If you are staying at Elie Cottage (or any other Elie self catering) and a fan of fine food and wine then a night out at Sangsters is must do. Just a stone’s throw back from the beach in the centre of Elie High Street, Bruce Sangster’s eponymous restaurant feels like a cross between a Scottish front lounge and a French auberge. Bruce works tirelessly to create inventive, taste driven dishes, while his wife Jacqueline attentively looks after front of house. Menus are fixed price and refreshingly to the point. The cooking is sharp, modern and precise – with starters such as twice-baked cheese soufflé made with Isle of Mull Cheddar or Ross-shire scallops with a oriental hit of chilli, ginger, galangal and coriander. Mains include Scotch beef fillet with red cabbage compote, onion marmalade and potato gratin or North Sea halibut with creamed leeks, bacon and vermouth sauce, and for desserts, think caramelised apple pastry with Calvados custard and apple sorbet or a tasting of oranges involving parfait, salad, crisp and Cointreau syrup. The array of dishes, which is usually three choices to each course, changes every three or four days as the menu evolves with the seasons. Booking is essential at any time especially if you are Fife self catering . Click here to go to contact.

The Guardian

The Fife coastal path’s chain walk, which dates back to the 1920s, is hidden down by the sea on the Firth of Forth. Leaving the quaint villages of Elie and Earlsferry you wander along the clifftop to find a grassy descent on Kincraig Point. The route down is awkward to find but once at sea level the coastal rock formations are stunning, with a series of wide ridges extending out to sea with gulches and caves between. This isn’t one for toddlers. Working back towards Elie involves walking along rocky slabs and scrambling up and down the steeper sections with the aid of chains and cut steps, to finish on the red sands of Earlsferry.

The “walk” is best attempted about an hour after high tide when the sea is on the ebb. See www.fifecoastalpath.co.uk

The Guardian

The section of the Fife Coastal Path between Pittenween and Elie includes two ruined castles plus good rockpools whose investigation for mini marine beasts may well distract you from going all the way. If you do make the distance, other rewards are the finely restored windmill and associated saltpans at St Monans and of course “Pittenweem, Pittenweem, Every fisher laddies’ dream …” You have go to find out why.

The Telegraph

Although it’s only a mile and a half long, you can easily double the pleasure by re-tracing your steps at the end. The Chain Walk forms a side-loop to the tranquil, 90-mile Fife Coastal Path. The fun chained section – a kind of British via ferrata – hugs the sea from Elie village, careering round the cliffs of Kincraig Point to Shell Bay. Head for the beach below Elie then walk south-west to a sign telling you to take care. The glinting steel chain fixed to the cliffs signals the start of your scramble.

Together with footholds, a series of eight fixed chains 10 to 50 feet long provide something to cling to as you slither up, down, along and over alarming rocks while waves crash in from the Firth of Forth. Children aged nine and over can tackle this breathtaking route, which defies being termed a mere “walk”. This is adventure. Stay away near high tide.

The Times, 2009

It’s the essence of summer: a good pint in the beautiful gardens of a smashing little pub. Perched above the sea walls at Elie, just round the East Neuk of Fife from St Andrews, the Ship Inn has a spectacular garden, with views south across the sea towards Bass Rock and east across a crescent of butterscotch Blue Flag beach towards Earlsferry. Hit it at low tide every second Sunday and the Pimmsy buzz is fabulous fun, with the garden doubling as off-side boundary for proper white-flanelled beach cricket. Throw in the best fish and chips on the east coast, landed the same day at Anstruther, and you’ll never want a pint anywhere else again.

The Times, 2009

Here is a good list of resources for other self catering and holiday info… (more…)

The Ship Inn is one of the best places for a drink if you are staying in a self catering holiday house in Elie such as Elie Cottage. (more…)

Elie is a well known and beautiful seaside holiday village nestled around an award winning mile long curve of golden brown sand on the East Neuk of Fife. Originally a fishing village, Elie has plenty of self catering holiday accommodation available and now attracts tourists, golfers, sailors and surfers, as well as those wishing for a pleasant place to retire. (more…)

The ‘East Neuk’ of Fife runs from St Andrews south to Largo Bay and is well known for the picturesque and beautiful fishing villages of Elie, St Monan’s, Pittenween, Anstruther and Crail. There are lots of things to do (for ideas see East Neuk Wide as an example) as well as lots of fantastic self catering holiday houses such as Elie Cottage for visitors to enjoy. Most are old cottages and merchants’ houses with crow-stepped gables and tiled roofs, huddling round stone-built harbours and free from (more…)