Tyninghame – Through the Pines to Ravensheugh Sands
About 1.7 miles on foot.
Tyninghame's beach is one of the loveliest in the south of Scotland, and you have to walk to reach it.
From a small car park at the end of a lane, paths lead through pine woods and out onto Ravensheugh Sands, a huge sweep of pale sand with the Bass Rock sitting out to sea. At the south end is St Baldred's Cradle, a rocky point named for the saint who settled here nearly thirteen hundred years ago.
- Time
- About an hour: 2.8 km (1.7 miles) there and back between the car park and St Baldred's Cradle, by our own measure on the map. Longer with a walk along the sands.
- The path
- Woodland paths, then soft sand and rocks at the point.
- Where to start
- Tyninghame Links car park, at the end of Limetree Walk, off the A198 just north of Tyninghame village. About 45 spaces. £3 a day by pay and display or RingGo, charged 8am to 4pm from October to March and 8am to 6.30pm from April to September; the ticket is good at any East Lothian coastal car park that day. No parking between 11pm and 4am.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. Wintering birds gather on the salt marshes of the Tyne estuary from autumn to spring.
- Dogs
- Under close control, and kept away from the birds on the salt marsh.
- Children
- A short, easy walk to a very big beach. The rocks at the point need care.
- Toilets
- None at the car park or the beach.
- Before you set out
- Look up the tide times before a long walk on the sands.
The walk
Park at the Tyninghame Links car park, at the end of Limetree Walk, a lane off the A198 just north of Tyninghame village. It's small, with about 45 spaces, and costs £3 a day by pay and display or RingGo, charged from 8am to 4pm between October and March. The ticket is good at any of East Lothian's coastal car parks that day. There are no toilets here. Paths wind from the car park through the pine woods and come out on Ravensheugh Sands, a huge, unspoilt bay with the Bass Rock out to sea.
Visit East Lothian calls it one of the finest beaches in the south of Scotland, and if it looks familiar, it had a part in the fifth series of Outlander. St Baldred's Cradle is the rocky point at the south end of the sands, where the River Tyne meets the sea. By our own measure on the map it's about 1.4 km from the car park, a little under a mile, so allow an hour there and back and longer if you want to wander along the beach. The saint it's named for founded a religious community at Tyninghame in the middle of the 700s. Wintering and migrating birds gather on the salt marshes of the Tyne estuary beside the point, so keep dogs close and give the birds room.
Look up the tide times before a long walk on the sands. The Tyninghame Smithy, a tearoom with a courtyard on the village's Main Street, is the nearest place for coffee. Check that it's open before you count on it.
If it rains
The pines keep off a shower on the way down, but the beach is wide open to wind and rain. It's at its best on a bright, breezy day.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
For further reading, before you go.