Lunan Bay – A Big Angus Beach and an Arbroath Smokie
A few hours.
The route
Lunan Bay is two miles of golden sand and dunes on the Angus coast, with the ruin of Red Castle standing over the river that cuts it in two.
Walk the bay, then drive down the coast to Arbroath harbour for lunch at the Old Brewhouse, where a smokie, the town's own hot-smoked haddock, is the thing to order.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The day
Lunan Bay
A morning of sea air on the Angus coast and lunch by the boats. An hour or more on the sand, then 21 minutes' drive down the coast to Arbroath harbour, hungry.
About three hoursAbout 2 miles on foot
Lunan Bay
An attraction
The car park at Lunan Farms is down a lane and a private farm track off the A92, shared with walkers and cyclists: take the track at 10mph. It's a private car park, with its charges and hours on the signs as you drive in, and it's shut overnight. The farm shop beside it has toilets. A sandy path through the dunes comes out on the beach north of the Lunan Water, the river that cuts the bay in two: stay on this side and do not wade across. The ruin across the water is Red Castle, fenced off and unsafe since a landslip, so look at it from the sand and go no nearer. A wooden viewing platform above the beach, built in 2025, gives the view to anyone who can't manage the soft sand. Give the beach an hour or more. Dogs are welcome under close control, and on a lead from April to July, when birds nest on the ground.
21 min by car
Arbroath Harbour
An attraction
Drive 21 minutes down the coast to Arbroath harbour, where there's a council car park and public toilets. Wander round the harbour, past the boats, the lobster creels and the smokehouses where the town's haddock is hot-smoked into smokies.
8 min on foot
The Old Brewhouse
Lunch
It's 8 minutes' walk round from the harbour to the Old Brewhouse on High Street, at the foot of the town across from the harbour, in a building that dates back to the 1600s. It opens every day from 9am and serves lunch from noon, from 12.30pm on Sundays, and the dish to have is its Arbroath smokie.
If it rains
In driving rain or a strong wind the bay is wild and the sand stings: look out from the 2025 viewing platform above the beach, skip the long walk, and go straight on to Arbroath for a long lunch at the Old Brewhouse.
