During our golf trip to Scotland, we had two days without a tee time so we decided to visit some sites outside of St. Andrews. Having a rental car allowed us to travel beyond the town to see sights we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to see. Some of these are fairly close to St. Andrews while others required a bit of a drive, sometimes on one lane, back country farm roads. Here are our thoughts on these scenic attractions.

Every sight we visited was recommended by locals, mostly by our host at the Lorimer Guest House. Andrew and Chris asked around about visiting a local distillery, something related to WWII, the Highlands, and an old castle. Below are the sights that came highly recommended to us and they all turned out to be exactly what we were hoping for.

Lindores Abbey Distillery

Located about 35 minutes west of St. Andrews, Lindores Abbey Distillery has the distinction of being the “home” of Scotch Whiskey. Per their website: “Distilling was taking place on this site at least as early as 1494, although it was most probably happening long before that. We know this because of the earliest written reference to Scotch Whisky (or Aqua Vitae, as it was then known), which appears in the Exchequer Roll of the same year. It records a Brother John Cor, a Lindores monk, who was commissioned by King James IV to turn 8 bolls of malt into Aqua Vitae.”

While there was a large time gap between when Scotch was distilled on this site, spirit started flowing once again in 2017 from copper stills at Lindores Abbey Distillery, and the first single malt whisky was released in 2021. The water for their whisky comes from a borehole near the distillery, in order that we can draw from the same supply used in 1494. The Abbey was fed by several wells such as the Abbots well, the Monks well, the Bluidy well and the Witches well.

We arrived about 45 minutes before the next tour time so we toured the Abbey ruins across the street from the Distillery. The Abbey is considered the “Spiritual Home of Scotch Whiskey” whose legacy dates back to 1191, when the Abbey first opened its doors.

Monarchs like David II, Edward I of England, and Robert the Bruce all visited these sacred grounds. One of Scotland’s greatest national hero’s, William Wallace, found respite within these ancient walls and three valiant knights pledged their unwavering loyalty to The Bruce in this hallowed space. The Abbey is also the final resting place for many prominent Scottish figures who sought solace and eternal peace within its serene grounds.

We just walked up and were able to get into the next tour but they do recommend booking one ahead of time. Distillery Tours at the time of our visit cost £25 and it was money well spent. The tour started with the history of the grounds and how Medieval monks first distilled ‘aqua vitae’—the water of life—on these very grounds in 1494, marking the inception of whisky as we know it today.

After a quick history of the Abbey, we were then provided with a very detailed tour of the distillery that showcased every step of the process, from the grains arriving at the facility through the maturation process in the barrel room. At the conclusion of the tour, we were able to try two delicious drams for ourselves! Just outside the room with the racks of barrels, there were plenty of barrels waiting to be used. Upon closer inspection, most of these were former Bourbon Barrels from Kentucky, USA.

Lindores Abbey Distillery also offers Private Casks which allows individuals a unique chance to become an integral part of Lindores Abbey Distillery’s journey, as well an opportunity to mark a special occasion or to add to your own collection. The owners of these barrels are provided with their own unique bottling of Lindores Single Malt Whisky, which can be personalized. These personal barrels were easy to spot on the racks as they tended to be the smaller ones.

View of the Distillery from the Abbey ruins.

After our tour and tasting, we visited the gift shop to purchase a few bottles of Scotch, a few smaller items, and headed off to our next stop of the day. We probably spent about three hours at the Distillery, it was worth every minute, and we highly recommend this stop to anyone in the area, even to those who may not be big Scotch fans or drinkers themselves.

Scotland’s Secret Bunker

Both Andrew and his brother are into World War II history and when they asked locals what they could visit tied to that era, everyone recommended Scotland’s Secret Bunker. While it’s history really began after WWII in response to the nuclear threat from Russia, it was still a worthwhile visit.

Scotland’s Secret Underground Nuclear Command Centre takes visitors back in time to the Cold War era where tensions and concerns over a nuclear war were very real.

Located 15 minutes south of St. Andrews in the middle of an unassuming farmland, the Secret Bunker, also known as RAF Troywood when it was still active, was built in 1953. The bunker itself is located 100 feet underground and is 24,000 square feet in size over two levels.

Without the signs near the entrance advertising the Secret Bunker, it would be very easy to drive by the tree lined entrance and never notice it. Even approaching the farm house, the only signs that there was ever anything military related located there are the various Cold War era vehicles surrounding the parking lot.

Once we entered the farmhouse, we were met by a small shop and counter where we paid our entry fee and were directed to a small doorway that led to a set of stairs. This was the main entrance to the bunker and had a hoist in the ceiling so they could lower heavy objects down into the bunker.

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, we arrived at the entrance tunnel, which is 450 feet long and gradually slopes down to the top floor of the bunker, which is nearly 100 feet below ground level. Because the bunker is so far underground, it has numerous air intakes and extractors which maintain the temperature at 18 degrees celsius. We found the bunker temperature to be comfortable.

At the entrance to the operating area of the bunker, we were met with a sign that stated the bunker from this point on was encased in 15 feet of reinforced concrete. The entrance was also guarded by a large blast door meant to protect the bunker occupants in the event of a nuclear strike.

There were numerous rooms that made up the Command Centre, including the radar room which houses the same equipment that was used during the final days of the Cold War that tracked Soviet aircraft entering British airspace.

The RAF (Royal Air Forces) Operations Room includes a rebuild of the original 1950s RAF Command Centre including a board that shows aircraft status along with original files and papers which were left behind after the Centre was closed down.

The bunker was built to sleep up to 300 personnel and since they had to be on full alert 24/7, they adopted a “hot bed” operation where occupants who worked opposite shifts would share the same bunk. A few individuals had their own quarters including the Secretary of State, some of the military liaison staff, and the Minister of State.

The Secret Bunker had its own broadcasting studio to ensure that in the event of a nuclear strike, emergency broadcasts could be transmitted to the public. From the bunker, they had the ability to shut off all programs being broadcasted on every channel and override it with their emergency message.

While the bunker was operational, the canteen had to feed upwards of 300 personnel daily. The cafe was carefully preserved and includes many of the original features. Here are the current menu offerings, which is quite extensive.

Andrew and Chris visited both the Distillery and Bunker in one day and both were worth the drive. As mentioned above, it took us 35 minutes to get to the Distillery, about 40 minutes from the Distillery to the Secret Bunker, and another 15 minutes back to St. Andrews. Since it was a Sunday, we spent the morning walking around the Old Course and still had time to visit these two sites and be back in town by dinner.

Dunnottar Castle

Our tee time at Carnoustie was 3:30 in the afternoon so we decided to spend the morning driving north along the east coast of Scotland to Dunnottar Castle. The castle is located 75 minutes north of St. Andrews just south of Stonehaven. For folks coming from the north, it is about 25 minutes south of the center of Aberdeen.

Perched atop a 160 foot rock and surrounded on three sides by the North Sea, these dramatic and evocative cliff-top ruins look like they shouldn’t be there. For over 1000 years Dunnottar Castle played a crucial role in Scottish history and holds many rich secrets of Scotland’s colourful past.

The Castle has played host to some of the nation's greatest historical figures including William Wallace and Mary Queen of Scots and is famous for its role in saving the Honours of Scotland (the Scottish Crown Jewels) from Oliver Cromwell's army in the 1650s. The castle and the surrounding grounds have a rich history which you can read more about on the Dunnottar Castle website.

Taking the path towards the castle requires a deep descent close to the water level before climbing back up the peninsula to the entrance of the castle. Per their website, there are 180 concrete steps going down towards the water, followed by a 40m earth path and then 38 uneven steps up to the entrance door. Once we arrived at the entrance to the castle, there were still more steps up until we reached the ticket booth where we paid for our entry to the castle.

We visited on a Tuesday and the parking was limited. We were lucky enough to get a spot in the lot but a lot of people were parking along the main road that the castle welcome center sits on. Walking towards the castle, the wider road splits into two paths, one goes to the castle and the other moves right to give guests an amazing view of the castle. Going right is worth the short walk.

Highlands

While we knew we wanted to see the Highlands, we really didn’t know where exactly to go and what to see. Instead of just one location, it was recommended that we drive a certain route that took us up through the Highlands and to stop along the way to see some of the sights. We were told if we wanted to see the Highlands, we should drive to Glenshee Ski Resort and then keep going and make our way back east and then south to St. Andrews. Basically making one large loop.

We had already been driving in the Highlands for a while by the time we got to the ski resort, which took about 1:30 to get there from St. Andrews. Directions took us on some very back country, one lane roads where if we would have come across a vehicle coming the other way, someone was backing up a ways until they reached a turnaround. We drove through some cool towns and came across the Braemar Castle. We parked and walked up to it but there was a fee that we didn’t feel like paying so we got back in the car and kept going.

As we were leaving Braemar Castle and figuring out the best way to head back towards St. Andrews, we realized we were quite close to Balmoral Castle and with plenty of daylight left, we decided to stop by for a visit.

Scottish Highlands — Making our way out of the Highlands towards the coast.

Balmoral Castle

Since Balmoral Castle sits off the road a bit, we had to park in the lot next to the road and walk about a quarter mile to the small building that contains the ticketing office. Once we secured our tickets, we were given a map and off we went.

It was quite surprising that visitors are free to wander pretty much the entire grounds. The map we were given provided a recommended walking tour that takes guests around the highlights. We decided to hit up a few of those and skip others. Our first stop were the gardens and greenhouse followed by turning the corner and getting our first glimpse of the castle. Interestingly enough, instead of the Union Jack flying over the castle, it was a specific crest. We found out later that it meant the King was in the castle at the time.

Visiting Balmoral Castle was a cool accident and we’re glad we stopped. They also have a decent sized gift shop with tea, cookies, books, and quite a few other items. Andrew picked up an official Balmoral Castle Paddington Bear book for the niece and nephew. The Castle is a bit out of the way and we probably wouldn’t recommend making the drive from St. Andrews just for this but since we were out in that area, it was worth the visit. Between driving up to the Highlands, visiting the castle, and coming back south through Dundee to get back to town, it took up most of the day.

Final Thoughts

These five sites were all worth the visit and fit well with our golf schedule. We found that most people we golfed with had no days off and were there just to golf. Had we not secured an Old Course tee time on our first day in St. Andrews, our itinerary would have been different. However, since we left a few open days on our trip to increase our chances of getting that time, it left us with some flexibility on additional sites we could visit.