Burntisland is a town of 6,300 people (2011) on the north coast of the Firth of Forth in Fife in central Scotland. It's industrial with a port; it formerly had ship-building, but it's now a small seaside resort and commuter town for Edinburgh. The town's name refers to an island in the harbour that was long ago engulfed by shoreline development. The usual story is that huts there caught fire, but it could refer to burning of agricultural waste.
Get in
And see Fife for long-distance options.
By train
Inter-city trains don't stop in Burntisland so you need to change at Edinburgh or Haymarket or Inverkeithing for the Fife loop train. This runs from Edinburgh (M-Sa twice an hour, Su hourly) via Haymarket over the Forth Bridge to Inverkeithing and Burntisland (35 min), continuing along the coast to Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes / Thornton then looping back anti-clockwise via Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline to Inverkeithing and Edinburgh. You don't want to be on the clockwise loop going the long way round inland via Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Glenrothes / Thornton then along the coast west via Kirkcaldy to Burntisland. Trains in Edinburgh badged "Glenrothes and Thornton" could be going either way, so if in doubt hop on, then you've got 10 min to Inverkeithing to check whether to stay aboard, or to step off and await the next train.
- 1 Burntisland Station. This is south side of town near the docks.
By car
On the A921 8 mi (13 km) east of Rosyth and 6 mi (9.7 km) south west of Kirkcaldy
By bus
Inter-city buses don't call here. Stagecoach Fife Bus 7 runs along the coast from Dunfermline to Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy and Leven; M-Sa every 30 min and hourly on Su. The main bus stop is by the junction of High St and Kirkgate.
Get around
The main sites can be explored on foot.
Stagecoach Fife - B1 circular bus route around the town.
See
- 1 Museum of Communication, 131 High Street, KY3 9AA. May - Sep: Saturday and Wednesday. Exhibition changes most years - From Flags to Flanders Fields about first world war communications for 2017.
- Burntisland Heritage Trust. An exhibition of town history is held in the Burgh Chambers on the High Street on W-Su in summer. Also a good place to ask for general tourist information.
- 2 St Columba's Church (Burntisland Parish Church). It opened in 1594 and has an interesting painted interior (open summer Saturdays). It was the first church to be built in Scotland after the Reformation.
- The Beach: "Award-winning" they say, but the award must be for fuel efficiency because it's black. This is natural pollution: there are coal outcrops on the sea bed, so shards are continually washing ashore.
- 3 Rossend Castle. See this from the outside only as it is now occupied by a firm of architects.
- 4 The Links. Open grass area with playpark. The links were granted to the town by a royal charter of James V in June 1541.
Do
- Go to the Fair in Summer on The Links.
- Walk the Fife Coastal Path. From Alloa all the way east beneath the Forth bridges to Burntisland and onward to the East Neuk. To go west, simplest from High St is to head up Lothian St and Kirkton Rd to pick up the trail by Haugh Road. This leads through housing estates then along the railway, eventually ducking beneath the track to come onto the shore path to Aberdour. Going east is only worth doing at low tide, when you can walk along the beach to Kinghorn then trend north towards Kirkcaldy. When the tide's in you have to follow the main road A921; there's a sidewalk but it's a busy boring road.
- 1 Beacon Leisure Centre, Lammerlaws Road. Go for a swim.
- 2 Divebunker, Lamerlaws Road, ☏ 44 1592 874380. Scuba dive in the Firth of Forth. Also equipment shop.
- Burntisland Highland Gathering is held on the third Monday in July. The 2021 event was cancelled so the next is probably M 18 July 2022, tbc.
Buy
- 1 C & M Seafoods, 182 High St., ☏ 44 7939 176712.
Eat
- 1 Romanos, 144a High Street, ☏ 44 1592 874200. Excellent fish and chips.
- 2 The Roasting Project - Coffee House, 253A High St, ☏ 44 1592 873680. Cafe.
Drink
The town is well served by hotels and bars catering to all tastes commensurate with the standing of a Fife coastal town.
Sleep
- 1 Burntisland Sands Hotel, Lochies Road, ☏ 44 1592 872230.
- 2 Kingswood Hotel, Kinghorn Road, near Burntisland, KY3 9LL, ☏ 44 1592 872329.