I have to be honest, when my friend suggested walking part of the Fife Coastal Path last weekend my initial reaction wasn’t joy. If I’m going to go walking in Scotland surely it has to include mountains?
Pursuaded by the promise of an amazing chocolate cafe in neighbouring Pittenweem (which is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area), we headed to the coast at Elie.
Beaches are beautiful in Scotland and the Fife coast is idyllic. Having parked up at Elie near the golf course we headed west along the rocky beach towards the cliffs. I’d been warned in advance that the walk would include scrambling and chains, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The chain walk along Elie’s rocky coast is a short via ferrata and while not technically part of the Fife coastal path, for its 0.5km length it is certainly worth the detour from the main route on the cliff tops, which provides a good route back to Elie. A nice short walk before chocolate cake.
Not realising how close we would be to the sea it didn’t cross my mind that checking tide times would be required; we were lucky to have avoided high tide.
The chain walk isn’t difficult and can reasonably be done by anyone who has the nerve to cope with the heights. Both the descents and ascents have clear places for feet and the chain is big enough to get a really good grip. All you really need is fearlessness as some of the chains are quite vertical and others very close to the water. It did remind me of hiking in Corsica last year.
Once at the other end of the chains, the walk back on the Fife coastal path along the cliff tops is a nice route back to Elie.
