Go Walk St Andrews ~ West Sands
The West Sands beach is the largest in St Andrews. Famous for being featured in the opening scenes of 'Chariots of Fire' it's around 2-3 miles of lovely golden sand backed by dunes. The far end features a bird watching platform and views across the Eden Estuary Nature Reserve towards Tentsmuir Forest. There are warnings in place not to walk too far. When the tide is out it looks deceptively like you could walk directly to Tentsmuir. There have been coastguards rescues when walkers discover this is not the case. You can park on the grassy verges just off the main road in.
Time to the end and back is around 90 minutes although I did stop to drag two 25lt full oil containers off the beach the day we tracked it on the map, and taking time to enjoy the spectacular views.
Plenty of bins around but not on the beach
Time : 90 mins
Distance : 6 km
Rating : 8/10
Hazards : Hares, Ground nesting birds. In winter sheep in paddocks.
So in conclusion ...
A nice walk, the 8/10 rating is due to lack of bins, but made up for by the amazing views and sand stretches.
