Rio Recommends: North Berwick
It’s often said that if Scotland had the weather it could certainly provide the beaches to handle the sun worshippers.
North Berwick’s golden sands, even in a slight chill, are very inviting and a great space for chasing a ball. And there are two beaches either side of the harbour, now the home of the East Lothian Yacht Club. It says on this piece of paper we have that two boats take tourists to the islands (Fidra, The Lamb, Craigleith, and Bass Rock can be seen from here), and two boats take divers to the “mysteries of the deep sea”. Oooh, that sounds interesting, not that I’m likely to be diving any time soon.
On the East Sands there’s a tide-filled boating pond and paddling pool. There were a couple dogs splashing about and seemed to be enjoying themselves, though I’ll be sticking to the sands as I doubt my little legs would reach the bottom of the pool. The beaches are very popular with dog walkers and Ma and Pa kept stopping to talk to people with all sorts of breeds.
We headed into the town, down High Street which is a bit busy with cars (surely it ought to be pedestrianised) and looked for a dog-friendly cafe. We chose Zanzibar which was heaving and the girls behind the counter were struggling to cope. It took a while to get the table cleaned, but they were doing their best. Pa said they were being too ambitious with the menu, trying to make meals while customers were queuing. However, the scones and coffee were worth the wait.
We later popped in to Steampunk, a hipster friendly warehouse-style coffee shop, hidden away in Kirk Ports. Very busy but also very cool. Ma said I couldn’t try the chocolate chip cookies as they might kill me. Literally. So I stuck to a tray of my usual biscuits.
North Berwick is a town with bags of history for visitors who want to know all that stuff, and lots of nooks and crannies and gift shops, but for me, the beaches are just fab!
Zanzibar, High Street, North Berwick (3/5), Steampunk, Kirk Ports (4/5)
Walk from East to West Sands via the Harbour and back down High Street and Kirk Ports (4/5)
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