Fife (Scottish Gaelic: Fìobha) is a county in the north east of Scotland. It's a lowland peninsula, with the broad Firth of Forth to the south and the smaller Firth of Tay to the north, and great bridges for its gateways. Its name may derive from the Pictish kingdom of Fib.
West Fife is close to the Forth rail and road bridges, so it's commuterland for Edinburgh, and there's a lot of industry interspersed with places well worth seeing.
56.0112-3.39611 North Queensferry is usually somewhere far beneath as you cross the bridge. Turn off and descend for Deep Sea World and vistas of the bridges.
56.07192-3.43932 Dunfermline, a former capital of Scotland, has an interesting Abbey.
56.03388-3.432263 Rosyth just west has a navy base and is industrial.
56.0554-3.62934 Culross is a gem, a charming 16th / 17th C restored coastal town.
56.052778-3.3021055 Aberdour is a small commuter town on the coast, with a stump of castle.
56.11073-3.167377 Kirkcaldy, birthplace of Adam Smith, "the father of modern economics".
Central Fife is mostly industrial. There is little reason to visit Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Kelty or the county town 56.197-3.1718 Glenrothes.
56.25-3.29 Falkland however is worth seeing for its ruined palace.
56.195-2.99416710 Leven is the last eyesore along the coast, then the view improves.
The East Neuk is the coastal stretch east of Leven. Attractive little fishing ports here are Elie, St Monans, Pittenweem, 56.22344-2.7027411 Anstruther, Crail and Kingsbarns.
56.19-2.5581 Isle of May, five miles out to sea, is a nature reserve swarming with birds and seals. It's usually visited by boat trip from Anstruther, occasionally from Crail or North Berwick east of Edinburgh.
56.3404-2.795513 St Andrews, home of golf and the oldest university in Scotland.
While Fife is often looked upon now as little more than the northern commuter belt to Edinburgh and the town of St. Andrews its people are very proud of their past. Fife has a history steeped in economic achievement - from its founder father, Adam Smith (born in Kirkcaldy) to perhaps the world's greatest businessman/philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (born in Dunfermline). This current tradition was upheld by the 2007 - 2010 UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
Close to Fife is 55.94838-3.363981 Edinburgh Airport (EDI IATA). It has a good range of flights across Europe, to London and elsewhere in UK; and it's west of the city so you can connect without getting embroiled in city traffic. To Fife, take the direct Stagecoach Jet 747 bus from Airport Stop G. This runs across the old Forth Road Bridge to Inverkeithing and Halbeath Interchange, 45 min. It costs £6.50 single and £12 for a return within 28 days, and runs daily 24 hours, every 20 mins daytime. Change at Inverkeithing for trains to Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Markinch (for Glenrothes), Ladybank, Cupar, Leuchars (for St Andrews) and Dundee and points north. Change at Halbeath for local buses around Fife.
Other options from Edinburgh Airport are to take the airport bus or tram to Haymarket for trains north. Or with a hire car, turn west and within ten minutes you're crossing the new Forth Bridge into Fife.
Glasgow Airport (GLA IATA) has good connections across Europe, but it's wrong side of Glasgow for Fife: reckon a 90 min to two hour drive to most parts of the county.
You're unlikely to use Dundee Airport. It has a daily flight to London Stansted but that's all.
LNER daytime trains run from London Kings Cross via Peterborough, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh to Dundee and Aberdeen, stopping at Inverkeithing, Kirkcaldy, Markinch (for Glenrothes) and Leuchars (for St Andrews). Scotrail trains from Edinburgh (and a few LNER from London) to Inverness stop at Inverkeithing, Kirkcaldy, Markinch and Ladybank, then Perth. From Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, head for Edinburgh and change at Haymarket. Overnight from London, take the Lowland sleeper from Euston towards midnight (not Sat), arriving in Edinburgh around 07:00, and change to a daytime train to Fife.
The last leg of the journey is usually on the Fife Circle train, which runs from Edinburgh twice an hour (M-Sat; Sun hourly) each way round. All trains run from Edinburgh and Haymarket over the Forth Bridge to Inverkeithing and are displayed as "Glenrothes with Thornton", whch is railway-speak for Thornton 3 miles from Glenrothes, you'd better have a taxi organised at the other end. From Inverkeithing two trains per hour continue east along the coast, stopping at Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy and inland to Thornton, then anti-clockwise to return. And two trains per hour continue from Inverkeithing on the inland, clockwise loop to Rosyth (for Royal Navy base), Dunfermline Town and Queen Margaret, Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Cardenen to Thornton; then they return along the coast to Kirkcaldy, Inverkeithing and Edinburgh. It's sometimes unclear which "Glenrothes" train is coming into the station, so if in doubt at Edinburgh or Haymarket just hop on, and you've got until Inverkeithing to check whether to stay aboard or step off and await the following train.
The Fife Circle trains don't reach Markinch, Leuchars (for St Andrews) or Dundee so for these you need the Dundee / Aberdeen trains.
Major bus stations in Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, St Andrews and Cupar are served by Stagecoach among others (for example, some Megabus services make stops at Inverkeithing). See above for details of getting to Fife by bus from Edinburgh Airport.
Stagecoach Fife Bus 7 runs along the coast from Dunfermline to Inverkeithing, Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy and Leven; M-Sat every 30 min and hourly on Sun.
There is an excellent series of cycle tracks throughout Fife. The cycle route from Edinburgh to Aberdeen also passes through Fife.
The Secret Bunker: built as a control bunker for a nuclear war, now open to the public. It's near Anstruther.
East Neuk: charming, photogenic fishing villages, notably Elie, Pittenweem, Crail and Anstruther.
Falkland Palace, where Mary Queen of Scots was a girl.
Visit the county's many fine parks (Beveridge in Kirkcaldy, Pittencrieff in Dunfermline, Lochore Meadows, etc.).
The Pavilion  in Elie is actually a (golf) pavilion, but offers good food (including local seafood) at a decent price. It's also an Internet Cafe.
Fife has many pubs: The Alpha Bar in Kirkcaldy; The Valleyfield Bar in High Valleyfield; Shardays in Lochgelly all offer a truly local experience.
The Stag Inn in Falkland is a nice pub with a pubby atmosphere. Cash only!
The Harbour Bar, High Street, Kirkcaldy. Fife's only pub with a micro brewery and a former winner of CAMRA's Scottish pub of the year and U.K. runner-up.
Fife has a vast number of places offering accommodation. One of the easiest way to find them is using one of the following sites.
http://www.visitscotland.com .The accommodation page of Visit Scotland gives you access to accredited accommodation all through Scotland.
http://www.astayinfife.co.uk . Links to a selection of top quality B&Bs in Fife.
If you head up the coast towards Aberdeen, don't overlook rejuvenated Dundee.
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This travel guide page was last edited at 23:53, on 21 April 2019 by Wikivoyage user Grahamsands. Based on work by Wikivoyage users AlasdairW, ThunderingTyphoons!, Traveler100bot, Neils51, Alistair1978, Zcarstvnz, AndreeBot, Beeelb and Inferno986return and others.