Day Trips From Edinburgh – Secret Beaches And World Famous Croissants

Seacliff harbour and Tantallon Castle beyond

Posted September 19, 2019

One of the many great things about Edinburgh is how easy it is get out of, because as far as capital cities go it’s fairly small. It means taking day trips from Edinburgh is easy and luckily, there are so many brilliant things to do just an hour away.

This week Dickins Managing Director, Louise, heads to East Lothian with her boys. Louise helps you avoid wasting hours on Google searches by sharing her favourite places to ensure you have a brilliant day out. Stay with Dickins and we’ll give you great tips for making the most of your time in Edinburgh.

Pretty East Linton

World Famous Croissants?

Last weekend, I dragged my boys off our sofa and away from devices to head east along the A1. We were in search of a special secret beach and world famous croissants……..

Our first stop was East Linton. East Linton is a very pretty village with painted houses and lovely shops, but the exciting newcomer is on the edge of the village. Bostock Bakery now has a large industrial luxe unit just off the A1 where they bake and have a few chairs and tables for sitting in.

Back in 2016, Rene Redzepi of Noma fame reposted a photo of one of their croissants on Instagram. He loved these croissants so much that he sent his assistant to this East Lothian bakery to find out how they make them – how they create all those perfect layers of dough and butter. I’d heard this story and had to find out for myself what all the fuss was about. Were they really that good?

Bostock Bakery’s world-famous croissant

Well I’m pleased to say that the answer is YES! These croissants deserve to be world famous. They are distinctly better than any other croissant I’ve tasted. I didn’t even think about adding jam. So, Bostock Bakery is well worth a visit. Their bread, pastries and cakes are all very good and their pizza nights sell out too.

I much prefer buying meat from a proper old fashioned butcher and there’s a gem in East Linton – Linton Butchers on the main street. There’s always a queue. Their sausages and many other products are award winning. Again everything is good here. Your Dickins home from home will have a well equipped kitchen. Linton’s is a great place for stocking up on local Scottish meat and all the ingredients for a brilliant breakfast!

Linton Butchers – an East Linton gem

With our tummies full, we jumped back in the car (you do need a car for this day trip unfortunately) and made out way to the coast in search of a special secret beach. Make sure you have £3 in change in your purse. This is vital – more of it shortly.

East Lothian’s Best Beach

Tantallon Castle and Bass Rock

How to find it…..

One of the reasons Seacliff Beach is special is that it’s tucked away and hidden on private land. You need to find the farm at Auldhame (google maps will take you there.) It’s on a sharp bend on the A198 half a mile or so south of the turning for Tantallon Castle. The turning is easier to see if you’re coming from Tantallon Castle. A private road leads straight on when the road bends to the right and you can see hand drawn signs saying Seacliff beach this way. Head along the private road and you’ll come to a barrier. This is where the £3 in change comes in! As you can see, it’s all a bit home made…

The toll gate for Seacliff beach

Follow the private road and signs and park up. We immediately had a sense of what all the fuss is about and why this is East Lothian’s best beach. My boys ran from the car and didn’t stop running for the whole two hours we were there.

Seacliff beach and Bass Rock

Seacliff is special. There’s a huge expanse of sand. Lots of horses were running along when we arrived and a group had gathered to learn how to kayak. It looked great fun and what a spot for it with Bass Rock in the background.

What a place to learn to kayak!

The joy of rock pools never fade

As well as bucket loads of sand, there are lots and lots of rock pools. My boys went mad discovering hermit crabs, sea anenomes and other treasures. Dead or alive, they didn’t care. Touching a beached jellyfish was a highlight!!

The joy of a rock pool never fades

There are big rocks on the beach – perfect for two wild boys to climb and jump off.

Rocky Seacliff Beach

A hidden harbour…

The tide started coming in, adding to my boys already fever pitch excitement levels, and we headed to the other end of the beach. We’d heard that there was a tiny harbour and wanted to find it.

Hidden from view and carved into the sandstone, there is a perfect, tiny little harbour. It’s made all the more photogenic and dramatic by Tantallon Castle standing proudly across the bay.

Seacliff harbour and Tantallon Castle beyond

Behind the harbour there’s a rocky outcrop, which my boys hurtled up a great speed. As I hit 50 years old, I’m definitely more uncomfortable with heights and had to ask my boys to stop jumping around when I took this photo as I was feeling sick with the thought of them tumbling off the cliff!

Kings of their world!

My jangling nerves were worth it though, because that image will be the front cover of the photo book I make for my family every Christmas.

As far as day trips from Edinburgh go, this one turned out to be absolutely fantastic. All within 45 minutes drive of Edinburgh, we ate world famous croissants and discovered the best beach near Edinburgh – Seacliff.

I couldn’t believe that it was my first trip to Seacliff and I’ve lived in Edinburgh for 30 years! But we know it now and will be back time and time again. My boys gave it 100/10 which shows just how much they loved it too! It shows that special day trips from Edinburgh work to get kids away from devices too.

Sandy Seacliff