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The village of Earlsferry occupies the western end of a beautiful sandy bay some one and a half miles long. Houses have been built along the whole length of this bay and it is hard to tell where one village ends and the other starts. Coming from the Elie end, Earlsferry begins when you cross Ferry Road and enter Earlsferry High Street. There are no signs to tell you when you actually enter Earlsferry, which is a bit sad really. Anyway you reach Earlsferry when, after about a mile on the way from Elie, you are confronted by the gable of a house with a road sign on it pointing the way to Leven - you cannot miss it. The road that goes to Leven is Ferry Road. You are going to follow High Street Earlsferry which goes around the front of the house with the road sign on it!
The junction of Ferry Road and the High Street gives you a decent idea of what the village must have looked like many years ago. Ferry Road and the High Street make up most of the conservation area, with pantile roofs and old stone built properties. However it has to be said the poor protection from developers has spoilt the olde world look. The High Street,which is part of a one way system, continues in a westerly direction for about half a mile with a few Wynds leading to the beach on the southern side, the north side of the street being broken only by the Cadger's Way Wynd, the old pack horse route north to St Andrews, Rires and Falkland Palace.
When you reach the west end of the High Street the road continues on via Chapel Green Road to the Chapel green. This is a 'No Through Road' bit. (You can turn right here and join Links road to exit Earlsferry). The golf course comes into view on the north side of the road with the cliffs of Kincraig point as a backdrop. You can park here and go for a daunder up to Chapel Green where you can see what little remains of the ancient ruin. This is where I often sit and reflect on those ancient days. It was from this point that many of the pilgrims continued their journey to the Shrine at St Andrews. How many of them were unable to continue that journey and lie buried in the vicinity of this Chapel? Continue to follow the garden walls westward then northward for a total of about half a mile until you join Sea Road, where you can choose to either turn right and go back to your vehicle, or left towards the West Bay beach. Beware of the golfers as you cross two fairways here. Fife Coastal path runs along the bents between the bay and the Earlsferry links golf course. By the 13th green the path rises to the top of the cliffs where panoramic views of the Firth of Forth make the effort well worth while.
You can follow the coastal path to Shell Bay caravan park then home by the Cycle way to Elie.
For the more adventurous the Chain Walk is the route along the bottom of the cliffs, starting at the west end of West Bay. This is a tidal walk so you must be aware of the tide times. It is not a walk, more of a scramble over rocks, with places where steps have been cut into the rock and you have a chain as a handrail. One or two of the chain assisted bits are steep so be prepared to negotiate those, but some of them can be avoided if you go round at low tide.
The route out of Earlsferry is via Links Road, part of the one way system. Links road follows the north side of the village back to Ferry road. You will pass the only pub, - only anything in Earlsferry now, appropriately named The Golf Tavern, or 19th hole, about 50 yards short of the junction with Ferry Road. At the junction you can turn right to go back to Elie, or left to rejoin the main road for Leven, Edinburgh etc, after about 1 mile.
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