Anstruther

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About Anstruther

Anstruther (pronounced 'Ainster') is the largest of the East Neuk fishing villages in Fife, a royal burgh built around a harbour that once hosted one of Scotland's great herring fleets. It is the home of the Scottish Fisheries Museum and a popular stop on the Fife Coastal Path.

The story of Anstruther

Anstruther was made a royal burgh in 1587 and grew into one of the busiest herring ports on the east coast of Scotland, its fleet exporting cured herring across the North Sea to the Baltic and the Continent; the village was the chief port of the East Neuk through the 18th and 19th centuries. The Scottish Fisheries Museum, opened in 1969 in a group of old fishermen's houses and boatyards by the harbour, tells the story of the Scottish fishing industry with a collection of historic boats, model ships and fishing gear, and includes the 1898 sailing drifter Reaper. The neighbouring village of Cellardyke was once a separate burgh with its own herring fleet and is now joined to Anstruther along the shore. The Anstruther Fish Bar, opened in 2003, has won repeated national awards and is one of the most famous fish and chip shops in Britain.

Visiting with care

Visit the Scottish Fisheries Museum and its historic boats, walk the harbour and the Fife Coastal Path to Cellardyke and Crail, and eat at the Anstruther Fish Bar. Boat trips to the Isle of May run in season to see its puffins and its 1636 lighthouse, the earliest in Scotland.

Interesting facts

• Anstruther was made a royal burgh in 1587 and was the chief herring port of the East Neuk.
• The Scottish Fisheries Museum opened in 1969 and houses the 1898 sailing drifter Reaper.
• Boat trips run to the Isle of May, whose 1636 lighthouse is the earliest in Scotland.
• The Anstruther Fish Bar, opened in 2003, is one of the most awarded fish and chip shops in Britain.