Lindores and Abernethy – Distillery, Round Tower and Lunch
A few hours.
The route
In 1494 a royal account recorded malt given to Friar John Cor of Lindores Abbey to make aqua vitae, the earliest written record of Scotch whisky.
Today a distillery stands opposite the abbey's ruins, on the edge of Newburgh in north west Fife. Its morning tour makes an easy half day out, with lunch a few minutes west in Abernethy, once a centre of the Picts.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
Book Lindores Abbey Distillery
Book the 10am distillery tour at Lindores online or on 01337 842547, for any day from March to October or Wednesday to Sunday from November to February.
Book the Nook
Book a table at The Nook in Abernethy for about half past twelve on 01738 501441; it shuts on Mondays, when lunch is a 19-minute drive south at Pillars of Hercules, a vegetarian café near Falkland that takes no bookings.
The day
Lindores
A gentle half day of whisky and old stone on the quiet roads where Fife meets Perthshire, with copper stills and a tasting in the morning and an easy lunch beside a round tower some nine hundred years old.
About four hours
Lindores Abbey Distillery
An attraction
Lindores Abbey Distillery stands on Abbey Road at the eastern edge of Newburgh. The 10am tour takes you round the visitor centre and the stillroom, where three copper stills turn local barley into single malt, and finishes with a tasting. Drivers are given a little takeaway, so nobody needs to drink and drive. The abbey's ruins stand directly opposite, and the way in among them is the distillery's separate History tour, run in the summer months only. From November to February the distillery opens Wednesday to Sunday only.
9 min by car
Abernethy Round Tower
An attraction
Drive 9 minutes west on the A913 to Abernethy, in Perth and Kinross. Start with the round tower in the churchyard, about 22 metres of grey stone believed to date from around 1100 and one of only two Irish-style round towers in Scotland. Look for the Pictish symbol stone at its foot.
The Nook
Lunch
Lunch, at about half past twelve, is next door at The Nook on Main Street, a coffee shop and larder with home baking. It's open Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 4pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm, and booking is advised: ring 01738 501441 and ask what is on at lunchtime. On Mondays The Nook is shut, and lunch means a drive south, out of the way, to Pillars of Hercules, a vegetarian café on an organic farm near Falkland.
If it rains
The tour, the stillroom and the tasting are all under a roof, and so is lunch at The Nook. Only the round tower is outside, and it is a short look from the churchyard, so rain costs the day very little.
Worth a detour
- The Witches Path
One of the local walks The Nook recommends starts at the top of Kirk Wynd, about 2 minutes' drive up from Main Street, where there is parking. It is a circular trail of 3 kilometres with about 100 metres of climb, beside a burn and past local horses, with views. The steps can be slippy when wet, so take care on them. It adds about an hour on foot.
