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Low sun through the café's sash windows and glazed garden door, wooden chairs at the tables and green fields outside.
Scottish Borders

The Woodlands Café

A weekend café at Abbey St Bathans in the valley of the Whiteadder Water, for brunch, lunch and home baking on the Southern Upland Way.

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Welcome

Abbey St Bathans is a tiny village in the steep, wooded valley of the Whiteadder Water, five miles north of Duns, and the Woodlands Café is a lovely surprise to find out here.

Sun pours in through the sash windows onto wooden tables, there are green fields outside, and a long table is laid with home-made cakes, tarts and scones.

Brunch runs until noon, with buttermilk pancakes and brioche French toast, and lunch brings sourdough toasties, a croque monsieur and the soup of the day. Dogs are welcome inside, and there are tables outdoors too. The Southern Upland Way passes through the village on its last stretch to the sea at Cockburnspath, so it makes a good stop on a walk. The café opens at weekends only, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm, and there's parking right beside it.

A short drive awayBerwickshire Coastal PathThirty miles of cliffs, coves and fishing villages from Cockburnspath to Berwick-upon-Tweed, one of Scotland's Great Trails.28 min by roadSee itGrassy headland overlooking a rocky shoreline and calm coastal waters
Before you go

Open at weekends, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm (Google).

Brunch is served until noon and lunch from noon. Dogs are welcome inside, and there is parking beside the café.

Hours
Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm.
Phone
07908 669905
Food
Brunch until noon, lunch from noon to 4pm.
Dogs
Welcome inside.
Parking
Free, beside the café.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
Closed
Thursday
Closed
Friday
Closed
Saturday
10am–4pm
Sunday
10am–4pm
Where it is

Abbey St Bathans, in the Whiteadder valley five miles north of Duns, TD11 3TX.

Close byBerwickshire.
  1. A green headland and dark sea cliffs curving away above a rocky shore by Siccar Point under a pale blue sky.Siccar PointThe rocky headland where James Hutton saw the proof of deep time in 1788, one of the most famous places in geology.10 miles32 min by road
  2. Marchmont House at the end of its long lawn, a pale Palladian front with a central cupola under a blue sky.Marchmont HouseA Palladian mansion of 1750 near Greenlaw, enlarged by Robert Lorimer and lately restored.13 miles33 min by road
  3. Coldingham BayColdingham BayA sheltered sandy bay on the Berwickshire coast near St Abbs, with old beach huts, surfing and rock pools.16 miles30 min by road
  4. St AbbsSt AbbsA small fishing village with a working harbour, a lifeboat station and clear water that draws divers.18 miles33 min by road
  5. St Abb’s Head National Nature ReserveSt Abb’s Head National Nature ReserveA clifftop nature reserve, a seabird city of thousands of nesting birds, with a lighthouse and a nature centre.18 miles33 min by road
Directions
Grassy headland overlooking a rocky shoreline and calm coastal watersAttractionsBerwickshire Coastal Path8.0 miles
A landscape view of the Blue Cabin at the foot of the brae, lamps lit by its red door and boats drawn up on the grass.CockburnspathBlue Cabin by the SeaSleeps 4 · 11 miles
Inside the beach café: wooden floor and tables, with chalkboard menus above the white counter.CafeColdingham Beach Café17 miles
Stay nearby

Places to stay near the café, and when each is next free.

A landscape view of the Blue Cabin at the foot of the brae, lamps lit by its red door and boats drawn up on the grass.Blue Cabin by the Sea
  • Sleeps 4
  • In Cockburnspath
  • 6 miles from the Woodlands Café
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay in the Scottish BordersAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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