Moving to Fife

[Londonboy94]

Hi guys.

I am thinking of a possible move to Fife, Scotland, can anyone recommend nice friendly places to live? I have been offered a job in Kirkcaldy so I don't want to b a million miles away from my office, I will be happy with a 30 minute - 45 minute commute.

I am initially looking to rent a small 1 bedroom flat / apartment or house, I have a budget of £700 a month for rent, I also want to be close to places where it's good for shopping and a few bars/pubs etc, but I dont want to be bang in the middle of a noisy neighbourhood and where there is a high crime rate.

some people have recommended actually living in Kirkcaldy, but some people have also said not to move here.

any help would be great!

I went to uni in St Andrews and it was lovely. Not sure what rent is like now though; it was 20 years ago.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-58009767.html
Have you considered Cupar?
Train station with direct link to Kirkcaldy will get you there in about 30 minutes. There’s also express buses.
Lovely little town too.

I'd say Edinburgh (Gyle or central areas) or South Queensferry - within 30ish minutes by express train.

Unless you are looking for something more family oriented, then I'd say Kinross, Dunfermline or Dalgety Bay.

I agree with MonoClue. Cupar has good rail links to Kirkcaldy, Dundee and Edinburgh and not too expensive. 20 minutes from St Andrews so lots of options for places to go at the weekend. Good range of supermarkets in Cupar (Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Co-op) and lots of smaller shops, butchers, bakers, and coffee shops and restaurants too. Nice to be near Dundee as exciting re-development going on there at the moment centred round the new V&A on the waterfront.

Not sure about the bars and pubs in Cupar. Ceres is a nice village just a couple of miles away from Cupar with a few shops and a couple of pubs there too. I think I'd feel more comfortable going for a drink in Ceres than Cupar.

I'm obviously speaking from the point of view of a middle aged mum though!

I second Cupar for the things you say you'd want. Easy reach of Dundee for shops and St Andrews for pubs and restaurants.

Depends on the vibe you like but the East Neuk villages (Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem, and St Monans) are lovely - St M's is the closest to Kirkcaldy. But these are none of them "happening" placed outside of the summer season - but great if you like the coast.

£700 will go a long way in either Cupar or the East Neuk. I'd be surprised if you found accommodation a problem cost wise.

I would go to Dunfermline, not because it's awesome - it isn't particularly, but it is Ok. It has shops and bars etc, but it's also good for accessing other places like Glasgow and Edinburgh.

We live near Dunfermline, but Dh worked in a community job in Kirkcaldy for several years - he swears he would never live there.

We live in Aberdour. It is lovely but very tricky to find rental property.

Newport has a lovely feel to it though I am not sure about the availability of 1 bed flats.

You would get this in Dunfermline, walking distance to the town centre, railway station and bus station.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-68667337.html

RunningBetty I'm from Newport originally. I love it there. But it's not really buzzing at night.

Op If I had your choice I would go for St Andrews.

Falkland is nice too

There are lots of lovely places in Fife, Falkland and Cupar are definitely amongst them. As a single person you might find them quite quiet? If you're looking for sports, hobbies and clubs, you might be better looking in one of the larger towns, Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes or Dunfermline - or live nearer to Edinburgh in Dalgety Bay or even South Queensferry?

I’d think about maybe somewhere on the train between inverkeithing and Kirkcaldy and doing your shopping / nights out in Edinburgh.

Kirkcaldy has a bit of a rough reputation but parts of it are nice. If you’ve no reason to want to live elsewhere I’d start by trying out somewhere with no commute at all at least for a bit.

How old are you? What are you interested in?

Kirkcaldy is really not nice, 15/20 year ago it was great for a wee tammy girl bargain, but it sadly is largely shite now.

I'm from the east neuk, where anstruther is your most happening place there but it really is the shittest place that exists.

Id go kinghorn to edinburgh trainline towns.

I live just outside Kirkcaldy 🤷🏼‍♀️It's the same as everywhere...good parts and bad parts. PM me if you want to ask about anything. I'm a bit taken aback at some of these comments tbh.

I work with lots of people that live in and around Kirkcaldy, I don't think it's that much of a hole! I'm sure like literally everywhere, there are areas you might want to avoid.

Yes the town centre isn't what it used to be, but neither are any I can think of. I've been out there a few times, seemed relatively normal. 😂

St Andrews does have lots of restaurants, bars, posh shops .... and students. Not sure what commuting to Kirkcaldy would be like.

I used to live/work in Cupar & hated it... boring, nothing to do, nowhere to go & the most miserable fuckers I'd ever come across... the Tesco is shite there's no way you can do a proper shop in it - I'm really surprised by the comments suggesting it.... it's an old persons town.

Also the commute to Kirkcaldy at rush hour could be horrific - I used to go the other way from Dunfermline at 6:30am & that took a good 45mins (15mins of that was getting to Kirkcaldy turn off on A92 the rest was getting into Cupar through either kettlebridge & pitlessie or the bow of Fife & then the 6 sets of traffic lights along the high street) so getting stuck in the traffic heading to Edinburgh the other way at rush hour could be an issue.

I'm now in Dunfermline... decent supermarkets, high street not great but still have a few shops (Debenhams, Primark, New Look, H&M etc)... train to Edinburgh cheap enough & takes approx 30/40 mins. My current commute to Glenrothes takes about 25/30 minutes in rush hour.

There's loads of nice areas in Kirkcaldy. Some not bad places to eat & drink as well.

Dundee is a bit further north but lots happening there and you would be commuting against the traffic generally.
Kirkcaldy is dying on its feet. Glenrothes might be a bit more happening but its not great either. Central Fife is not particularly lovely however you look at it. Personally i would live in the East neuk but then I love the coast and like a quiet life.
Kinghorn is quite nice. st Andrews is cool but expensive and rammed with golfing geeks or spoilt yahoo students.

The park area of Kirkcaldy is lovely. The town centre is obviously struggling just now but I think it's not as dire as people are making out.

It depends a lot on your interests and your planned commute (car? train? bus?). I don't know Kirkcaldy that well, I'm sure like everywhere there are good and bad areas. But if you want nice bars and a range of shops then you are really limited in Fife, it's all so rural! St Andrews has bars and shops, but it is a long commute to Kirkcaldy and like others say is full of students. Cupar is ok, but quiet, more suited to families maybe, and like a previous poster said, the tesco is the shittest supermarket ever. Glenrothes is a new town and very spread out. Dunfermline might be your best bet.