Posted Nov 4, 2022, 1:27 AM UTC
As you can see from the comments nobody likes St Andrews. Have to admit, I went there once and it was a very weird place. Just yanks and toffs.
St Andrews is full of rich Americans and rich English where everything is over priced, it's good for a day trip because it is very pretty but I wouldn't stay there, Edinburgh is a very beautiful city and I would highly recommend it but if you want natural beauty I would say the west coast, there's a smallish town called Oban and as a Scottish lad myself I can definitely say it's the prettiest town I've seen so far, the night life is great it's lovely at day and the food is pretty damn good too. Give it a quick Google it's becoming pretty popular:))
Thank you! A town would be great. Edinburgh was always an obvious choice but I'd like a calmer spot to be based.
I was born and grew up in St. Andrews but I can’t recommend it. It’s built around golf and tourists in the summer and the university in the winter months with their snotty brand of students.
Go to Inverness, or Mallaig by train. Edinburgh is great too except for August when it’s a zoo.
Mull is great, good ferry ride to Craignure, and Tobermory is good for a couple of nights.
Weather is brutal in December-January but remember there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.
Scots people are the best in the world. Can’t wait to get back…
Thanks very much I'll look into this, and as far as the weather I'm irish I'll be prepared!
Stirling of you want to be central, but consider Elgin if your interested in what the North has to offer.
Inverness or Aviemore if you want the outdoors with somewhere go out at night. There's thousands of wee places that offer accommodation with access to natural beauty, but if you want to balance that with a bit of a 'In the town at night' vibe, then those two are your best bet.
Realise you've got a fair chunk of answers now, but if you have any further questions, can you take them to the weekly stickied tourism thread, please? Cheers!
Don't believe everything you read - I love st Andrews and it's not pretentious. It's a beautiful place, plenty to do for somewhere so small - shops and pubs and places to eat, historical sites, 3 beaches! It's not dead in winter like a lot of touristy places because of the university. And it's in a nice part of the coast for sightseeing, wee fishing villages and everything.
Said the st Andrews tourist board..
Lol I did think it sounded a bit like that when I wrote it, but St Andrews is my favourite place in the world and everyone else was making it sound terrible!
St Andrews is wonderful, and offers easy access to Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee, Perth and even has direct busses to Glasgow. Trains from the nearby Leuchars station will take you as far as Inverness.
Only downside is the cost of hotels/B&Bs in St Andrews, but otherwise it’s a great place!
Most of this sub seem to have an issue with the students and tourists, but honestly they keep the town buzzing! Not to mention, us locals don’t bite :)
Inverness.
Visited St.Andrews before covid and hated it. Just golf stuff everywhere and felt pretty pretentious.
Inverness quicker drive to west coast of the Highlands, short drive to Cairngorms etc
Thanks! St. Andrews does not sound appealing glad I've posted here.