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Walkers follow a stone causeway between mudflats and sandy shore under grey skies
Edinburgh

Day Trip to Cramond Island

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With some planning ahead you can walk out to the island when the tide is low.

An information board at the start of the promenade gives the tide times, so you know when it is safe to walk out and when you must turn back. The island is only a third of a mile long and can be fully explored in a couple of hours.

The island has plenty of grass for a picnic, though parts can be muddy, so boots are a good idea. There is also a pleasant beach. It is worth trying to get to the highest point on the island, as there is a magnificent view from there looking over Edinburgh, Fife and the Forth Bridges. In the 19th century the island was a holiday spot. Several ruins of holiday homes dating to that period can still be found, including one on the cliffs in the west.

Cramond was fortified in the Second World War against a possible invasion up the Firth of Forth. The causeway was built as an anti-boat boom, and wartime ruins are dotted around the tiny island. On your return why not head to the Cramond Falls Cafe which is a beautiful converted 17th Century Grain Mill, overlooking the water fall.

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The Daily for 30 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a teal-coloured lochan cupped in a forested hollow, a scree slope rising on one side and autumn-tinged pines ringing the shore.
A short drive awayFortitude CoffeeThe Stockbridge coffee house of Fortitude, an Edinburgh roaster, on Hamilton Place, with seasonal coffees roasted in the city.13 min by roadSee itFortitude Coffee

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Directions
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