Concierge at Old Course Hotel

Good day, Ralph here and a warm welcome back to my blog.

We’re delighted with the news that St Andrews has been voted as the 9^th best destination in the UK by TripAdvisor and I’m not at all surprised as there are so many great things to do in our seaside town!

This inspired me to think about the top 10 things to do in St Andrews.  These are not listed in any particular order as they are all as exciting as the next. 

1.  Fish and chips from one of the many delicious Fish & Chip Shops in town, then a walk down to the harbour whilst eating – great to do on a sunny spring day!

2. A visit to St Andrews Castle and Cathedral, climb to the top of St Rule’s Tower where you can enjoy breath- taking views across West Sands beach and across the North Sea.  www.historic-scotland.gov.uk

3. A lovely walk and picnic at the spectacular secret gardens of St Andrews – The Botanical Gardens.

4. Dodge a golf ball or two and enjoy the views of the Old Course 17^th green while sipping on a pint of Jigger Ale at golf’s most famous 19^th hole – The Jigger Inn.

5. Get blown away on West Sands with some Land -Yachting.  I can highly recommend Blown Away Land Yachts www.blowawaylandyachts.co.uk

6.  Take a walk down the Old Course on Sunday and have your picture taken on the Swilcan Bridge.

7.  Have a lovely relaxed evening watching a performance at Scotland’s only Five Star Arts and Theatre Venue, The Byre Theatre.  www.byretheatre.com

8.  Delve into the history of the University of St Andrews by taking a visit to MUSA, the museum which holds all information and facts on the important role the University has played in the town since the 14^th Century.  www.st-andrews.ac.uk/musa/MUSA/musa_main.html

9.  Take a stroll along the cobbled streets of St Andrews and visit some of the fabulous and quirky gift shops and designer boutiques.

10. Finally, you can’t leave town without trying some of the fabulous ice-cream from one of our famous ice-cream shops, Janetta’s on North Street and Luvians Ice Cream Parlour on Market Street. …in fact why choose? Sample both!  There are up to 52 to try from and my favourite is cherry,  Yum!

I’d love to hear what you’re favourite things to do in and around St Andrews are so I can tell our guests about your experiences too.  Please do get in touch and let me know, just leave a comment on this page and I’ll pick it up from here.
Until next time…. enjoy and speak soon!

Ralph

Janettas Ice Cream

Blow Away Land Yachts

Hi folks good to see you again and thanks for comments posted on visits to the Botanic Gardens from my last blog update.  It’s good to hear about your experiences so please do keep in touch!

St Andrews is of course buzzing in the lead up to the Royal Wedding. The local shops have Royal Wedding themed windows and camera crews are dotted around town interviewing the locals and gearing up for the party in St Salvator’s tomorrow.   We are also joining the celebrations with a Royal Wedding Jazz Brunch in the Road Hole Restaurant where guests will enjoy a buffet to the soothing sounds of jazz against the jaw dropping backdrop of the Old Course. Personally, I feel very proud that the future King and Queen met in our little town and I’m looking forward to the big day!

If you are looking for something to do following the wedding celebrations and for a great day out with family and friends then I would suggest Muddy Boots at Balmalcom, it’s on the A914 just outside Cupar.  Muddy Boots is a fantastic farm with outdoor activity centre for kids, farm shop and coffee shop – it really is a lot of fun for all ages!

For kids the farm offers a play area with tractor track, giant pillow jumping, sand pit and tyre swings. Children will especially love the farm yard where there are lots of chickens and ducks running around. The latest addition to the kids’ activities is the Body Zorbing which looks like brilliant fun!

For grown ups the farm shop is terrific, offering a range of local and organic produce including fruit and veg, ice cream, cakes and biscuits; as well as a range of quirky gifts and cards. I would highly recommend a visit to the coffee shop too, sample some of the delicious home made cakes and sandwiches. 

And for the child inside us all…grass sledging! Held on the grass slopes to the right of the farm shop this activity can be enjoyed at any age, just grab a sledge and hold on – great fun!

The weather is forecast to be gloriously sunny tomorrow (unlike London!)  so it’s the perfect day to whisk the kids off and challenge them to a grass sledging race!

There are additional charges for some of the activities, for more information including opening times you can call Muddy Boots on 01337 831222.

Have a great weekend and speak soon!

Ralph

  Hello, I’m Ralph and a very warm Scottish Welcome to the Old Course Hotel and our all new Concierge Blog.  I plan to bring you information on all the things going on around the Resort as well as some great local information and events that will hopefully give you some ideas for places to visit on your next trip to St Andrews. 

April brings the new golf season which is a really exciting time as more golfers begin to arrive.  For those of you who think a tee is a good brew best served with a chocolate biscuit and a bogey is….well you get where I’m going with this… then you’ll be delighted to hear that St Andrews has a whole host of activities away from the greens – From a great selection of boutique shops to lovely coffee shops, ice cream and sweetie shops, art galleries, some wonderful restaurants and bars as well as fantastic events like The On The Rocks Arts festival (http://www.ontherocksfestival.com/) running all across town this week.

The glorious weather we have had recently has been perfect for getting out and exploring the town.   Now I can’t guarantee the weather but it’s worth noting that St Andrews is the sunniest town in Scotland – so you can be as sure as you can be in Scotland of a cracking day out at this time of year.  One stop we always recommend to our guests is the St Andrews Botanic Gardens.   The gardens are perfect for family picnics and in fact, one of our team members Tom loves visiting the Botanic Garden with his young family.  The kids love to run around the gardens, exploring all the different, plants and trees.  As you enter the different glasshouses you are transported into different worlds, the cactus garden is amazing and kids will love the different types of cacti. Tom’s little girl thinks one of them looks like a giant spider!

 The glasshouses are home to a vast array of plants from all over the world – you’ll find plants from Central Chile, South Africa, Australia, the Mediterranean and North West America.  Stepping into the Temperate House you could easily be in a beautiful tropical land with stunning plants and spectacular waterfall.

Take in the beautiful colours and smells as you walk around the woodland area along to the rock garden. The rock garden is particularly interesting at this time of year, with over 2,500 species of alpine plants some of which are native to Scotland. The Rock Garden Scree features an array of low lying shrubs, right now there are some beautiful yellow colours and it is fantastic to see the change in colours as the different plants develop through out the year.

The Garden has extended its opening hours for the summer season from 10am until 7pm.  I suggest you take a picnic and spend your afternoon wandering around the Gardens. For more information visit the St Andrews Botanic Gardens website http://www.st-andrews-botanic.org/

The forecast for the rest of week is mostly dry and sunny with just a couple of showers on Saturday and only a few wee clouds on Sunday – it’s going to be warm again though so take the sunscreen with your picnic!

Look forward to speaking soon.

Ralph