Visiting the Scottish Borders - Part 2 Coldingham & St Abbs.

Visiting the Scottish Borders – Things to do Part 2 Coldingham and St Abbs

In Part one of the Scottish Borders post I wrote about our trip to the excellent National Museum of Flight, Cove Beach and Eyemouth. This second post covers some time spent on the coast.

On our second full day of the trip we headed off in the general direction of Eyemouth.

Having previously been in Eyemouth the day before we didn’t stop there, but carried on just a few miles further up the coast to Coldingham.

After Coldingham we headed of for St Abbs and you can read a little about both below.

Coldingham Beach

We had stayed in Coldingham a couple of years ago and hadn’t realised at that time there was a beach there. It was only by chance we stumbled on it on this occasion.

After calling to a local shop in Coldingham as we left we spotted a sign for the bay that indicated it was just a s short distance away. As it was so close it seemed a no brainer to head that way and check it out.

Although the beach at Coldingham is pretty sheltered there was a bitterly cold wind blowing across it, and we were glad of the heavy duty coats we had with us.

The sandy beach is probably about one kilometre wide and with rocks at either side. Although we weren’t there to fish for crabs I’m told there are plenty of hermit crabs to be seen in the rock pools.

In some ways, like much of this part of the country there’s a sort of slightly ‘old fashioned’ and unspoilt feel to it. If you are in the area and have the time we would say it is absolutely worth a visit.

In addition to calling at Coldingham Beach carrying on to a few miles up the coast led us to St Abbs and the magnificent coastal walking that can be enjoyed there.

Coldingham Beach Picture gallery

Clicking on any of the images below will open a picture gallery to click or scroll through

Coldingham Beach

Coastal Walking at St Abbs

The last time we were in this part of the country we had done the circular walk along the coastal path at the national nature reserve at St Abbs. Distance wise it is only some 28 miles or so from Kelso with a 40 minute drive time, and not far up the coast from Coldingham Bay.

St Abbs is a small fishing village on the southeastern coast of Scotland, and if you want to know more about the place then the Wikipedia entry is a decent place to start so I wont repeat information here.

What I would say is that it really is a magnificent place to walk, with some outstanding and breathtaking coastal scenery. Although we had walked this way before we were more than happy to repeat our steps. At times it’s fair to say it was hard going as it was blowing an absolute hooley, but it was more than worth the effort.