Fife: Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Burntisland or Dunfermline?

[Redqueenheart]

I posted a thread a while ago about wanting to move to Scotland from the South East.

Friends who live there have now sent me a list of places in Fife they said I should check out when I am in Scotland next week: Dalgety Bay, Aberdour, Burntisland or Dunfermline.

Would anyone be able to give some insider knowledge on any of the above locations?

I will be living alone and I am in my early 50. My main requirement is somewhere safe and quiet but where I can also access the basics (shops, GP, hospital not too far away) and where I can access things like sailing, swimming and horse riding.

I would be working mainly from home so don't need to commute everyday.

My friends said Dunfermline has some good facilities and I can see that properties are reasonably priced there but I was more attracted to the other places listed (closer to the sea :) )but they seem to have less housing available.

Any further advice much appreciated!

Ok, here's a few suggestions:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126266363

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125424878

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126456644

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126601625

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126597602

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126249335

Have a look at this great property I found on ESPC - 8 Echline Farm Cottages, South Queesnferry, EH30 9SW espc.com/property/36116578

Have a look at this great property I found on ESPC - 4 Carlingnose Point, North Queensferry, KY11 1ER espc.com/property/36116887

AND Kinghorn is worth a look. Train station, growing village, great beaches. A few years behind Burntisland gentrification wise, but a nice wee community.

@MoreProseccoNow thank you so much! I really like the South Queensferry and the Aberdour cottages. They would be perfect.

I would also look at Kinghorn, it's a few miles along the coast from Burntisland. It has a train station and a few nice wee cafes, co-op, shop and the beach. Nice community feel about it without the fairground chaos that Burntisland has during the summer. It's also closer to Kirkcaldy for a 'big' shop.

Definitely need to be Fife? You’ve also got really good close to beaches options in Ayrshire (Troon, Ayr etc with train links) or The Trossachs with lots of Lochs that’s under an hour to Glasgow and Inverclyde on the water too (train line as well to Glasgow)

The cottage is next to a main road which is going to be the access road for a huge new build housing estate. If it's right at the back of the steading you'll be grand but if it's near the front I'd be wary, it'll be 18 months of building (they're just doing the groundworks now) and there's a lot of local angst about the traffic plan. <taps side of nose, runs off to name change>

Just throwing these in to the mix - thinking you might want to consider Edinburgh?

Have a look at this great property I found on ESPC - 88 North Bughtlinside, Edinburgh, EH12 8YB espc.com/property/36116570

Have a look at this great property I found on ESPC - 34 Barntongate Terrace, Edinburgh, EH4 8BU espc.com/property/36095507

Actually Kinghorn is a good call.

Dalgety Bay is soulless. There's nothing there.

Out of all the suggestions, Kinghorn is your best bet. I have spent many times there on the beach years ago. it's so peaceful.

@Florabelle yes, I have a colleague who is from Glasgow and we talked about Troon. She sent me pics of her on the beach with her mum when they holidayed there recently, so it was on my radar as well. It looks really nice and peaceful. I think I started with Fife & around Edinburgh just because most of the people I know in Scotland are in or from the area. But Troon is a good option too :) and I like Glasgow probably more than Edinburgh. I don't know anything about the other places you mentioned but I will research them too.

@MaChienEstUnDick thank you for the insider knowledge!!

@Notplayingball I have a friend who lives there :) She moved to Dalgety Bay from Edinburgh and she did mention that it was a quiet commuter town and that Dumferline had more going on. But I am really after a peaceful location by the sea so it would not bother me. I have lived in London and the South East for decades but I was born and raised in a small countryside village and I just want to go back to some peace and quiet now that I am a bit (well a lot...) older.

@MoreProseccoNow They look nice but I assumed that places in Edinburgh would attract ''offers over'' that probably would put them out of my price range so I did not consider that but I will look at those too.

I think it would be harder to integrate in villages/towns Fife , without children.

Whilst Burntisland is nice, it is so isolated & quite small. As are Aberdour, Kinghorn, etc.

North/South Queensferry are a reasonable size.

You could also consider towns outside Edinburgh eg Kirkliston or Winchburgh (no train though) or East Lothian - although the coastal villages are pricey eg Gullane, North Berwick. Perhaps Midlothian.

Do the Fife towns have charity shops?

I think Burntisland has a nice feel to it, couple of nice cafes, big green area (with a fair in the summer!) and a train station. I don't necessarily think it's easier to make friends in a larger place. Not in Edinburgh anyway!

@MistressIggi I agree with you. It is not always easier to make friend in big cities. Yes, there are more people and activities but everyone is rushing around, stressed out and doing their own things. I found that in London: I made many acquaintances but very few real friends.

Dalgety Bay has two excellent charity shops. Burntisland has a monthly community run jumble sale which is fab. Don’t know about Kinghorn. Nothing in Aberdour.

What a lovely exciting position to be in! It sounds like you can really consider many locations...Will you have an opportunity to come up and explore the areas in the east and west coast to whittle down a few you get a good feeling about?

Both fife and ayrshire have very active wild swimming communities if that's your bag. Personally I tend to find the west coast a bit friendlier than the east (from a west coaster now living in the east).

Dalgety Bay would be ideal from your op

No matter what end you're in you can get to the train station (or walk +15 mins to Inverkeithing for a main station) Asda/Aldi, doctors, chemist, Tesco, takeaway and post office within 15/20mins
There are beautiful places to walk. Nice surroundings. It's a clean town. Most people take pride in their garden and you'll rarely see an unkept house

I don't think you can go wrong in dalgety bay where as I have a few negative points about Aberdour, Dunfermline and Burntisland

We live in Dalgety bay and also have family in south queensferry and aberdour. Personally we love DB, loads to do here and easy to navigate without a car. Trains are ok when actually running! I would say the DB market is pretty hot at the moment, properties are selling as soon as they hit the market and going for silly money over. Similar issues for SQ and Aberdour. Not sure about Dunfermline or Burntisland.

Aberdour is lovely but small and traffic can get really bad with all the parking along the high st. You probably need a car to live there for shopping etc as nearest big shops are DB. SQ is nice too and it was also on our list when moving from Edinburgh. It’s got a vibrant high st and I would def go for there over Dunfermline. I also think you could be carless in SQ, there’s a good bus and train service.

Thank you everyone again for all your comments!

it sounds like Dalgety Bay or South Queensferry would be a good choice for me as there seems to be bit more in term of amenities than the other seaside locations mentioned.

I am in Scotland now :) and my train to Edinburgh went past Dunbar as well yesterday which I thought looked interesting too.

Dunbar is lovely and on the train line. East Lothian has its own little microclimate

Yes, Dunbar & North Berwick are worth a look - you'll need deep pockets for the latter!

@MoreProseccoNow yes North Berwick is too expensive for me :).

Enjoy Scotland!

I'm in Dunfermline and we love it. It has 2 theatres, loads of eateries, shops, cinema, the abbey, the library/gallery, coffee shops, etc. Also a hospital and 2 train stations. It is further inland but it's really not far to the coast. I live in a 'posh' part and honestly, it's just lovely.

I've always had a hankering for Aberdour but the prices are a bit silly and it is quite touristy/much smaller than here.

Burntisland and Kinghorn were seen as pretty scruffy when I was growing up but I think they're ok now. Very affordable and both have stations/beaches.

Dalgety Bay is ok, it's not really got much of a centre, or a high street or anything. It's very much... houses. It's fairly pleasant and obviously coastal but it's not for me.

N Queensferry is ok - a mix of very well to do and quite scruffy.

Limekilns, Charleston and Torryburn are all nice, no station but not too far.

South Queensferry is ok, but I've been told it's not very friendly. I don't know how true that is!

#FifeForLife

@LifeAintEasy

Thank you! it's been lovely so far. I have just been horse-riding in the woods and spent the morning at an outdoor agility dog show ! the weather has been really nice too after a rainy start. People are so friendly here.

I am staying in the countryside and really enjoying it but I can see your point about having more amenities so I need to be sensible and not move somewhere too remote or that does not have shops/GP and everything within walking distance.

Where is the posh part of Dumferline? :)