The Magnificent St Abbs Head Walk: Everything You Need To Know

The Berwickshire coast is one of those under-the-radar regions that visitors to Scotland tend to bypass in favour of the bright lights of Edinburgh, Glasgow or Stirling. And, of course, the glorious Highlands. But the coastline between Cockburnspath and Berwick-upon-Tweed, just across the border in England, is a 29-mile stretch filled with wildlife, dramatic coastal scenery and beautiful hikes. Not to mention lovely places to eat fresh seafood from the North Sea.

Perhaps the jewel in its hiking crown, though, is the St Abbs Head walk, just north of the tiny fishing village of St Abbs. As part of the Berwickshire Coastal Path, it’s a two-hour-or-so ramble along cliff edges overlooking bizarre rock formations, sea stacks and nesting seabirds (including puffins during late spring and summer), before looping back via a small loch.

Suffice to say, we loved it. And you will, too.

So here’s everything you need to know when planning your visit.

About St Abbs

St Abbs is a quaint Scottish fishing village, named after the 7th Century saint, Æbbe of Coldingham, who founded a monastery on nearby St Abbs Head.

For generations, its main livelihood has been fishing and (latterly) scuba diving. Something that Nicky is familiar with as she completed her sea dives here when she was 14, as part of her British Sub Aqua Club diving certification. Indeed, the combination of warm and cold currents in the waters surrounding the village makes for particularly good visibility and a unique combination of cold Arctic fish and tropical corals.

Most recently, the village served as the location for the fictional town of New Asgard in the 2019 movie, Avengers: Endgame (clip here). There’s even a road sign declaring that the two are “twinned”.

And it was used as a backdrop for the Harry Styles music video, Adore You.

The village

St Abbs is very much a working fishing village with a lovely old harbour at the centre of daily life. As can be seen by the dozens of crab and lobster pots haphazardly stacked along the quayside, together with a community-funded lifeboat station.

Cottages line the streets to the left and right of the harbour. Although many of these are now holiday lets, which come into their own during the spring and summer season.

To be honest, other than strolling around the harbour, picking up some information from the Visitor Centre or stopping for a crab sandwich at Ebbcarrs Cafe, there’s not much else to see. But that’s not the point. The real treasures are along the coastline and under the waves – either on foot, on a boat or in a dry suit.

However, if you want to experience the aura of an authentic Scottish fishing village, there’s arguably nowhere better in southeast Scotland than St Abbs.

The St Abbs Head walk

This is a walk that’s worth doing at different times of the year as the landscape and visiting wildlife change dramatically as the seasons progress. That’s because you’ll pass through the St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve, replete with the kaleidoscopic carpeting of wildflowers such as purple milk vetch, rock rose, sea pinks and wild thyme.

Meanwhile, the cliffs and off-shore stacks provide shelter and safety for a variety of nesting birds – including puffins, gannets and guillemots. And there are thousands of them in season (late spring and summer).

There are a few options for completing the loop walk, which begins and ends at the National Trust car park, just outside the village. We chose to head straight out towards the cliffs, which we followed past St Abbs Lighthouse to Pettico Wick Harbour and then looped back via Mire Loch.

As soon as the trail reaches the coastline at Starney Bay, the jagged cliffs and rock formations take centre stage. Especially those at White Heugh where the rock has been sculptured by the weather into what looks like the turrets of a long-abandoned castle.

A short spurt inland soon arrives back at the cliffs of Horncastle Bay. It’s worth lingering here to explore the narrow fingers of headland that stretch out into the bay. And offshore, dramatic sandstone stacks, splash-painted with yellow moss, are littered with noisy gannets.

Keeping to the path nearest the cliffs, the route then passes through Kirk Hill – the site of St Æbbe’s former monastery – before arriving at the whitewashed St Abbs Lighthouse, complete with its separate foghorn. The lighthouse was built in the aftermath of the sinking of the Martello steamship at Carr Rock in 1857 (which, incidentally, also contributed to the introduction of the lifeboat service).

Disappointingly for lighthouse fans, you can’t go inside. However, you can still get your fix by staying overnight in one of the Lighthouse Keepers’ Cottages behind it.

Beyond, the view suddenly opens up to a fabulous panorama of the coastline heading north, where the Berwickshire Coastal Path hugs 150 metre (500 foot) cliffs while it passes by iron age forts and a medieval castle. It’s a stunner, for sure.

From there, an access road leads downhill to Petticoe Wick Harbour. Instead, we’d recommend continuing along the headland, largely because you might not want to pass up on that view just yet. And there are further coves to explore, too.

Best of all, the section ends on a hillside overlooking Petticoe Wick Harbour with, if anything, even better views of the cliffs to the north. And, to the left, a glimpse of Mire Loch signposts your route back to St Abbs. If you’re taking a picnic, this is the spot to have it.

Looking down at the bay, the exposed rock seems twisted, layered and tilted. But we clearly weren’t the first to notice. Back in the 18th century, one James Hutton (aka The Father of Modern Geology) noticed it, too, at nearby Siccar Point. And he used it as conclusive proof of his theory of uniformitarianism – which, among other things, dated the Earth to over 5 billion years ago rather than just a few thousand, as was commonly thought.

Getting down to the harbour from there is via a steep, narrow and rocky path. So if that’s a deal breaker for you then opt for the road down from the lighthouse instead.

The bay itself is gorgeous but has a somewhat murky past as it was a favourite entry point for Scottish smugglers. Although nowadays its main benefactors are scuba divers eager to explore the offshore Marine Reserve and several shipwrecks in the area. Dolphins and porpoises have been known to visit here, too.

The pier, by the way, was once used to deliver supplies to the lighthouse.

From the bay, the lighthouse access road continues back uphill to the National Trust car park. Instead, cross the road and walk along the footpath towards the reeds at the head of the loch.

The footpath runs the length of the loch, where you then have the option to turn right and meet the access road back to the car park. Or you can do what we did by turning left and meeting back up with the footpath near Horncastle Bay.

One of the advantages of taking this route back is that you’ll now have St Abbs in front of you. And what a view it is. Especially when framed behind the jagged turrets of White Heugh.

Indeed, it’s a perfect way to end a hike through some of southeast Scotland’s most glorious coastline.

How to get there

St Abbs is about an hour’s drive from Edinburgh in the north or just twenty minutes from Berwick-upon-Tweed to the south. Parking can be difficult during the peak season as the only available spaces are in the small car park down at the harbour or the National Trust car park at the head of the trail (£3 or free for National Trust members).

The #235 bus service (Borders Buses) from Berwick-upon-Tweed operates several times per day and takes about 40 minutes. If you’re travelling from Edinburgh, Newcastle or Glasgow you’ll need to take the train to Berwick and connect with the bus from there.

When to go

This may well depend on what you want to see.

Weather-wise, it’s a mixed bag. The Scottish winters can be cold, wet, windy and thoroughly miserable. Yet they can also produce crisp, sunny, clear days with fantastic visibility. Hiking the trail at this time of the year would also mean avoiding the peak season crowds. And, if you go during late November and December, you’ll have the chance to see baby seals at Petticoe Wick.

The late spring and summer months bring the best of the wildlife, wildflowers and the warmest temperatures. And, thankfully, this part of the country doesn’t suffer as much from the armies of Scotland’s notorious midges that plague the west coast.

Final thoughts

The whole trip, to and from the car park, takes two to three hours, depending on how long you want to linger. It never gets too strenuous, although there are a couple of steeper climbs on the way out. And there’s such a variety of things to see, it’s a walk we’d happily do again at different times of the day and at different times of the year. 

Happily, we’ll be back again this autumn so we’ll update this article then.

If you have more time available, the gorgeous coastline to the north and south of St Abbs is also waiting to be explored. Including the deserted beaches, castles, ancient priories and fishing villages of England’s Northumberland coast.

What did you think? Do you have any thoughts on the St Abbs Head walk? Or perhaps you’re planning to visit soon? Either way, we’d love to hear from you so please add your comments below.