The surprisingly cheap UK seaside town voted one of the best places for a holiday – even Kate & Wills love visiting
A SEASIDE town in the UK has been named the best place in Britain to visit this June.
Staycations are becoming increasingly popular for holidaymakers, especially those looking to keep the costs down for their breaks this year.
One place in the UK that has received praise recently is St Andrews in Scotland, which has been declared the best place to go for a break next month.
Consumer champions Which? have included it in a run down of their top June destinations – the only place from the UK to make the cut.
And it’s easy to see why it was included, with its beach, its heritage, its attractions and food and drink all included in their reasons why people should consider the Scottish town for a getaway.
Which? said: “This two-mile stretch of sand clinched five stars in our survey of the UK’s best seaside towns, as did its tourist attractions and food and drink – making it Scotland’s best seaside town.
“Artisanal food, ice-cream parlours and bistros can be found on the cobbled streets that house buildings belonging to the 15th-century university – Scotland’s oldest.
“The V&A Dundee design museum is just over the River Tay, and there are lovely fishing villages on the Fife coast.”
The West Sands beach is also a great place for film buffs to visit, as it was where Chariots of Fire’s opening scene was filmed.
Visit Scotland say the beach has “almost 2 miles of uninterrupted sand” and that It is “very popular for walking and running on as well as for swimming”.
People aren’t the only thing that swim in sea off the coast of St Andrews either, with bottlenose dolphins sometimes spotted in the waters nearby.
Tiktok user Erin Robertson (@erinrobertoson290) spotted some swimming right off the beach as recently as March of this year.
She shared a video of the porpoises and said: “What an absolute treat, arrived into St Andrews, decided to go for a walk on the beach and with the high tide it brought in some visitors.”
However, one of the main reasons people visit the town is for a round on its iconic and world famous Old golf course.
The course has hosted 30 Open championships, more than any other in the world, with the Open being hosted there every five years.
One of its most famous features, The Swilcan bridge was originally built to help shepherds get livestock across the Swilcan Burn, a waterway the flows from the bay across the course, 700 years ago.
Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo are among the many famous names to have won an Open at St Andrews.
The course isn’t the only iconic symbol of the town, with its old cathedral ruins towering above the sea.
The cathedral was built in the 1100s and was once the centre of the the Medieval Catholic Church in Scotland, but it was ransacked and destroyed in the 1500s, leaving it to fall into disrepair.
However, parts of the cathedral remain, including St Rule’s Tower and parts of the nave, which have left an impressive set of ruins for tourists to wander around.
The cathedral has an overall scored of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor, from more than 1,900 reviews.
One person wrote: “One of the most beautiful ruins I’ve ever seen. Oh to have seen the cathedral in all its former glory!”
Another said: “The area is absolutely beautiful. You are able to walk through the Cathedral remains and see the old tomb stones. It is gorgeous! Quaint area, good food, very friendly people.”
St Andrews is also the site of an important part of royal history, with Prince William meeting the now Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, at the town’s university.
The pair were students when they first got to know one another before their marriage in Westminster Abbey in 2011.
They have since returned to the town on several occasions, including two years ago where they raced land yachts together on the beach.
Elsewhere, people are also fond of taking a trip to the nearby Kingsbarns distillery to try some traditional Scottish whisky.
Guests can tour the distillery and sample some of their produce at the end of their visit.
One wrote on TripAdvisor: “Very welcoming from start to finish. Great tour by Dot and Leane. Lots of local information and history in a beautiful location with delicious samples at the end.”
The town’s university makes a visit a bit cheaper than it might otherwise be, with rooms available in uni accommodation from £39pp per night, including breakfast.
However, the golf resorts in the town aren’t much more expensive, with rooms available from £44.50pp per night.
Camping pitches nearby can be found from £16 for a four person tent, working out at £4pp per night.
Meanwhile, this seaside town was once voted the worst for a weekend stay, but people are now saying it’s underrated.
And these are some of the most tranquil staycation spots in the country.