK advice applies: 999 in an emergency, 111 for NHS non-urgent.

One and two days

No timed day plan for St Andrews yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.

  • Old Course and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club
  • University of St Andrews (founded 1413)
  • St Andrews Cathedral ruins
  • St Andrews Castle and its siege mine
  • West Sands beach

Sources

Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.

Pocket card

Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.

St Andrews

To this address, please

To this address, please

My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)

  • Police, fire, ambulance999
  • NHS non-urgent111
  • Police non-urgent101

No embassies in St Andrews; the US consulate-general is in Edinburgh, and most other countries keep embassies in London.

English is the everyday language; a few Scots words appear on signs.

Voykit · checked 2026-09

Printed from Voykit (/st-andrews). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.