The Kingdom of Fife

Welcome to the Kingdom of Fife…

This tour takes you to some of Scotland’s finest gardens and to some magnificent castles and palaces too, and, at Scone Palace and Dunfermline Abbey, to the very heart of Scotland’s history.

The Kingdom of Fife is a historic region on Scotland’s east coast, bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north and the Firth of Forth to the south, and was once one of Scotland’s seven Pictish kingdoms. Fife has a rich cultural and historical heritage; its medieval capital, Dunfermline, was the seat of Scottish royalty for centuries.

We stay in two comfortable, independent hotels and, as we always do, we eat very well too–especially if you enjoy seafood.

D1 Tuesday, 28 July

Dunblane & Drummond Castle

Tim will collect you from the Hampton by Hilton Edinburgh Airport hotel at 10.30 am and, after loading the minibus, we’ll drive west to Dunblane, to see its historic Cathedral, and lunch at The Riverside.

After lunch, we’ll continue north to visit Drummond Castle and its stunning gardens. Built on a rocky outcrop in the last decade of the 15th century, and much altered since, Drummond Castle’s garden is extraordinary. More akin to a French parterre garden, it is a 17th-century Scottish Renaissance garden, reworked in early Victorian times and renewed again in the 20th century.

It is not too far from Drummond to Perth and The Parklands Hotel, our home for the next three nights, where we plan to be in good time to check in and relax before drinks and dinner at the hotel.

Today's driving is about 80 miles/130 km

D2 Wednesday, 29 July

Scone Palace & Branklyn

We start the day at Stanley Mills, one of the Industrial Revolution’s best-preserved mills. For 200 years, from the 1780s until 1989, this spectacular mill harnessed the power of the River Tay to produce textiles, and we’ll enjoy a short visit to it before driving south to Scone Palace. Scone has history. The Romans were here, the Picts ruled from here, in 843 Kenneth MacAlpin, King of the Scots, made it his seat, and in 906 King Constantine held the first recorded council here. There is much to see and enjoy, and we’ll explore its gardens and grounds, and the house.

Finally, we’ll visit Branklyn, a well-loved Arts & Crafts-inspired garden created in 1922 by John and Dorothy Renton, who were keen to have a garden that featured rare and unusual plants and flowers from all over the world. Today, gardeners and botanists come from across the globe to admire Branklyn’s outstanding collections.

Dinner in Perth at Port North.

Today's driving is about 30 miles/50 km

D3 Thursday, 30 July

Pitmuies & Glamis Castle

Our first visit is to Pitmuies, one of our favourite gardens. It is the home of Ruaraidh and Jeanette, and Jeanette is the driving force in the garden, a position she has inherited from her mother-in-law, Marguerite, who developed the gardens.

We leave Pitmuies and drive west to spend the afternoon at Glamis Castle, the ancestral seat of the Earls of Strathmore, one time host to Mary, Queen of Scots, thought to have inspired Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth and, more recently, childhood home of the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and birthplace of the late Princess Margaret.

We’ll have lunch at Glamis, take a tour of the house and explore the Italian and Walled Kitchen gardens.

Dinner at our hotel.

Today's driving is about 90 miles/145 km

D4 Friday, 31 July

Teasses & Wemyss Castle

We leave Perth for Fife, spending the day visiting two gardens, both restoration projects born of the 1990s and both new to us. Our first visit is to Teasses, where we’ll be able to witness the results of an ongoing restoration project. The estate was purchased by the current owners in the mid-1990s, and they have returned the gardens, which had largely disappeared under pasture for grazing livestock, to their former glory. Indeed, so passionate are they that over the past twenty years, they have created some sixty acres of beautiful gardens.

We’ll have a picnic with us and we’ll find a suitable spot along the coast for lunch, before our next visit to Wemyss. There is little known about the development of Wemyss Castle before the 17th century, but subsequently, founded on the wealth from the local coalfields, the family extended their home and laid the beginnings of a designed landscape with formal enclosed gardens and wooded parkland. Development continued sporadically, but the walled garden continued to be cultivated until the First World War.

Some eighty years later, when Michael and Charlotte Wemyss moved to the Castle in 1993, the walls of the Walled Garden were still structurally sound, but inside was a wilderness; a handful of ancient fruit trees, a patch of redcurrants and three geese. Again, we’re going to see the results of their labours since then.

Wemyss is not far from Lower Largo and The Crusoe, our home for the next four nights, where we plan to be in good time to check in and relax before drinks and dinner at our hotel.

Today's total driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D5 Saturday, 1 August

Kellie Castle, St Andrews & Willowhill

Our day starts a few miles to the east, at Kellie Castle, a fortress dating to the 14th century, but it’s the inside that’s the real gem. In 1878, James Lorimer, an Edinburgh lawyer, rented the now derelict castle and the Lorimer family set about restoring it to use as a holiday retreat. Robert Lorimer, their son and by now a highly-regarded architect, was instrumental in much of the restoration work, restoring magnificent plaster ceilings, painted panelling and furniture. John, a famous painter, continued where Robert left off until the last of the Lorimers, Hew, a sculptor, passed the castle to the National Trust of Scotland in 1970. The garden, rather fittingly, is an Arts & Crafts garden with magnificent herbaceous borders, old-fashioned roses and an organic fruit and vegetable garden.

From Kellie Castle we’ll continue east to St Andrews for lunch and to wander the streets of this attractive seaside town, famous, amongst other things, for being the home of golf, home to Scotland’s oldest university (and the third oldest in the English-speaking world) and, until the Scottish Reformation, the ecclesiastical capital of Scotland; its famous cathedral, the largest in Scotland, now wonderful ruins.

After exploring St Andrews, we head north to Willowhill, a 3-acre garden created by Eric Wright and Sally Lorimore since 2000. The garden has two essential features, firstly to fit within the wider landscape, by leading the eye to the hill beyond and secondly, vibrant colour combinations, used to dramatic effect.

Dinner at the Kinneuchar Inn, en route home to Lower Largo.

Today's driving is about 60 miles/100 km

D6 Sunday, 2 August

Falkland Palace & Glassmount House

After a lazy Sunday start and a walk along the beach, we start at Falkland Palace, one of Scotland’s finest Renaissance palaces. Built by James IV and his son, James V, between 1501 and 1541 as a pleasure ground for their country pursuits.

It fell into disrepair after 1660, but was saved from ruin in the 19th century by the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who gave the palace a new lease of life.

After lunch, at Falkland, we’ll return to the coast to visit Glassmount House, a private garden, like Willowhill, open for charity under the Scotland’s Gardens umbrella.

It is a densely planted walled garden, boasting an A-listed sundial, a Mackenzie & Moncur greenhouse and a historical doocot, surrounded by woodland.

Hedges and topiary form backdrops for an abundance of bulbs, clematis, rambling roses and perennials, creating interest through the summer into September. The garden extends beyond the walls, with new areas of naturalistic planting blending the boundary between the surrounding fields and the woodland. It was the Scottish finalist in Channel 4's Garden of the Year programme in 2022.

We’ll have dinner at The Ship Inn, Crusoe’s near neighbour and sister establishment.

Today's driving is about 90 miles/145 km

D7 Monday, 3 August

Wormistoune, Cambo & East Neuk villages

We are not entirely sure of today’s running order, but we hope to visit Wormistoune, a garden we last visited in 2015, and can’t wait to return. It’s a stunning garden, superbly maintained. It delights at every turn, with its knot parterre, an ancient orchard and beautifully planted garden.

We will enjoy a part of the day hopping between the several picturesque villages running along Fife’s beautiful south east coastline – collectively, the East Neuk Villages. We will certainly visit the award-winning Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther and Crail Pottery in Crail, and others as time and desire dictate.

The other certainty of the day is a visit to the gardens at Cambo, an estate just south of St Andrews which has been in the Erskine family for over 300 years. The gardens have been open to the public since 1985 and are very much a part of the local community. They offer extensive learning opportunities and have, for some years, encouraged volunteers and supported apprenticeships. At the heart of the gardens is the stunning walled garden, always with something of interest and always evolving and innovating.

We’ll return to The Crusoe for drinks and our end-of-tour dinner.

Today's driving is about 50 miles/80 km

D8 Tuesday, 4 August

Dunfermline Abbey & Culross Palace

We’ll slowly make our way back to Edinburgh Airport, stopping first at Dunfermline Abbey, the final resting place of some 18 royals, including Robert the Bruce. The abbey’s great nave is also the most visually stunning example of Romanesque architecture in Scotland.

And then to The Royal Burgh of Culross, to explore the Palace and the Abbey.

Built for Sir George Bruce in the early part of the 17th century, Culross Palace is an exceptional example of a merchant’s home of that period. Outside, the Royal Burgh of Culross remains a remarkable example of a 17th- and 18th-century burgh in Scotland. Its distinctive charm has remained largely intact for over 300 years. The quaint houses, topped with red pantiles, line the narrow cobbled streets that lead to the Mercat Cross. Not surprisingly, it is popular with film-makers and featured in the TV series Outlander.

If you are staying in Scotland and don't wish to return to Edinburgh, but would rather be dropped off elsewhere, then please let us know, so that we may assist you in getting to your next destination.

Otherwise, we will return to the Hampton by Hilton Hotel Edinburgh Airport, where the tour ends, by about 3 pm.

Today's driving is about 60 miles/100 km