East Lothian

Scotland's west coast is well-known for its showstopping seascapes, and the far north is famous for its mighty munros and pewter-tinged lochs. But its south-east corner? It's still largely off the radar – partly because weekenders from Edinburgh like to keep one of the country's best-kept secrets to themselves...

East Lothian, on Edinburgh's doorstep and just a small sidestep from the well-trodden tourist trails, is a secret treasure. Veer east from the capital and you'll find a coastline strung with award-winning beaches, wide expanses of golden, dune-fringed sand backed by nature reserves and native woodland – and a wealth of world-class golfing greens. There are traditional fishing villages, cliffs and castles, coastal hamlets and old-school-now-cool seaside towns. There's even a distillery or two...

The coast is so captivating it's easy to overlook the country – the fertile fields, picturesque villages and market towns. The rolling hills are low-slung, its charms low-key – but that's all part of its appeal.

View from Greywalls

The Biarritz of the North

It wasn't always off-the-beaten-track. At the end of the 19th century, the Royal Burgh of North Berwick was a popular tourist destination, with Victorian bathers enjoying a dip in the glamorous open-air saltwater swimming pool on the beach. It was so fashionable to holiday here that it was dubbed the Biarritz of the North.

Lobster pots at harbour side, Dunbar with Dunbar castle in background

Today, the little seaside town on a rocky promontory where the Firth of Forth meets the North Sea is a popular pitstop for day-trippers from Edinburgh. Its narrow streets are lined with quirky, independent shops, and there’s a state-of-the-art Scottish Seabird Centre that runs boat trips from the 12th-century harbour to Bass Rock, one of the world’s largest gannet colonies. Look for the day's sailings scribbled on a blackboard.

Across a field to the Law by North Berwick

The area has old-fashioned charm – and a modern take on seaside specialities. You can tuck into fish and chips on the seafront, or crab and double-dipped chips and salt-and pepper squid from the Lobster Shack on the harbour, followed by small-batch, award-winning gelato from gourmet ice-cream parlour Alandas.

Tee Time

If Scotland is the home of golf, East Lothian is the Holy Grail for golfers, with the largest concentration of championship links golf courses anywhere in the world. There are 22 golf courses strung like emeralds along a 30- mile stretch of wild coastline here.

The roll call includes the remarkable Muirfield, dating back to 1744 and reputed to be the oldest golf club in the world and host of the British Open no fewer than16 times. Then there's Luffness New Golf Club designed by Old Tom Morris in 1894; and Dunbar, founded in 1856, its course designed by three of the greats: Old Tom Morris, James Braid and Ben Sayers. Renowned golf course architect Tom Doak, meanwhile, designed North Berwick's Renaissance Club course, which nudges up to Archerfield Links.

The Renaissance Club

Dream Escape can arrange tee times – as well as those in St Andrews across the Firth of Forth in the Kingdom of Fife – just a 10-minute helicopter ride away. High Spirits/Kindred Spirits Speyside might be Malt Whisky Country but East Lothian is the Lowland home of Johnnie Walker and the Glenkinchie distillery in the picturesque village of Pencaitland, recently reopened after a multi-million pound revamp. You can wander through the landscaped garden and explore the distillery's traditional Victorian red brick warehouses, take a behind-the-scenes tour and a range of tutored tastings.

On a smaller scale, just outside North Berwick the NB Distillery is a family-owned, award-winning distillery that makes gin in a custom-built copper still called Gloria, as well as vodka and rum. It offers a number of tours and tasting experiences.

Or, for a walk on the wilder side, visit Buck and Birch, where Rupert Waites and Tom Chisolm call themselves 'foragers, fermenters, philosophers, feeders of the hungry and nourishers of the soul'. They started out offering wild-dining events, creating feasts from local hand-harvested ingredients. They now make liqueurs, spirits, and bottled cocktails from locally foraged ingredients, including the Aelder Sour: a heady mix of elderberry liqueur, whisky and a dash of citrus.

King of the Castle

Rumoured to be the inspiration for King Arthur's Camelot, Tantallon Castle, just a couple of miles east of North Berwick, is a magnificent medieval clifftop fortress. The ruined castle dates back to the mid-1300s and survived sieges by James IV in the 15th century and James V in the 16th century, but was finally abandoned after the destruction wrought by Cromwell’s army in 1651.

Dirleton Castle is another ruined medieval fortress in the pretty village of the same name, which was also destroyed by Cromwell's forces. It was not left to languish, however. The Nisbett family bought the castle and landscaped the area around it with formal gardens and the longest herbaceous border in the world.

FIVE OF THE BEST BEACHES

Gullane Bents

The genteel Victorian-villa-laced village of Gullane has a liberal sprinkling of golf courses, a cool coastal gastropub (The Bonnie Badger, courtesy of Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kitchin), and one of the loveliest beaches in East Lothian backed by sea buckthorn bushes and looking out over the Firth of Forth. Gullane Bents stretches from Gullane Point to Black Rocks and is a magnet for dog-walkers, kite-flyers and windsurfers.

Seacliff

You can canter along the sand on horseback on this romantic beach, five miles east of North Berwick, hidden down a rough track through woodland on a private Scottish estate. Among the trees are the ruins of an 18th-century mansion and a 16th-century castle, Auldhame. From the beach, you can see Tantallon Castle perched on the clifftop and Bass Rock in the distance. There's also a miniature harbour carved out of the rocks in 1890 and said to be the smallest in Scotland.

View of The Bass Rock, the Firth of Forth and the shore from Seacliff Beach

Yellowcraig

This dune-backed sweep of golden sand is also known as Broad Sands Bay. A popular family beach, Yellowcraig's surrounding grasslands and woodland are threaded with nature trails. From the shore you can see the lighthouse topped Fidra Island off the coast, said to have been the inspiration for novelist Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and now an RSPB reserve. It's around a 90-minute walk from here to North Berwick along the sand – if the tide's in you can skirt around the rocks into the dunes.

Tyninghame

Curve around the coast to Tyninghame Links; a glorious sweep of sand, often described as one of the most beautiful beaches in the south of Scotland. Sunsets here are spectacular. If it looks familiar, it might be because it featured as one of the filming locations in cult historical romp, Outlander.

North Berwick

This seaside spot has not one but two town beaches: West Bay and Milsey Bay. Both are popular with families and perfect for paddling, picnicking, beach-combing, rock pooling, sandcastle building, sunbathing and swimming. There's a putting green behind West Bay and the golf course is just a flip-flop away.

Tantallon Castle, east of North Berwick

WHERE TO STAY

Archerfield House

This grand Grade-I-listed mansion dating back to the 17th century underwent a spot of remodelling in the 18th century and extensive restoration in the 21st century, and is now an opulent exclusive-use property set within a 550-acre estate. It has had a chequered history, in 1940 it was requisitioned by the War Office and at one time was rented to the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, but has been in the Douglas-Hamilton family since the 1960s. The estate's name dates back to the 13th century, when King Edward I's archers camped here as part of the invading army in 1298.

Today, the main house has 15 opulent en-suite bedrooms perfect for a large gathering, but other accommodation options peppered around the estate include 12 sumptuous Pavilion suites and a handful of 3- or four-bedroom luxury lodges. There's also a chic spa (Fletcher's Cottage) and two 18-hole golf courses, Fidra and Dirleton Links, designed by architect David J Russell.

Greywalls

Sir Edwin Lutyens designed this elegant Edwardian country house hotel in 1901 as a holiday home for Alfred Lyttelton, a passionate golfer whose one request was that it was 'within a mashie niblick shot of the eighteenth green at Muirfield.' You can practically tumble out of bed onto the golf course of this honey-hued Arts and Craftsstyle listed property. It also has a heavenly walled garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll and an acclaimed Chez Roux restaurant.

Greywalls country house hotel

Greywalls gardens

Greywalls still feels like a grand country house; with a wood-panelled library and drawing room with roaring log fires, and the walls hung with family portraits. The antique-peppered, individually designed rooms are classically chintzy and split between the main house and cottages (there are 19 doubles and four single 'caddy closet rooms') with views out over the golf course to the Firth of Forth or the gardens and Lammermuir Hills. ⬥

Find out more

Holly Mackie, Owner and Director, "East Lothian is home for our family and the children love being surrounded by beautiful beaches, fabulous golf courses and pretty seaside towns to visit. It's a special oasis tucked along the coastline and so close to Edinburgh." ⬥ holly@dreamescape.co.uk

WORDS | LUCY GILLMORE