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The Firth of Forth

The Forth Shore – The Bridges, Hopetoun and a Stone Pineapple

A day by car, from Edinburgh and back.

Directions

The route

West of Edinburgh the Firth of Forth narrows until a ferry could cross it, and for nine centuries one did, at the place still called Queensferry.

Three bridges do that work now, and they are where this route begins. Beyond them the shores are quieter than you might expect so close to the city. A great house stands back in its parkland on the Lothian side. On the Fife side is the old royal burgh of Culross, whose cobbled streets and ochre houses have come down from the 17th century almost whole. Further west, in a walled garden near Airth, a garden building wears a stone pineapple for a roof. The route makes one loop of it all, out by one shore and home by the other.

Before you go

  1. Book Hopetoun House

    Book a Hopetoun ticket for the 11am opening: the house is open Thursday to Monday from Easter to late September and shuts on a few dates each season for events, so check its page for your date.

The day

The Forth

This day goes round the firth instead of across it. It begins at the water's edge beside the bridges, goes on to a great house in its parkland, and ends on the far shore in a village that looks back over the water. The roads are easy, and the one long drive between stops comes straight after lunch.

3 hr 22 min at the wheelAbout 68 miles by carAbout 3 miles on foot

  1. South Queensferry

    South Queensferry

    An attraction

    Leave Edinburgh by 8.45am: it's 35 minutes' drive by the A90 to South Queensferry. Park at the Binks, at the west end of the High Street, with all three bridges in sight: the red Forth Bridge of 1890 to the east, the road bridge of 1964 and the Queensferry Crossing of 2017 to the west. Hawes Pier, 15 minutes' walk along the High Street, puts you under the red one, which only trains cross. When Hopetoun is open, be back at the car by 10.35am for its 11am opening.

    More about South Queensferry

  2. 40 min by car

    Hopetoun House

    Hopetoun House

    Drive 15 minutes on by the B924 and Society Road to Hopetoun's gate and car park. The A904 has no way in, whatever a sat nav says. Sir William Bruce designed the house, William Adam and his sons enlarged it, and the Hope family still live here. It opens Thursday to Monday, Easter to late September. See the house, then lunch at the Stables Kitchen, inside the ticketed gate, about 12.15pm. Leave by 1.30pm. On other days lunch is at Antico in South Queensferry, 40 minutes' drive from the Pineapple.

  3. 50 min by car

    The Pineapple

    The Pineapple

    An attraction

    It's 50 minutes' drive from Hopetoun. Leave by the main gate and Society Road, then take the A904 west, the M9, the M876 and the A905 through Airth. A minor road off the B9124 leads to a small car park. The Dunmore Pineapple is a garden building topped with a stone pineapple, with 1761 on the keystone of its archway. It is let as a holiday home, so you see it from the walled garden in front, free and open all year. Half an hour is enough: leave by 3pm.

    More about The Pineapple

  4. 20 min by car

    Culross

    Culross

    Culross is 20 minutes' drive on, over the Kincardine Bridge. Park in the West car park: the main streets are a clearway March to October. This day is for the cobbled streets, the Mercat Cross, the abbey ruin and the shore, all free to walk. The palace is the National Trust for Scotland's and keeps its own hours and season: check them if you want to go in. The Mercat and Cobbled Lane serve until 5pm, and the Red Lion food until 9pm. Edinburgh is 57 minutes' drive by the Queensferry Crossing.

If it rains

Hopetoun's rooms are the day's shelter, so spend the grounds' half hour in the house and take lunch slowly in the Stables Kitchen. The bridges are worth the stop in any weather, and the Binks is beside its car park. The Pineapple is three minutes' walk from the car. In Culross the Mercat and Cobbled Lane are indoors until 5pm and the Red Lion until the evening.

Worth a detour

  1. The Forth Bridges Viewpoint

    The Forth Bridges Viewpoint is not on the shore: it is at the south end of the Forth Road Bridge, about 6 minutes' drive from the Binks or 13 minutes on foot. It has its own parking and toilets, and it is where the footpath onto the road bridge begins. The east footpath is kept open except in winds above 50mph, and from the bridge you look out to the red Forth Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing. The full crossing is about a mile and a half each way, so turn back when you have seen enough. It does not fit before an 11am start at Hopetoun unless you set off earlier.

  2. Blackness Castle

    Blackness Castle juts into the firth on a spit of rock, long and narrow, and is known as the ship that never sailed. Sir George Crichton built it in the 1440s, and it was later a royal fortress and a state prison. It is 24 minutes' drive from Hopetoun's gate by the A904 and the B903, and going on from it to the Pineapple adds only about 6 minutes to the day's driving. Book a ticket for Blackness Castle on Historic Environment Scotland's site before you go, as entry and the car park may be for ticket holders only. Check the day's opening there as well before driving out, as the hours change with the season. The castle needs about an hour. That hour is there on a day without Hopetoun. On a day with it, adding Blackness puts you in Culross after 4pm, so it takes the Pineapple's place or waits for another visit.

  3. Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway

    Bo'ness is 30 minutes' drive from Hopetoun's gate, straight on along the A904 where the day's road turns for the M9, and going on from there to the Pineapple adds about 12 minutes to the day's driving. The Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway runs steam and diesel trains from Bo'ness station, with the Museum of Scottish Railways beside it. The museum is open on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from April to October, 11am to 4.30pm, with last admission at 4pm. The trains run on select days in the same months, so check the railway's timetable for the running days before you turn off. It needs two hours or more, so it suits a day when Hopetoun is shut, or takes the Pineapple's place.

  4. Stirling

    Stirling is nine miles on from the Pineapple by the A905, about 25 minutes' drive. It is a day of its own, with a castle that takes half of one, so this route turns for the Kincardine Bridge and Culross.

Where to eat

Photograph by Craig Cockburn via Google