Travel review: Silverknowes Beach and Cramond Village, Edinburgh, Scotland
Rating – Silverknowes Beach: * ½ (out of 5)
Rating – Cramond Village and River Almond Walk: **** (out of 5)
Review and photo by: Alexa Williamson
While undertaking a recent trip to Portobello Beach in Edinburgh this summer, I was tipped off by my cab driver that Silverknowes Beach was better as you can: “walk out to Cramond Island and also go on a river walk with waterfalls to a nice old inn”. So tempted by the picture he painted of Silverknowes Beach, I decided to visit it in September. And, overall, I can say that I’m very happy we did.
Silverknowes Beach itself isn’t somewhere to sell your soul – let alone your dirty underwear – to visit ; ). Whereas Portobello’s quiet bleakness was oddly inspiring, Silverknowes’ is truly depressing. Actually, Silverknowes isn’t a beach, but a scab of rocks, which appears when the tide goes out. The coastline surrounding it is blighted by factories and silhouettes of oil repositories. The only good things about it are the Tea Room, which serves fantastic fry-ups done on the barbecue and cheap mugs of milky tea – with a smile – and its view of Cramond Island.
Two miles down the road though, Cramond Village and the River Almond Walk, are a completely different story. Dating back to the 18th century, the village offers visitors a tea shop, bistro and the famous Cramond Inn*. Comprised of white-painted, stone buildings that have a pleasant outlook onto a small harbour, it’s an excellent start to the wooded River Almond Walk, which carries on for several miles into a nature reserve, or for a venture, when the tide is out, to Cramond Island. A haven of history and nature located within a 15-minute drive of Edinburgh, Cramond makes an easily achievable and pleasant day trip.
*an excellent place to stop for lunch as it serves fresh catch and other daily specials in an old-world environment
