Driving from Edinburgh to St. Andrews.

Well the Forth Bridge for one thing in not to be missed. It has been said that the Forth Road Bridge was only built so one could get a better view of the Forth Railroad Bridge. If you go to www.viamichelin.co.uk, and put in your perameters, click on sightseeing and further down click on tourism, you will get driving directions and things to see along the way. I'm not intirely clear on the road question. M roads are Motorways and are our freeways. Nigel where are you... I try to avoid these whenever possible, opting for the more scenic and time consuming A or B roads.

Jim , Laurel is right and hopefully Nigel will provide more detail about the drive . In 2010 starting in St Andrews we drove down the coast road to Edinburgh . We stopped in the little fishing villages of the east neuk along the way . Anstruther (locally pronounced " Enster " ) , Crail and Pittenweem were great and give wonderful view of the area culture . Try not to miss!!!

Laurel is right. M roads are what they call motorways...like our interstates....A roads are main roads...B roads are the lower traffic densities. I completely agree with Laurel, if you want to see the beauty of the UK use the A and B roads.

One idea would be to head due east on the A93 once you're north of Dumfermline and head for the Fife coast line and the small fishing villages of East Neuk such as Anstruther. Another thought would be to head for Falkland and visit Falkland Palace. It has a very old tennis court. ; ) You going to the Kingdom of Fife. This is where Ian Rankin, the mystery writer was born and grew up. His protagonist, Inspector Rebus, visits Fife now and then. I found this link recently which points out some literary high points for Fife. Have fun. When you're in St. Andrew's don't forget to check out the castle. There's a mine under it from one someone tried to dig out under the walls and someone else, I think was digging in. ; ) Pam PS and here's why I love helping out on these things. I just found out that there is a " Secret Bunker" just north of Anstruther!

Thanks to all of you. I've never driven in the UK and must admit that the thought of driving a right handed steering wheel car on the left side on unfamiliar roads has intimidated me a bit, and I drive everywhere for business. Can any of you share your "first" driving experience in there? I'll be picking up the car at the Edinburgh airport mid-morning and have nothing planned or a specific time I have to get to SA. Out of curiosity, who is Nigel?

Since this is first time going on the "wrong" side of the road, highly suggest you get automatic, not shift. My first time driving in Ireland or England with stick shift I almost always went from first gear to fourth, could not find second or third gear and also had hard time going around the circles. Also, Nigel lives in UK and is frequent poster on this site with lots of great information.

There's always room to stop somewhere and figure out where you are. You'll do fine. Remember, as the driver you're seated on the right that makes all the difference. For me, the tricky part was to remember which side I was on when I was pulling out of parking lots. There are no lanes so you can default to habit. I just repeat my mantraleft, left, leftwhenever I am leaving a parking lot or headed to into a turn. Don't panic if you get a standard shift car. The pedals are the same so it's just using your left hand to shift that is different. I actually find that it increases my focus on staying left. If it's your first time driving in the UK and you've just arrived from the US and so are a bit jet lagged, you might want to think about going to Falkland Palace. This would keep you on main roads with less navigation. And it would give you a good place to stop and catch your breadth before driving again. You can always go to East Neuk from St. Andrews. Also, when it comes to navigation, remember that the Scottish signs usually give the next main town and not always the route number. So, I would recommend a map as well as a GPS. You can map out your route and see the upcoming towns. It's highly likely that you will run into single track roads with passing places. Don't worry, there are rules of the road. Check out this link on single track from one of my favorite websites, Undiscovered Scotland. Pam

I would suggest taking A90 from Edinburgh airport to A921 stay on it until you get to either A915 or A955 (A955 would take you along the coast...A915 is a little inland), if you take A955 then it would end up meeting up to A915 (a little north of Leven)...then stay on A915 right into St. Andrews. It's a lovely trip. I would just take your time, you will get use to it in a couple of hours. Have a great time in St. Andrews. Don't worry if you are driving a little slower then the speed limit and someone comes up behind you, the English are great and will probably realize that you are a visitor, they will pass you.

Thank you all. Question, are there places on these roads to pull over if I think I'm lost, confused or need to look at a map, maybe like a shoulder here? I'm probably making this harder than is, right?

We just came back from our 18th trip to the UK, and my husband has driven every time. As you can imagine, by now he's very comfortable driving on the other side of the road. But, on our first visit, I felt as if we were going to go into the ditch (I'm always a nervous passenger - even here). We were on backroads and branches kept hitting the side of the car. It took him several hours to get his bearings about the road placement. But then it was fine, and we both love driving over there - him as the driver, me as the passenger.

One other thing - our GPS has helped us immensely. We always bring ours from home.

Pam Checked out the link on Undiscovered Scotland, which is a site I wish all countries were required to produce for their visitors, and decided for the single lane roads a bicycle would be best. Where are all the Vespa's when you need them? Jim

Jim, I didn't drive, but had a cousin take me to Anstruther, Crail, and St. Andrews - all beautiful - because I wanted to see the Sea. In Crail, be sure to visit the Pottery shop, not right on the waterfront, and leave some room in your carry-on for it. I got a little tartan bowl there and would have bought more if I had space. This was my favorite day in Scotland (only time out of the cities).
Ruth

Jim, Have a good road Atlas to see where you're going and a GPS to get you there. Driving in the UK is not hard and you'll get used to it rather quickly. When we come home is when I have to remember to "keep right". Go around as many times as you need to in the round abouts. Your GPS will tell you what exit to take and you just count them as you pass them. This is also where you atlas will come in handy because it will tell you what road sign to look for. Driving stories. My sister hit a house in Shaftsbury..I can't imagine what she was thinking. It was my job as navigator to tell her when she was getting too close to the curb on the left and that worked out well. But just trying to turn a corner and still keep out of oncoming traffic she go a bit too far out of the way and simpley excelerated when it was her turn to go. It was not the first time the house had been hit but, sadly, it was the first time for our cute little car. Thank goodness for insurance. I don't know how far North from St Andrews you plan to go, but there is a lovely ruin of a castle near Stonehaven. Dunnottar Castle. You're going to have a lovely time.