The Open Series: How do I get to St Andrews?

Where is St Andrews? It may seem like a fairly simple question with a really obvious answer but if you’re planning to come to The Open this year, it may not be quite as simple as you think.

As The Open will be held at St Andrews this year - my neck of the woods - I thought it would be both fun and useful to do a series to help anyone who is perhaps planning a visit.

For those who’ve never looked before, here is St Andrews on a map.

It’s fairly central in Scotland and within easy travelling distance of most of the major towns and cities in the Central Belt.

However, if you’re planning to visit The Open, things become less accessible depending on your mode of transport.

Rail

St Andrews isn’t served by a railway station. There is a railway station at nearby Leuchars (prounounced Loochers with a Scottish ‘ch’ or Lookers if you have no idea what a Scottish ‘ch’ is) which is only 5-10 minutes from St Andrews. There are regular buses between the 2 towns which and the bus arrives relatively close to The Old Course.

If you’re leaving the car at home and travelling by rail, this opens up a large number of places to stay all across Scotland. Leuchars is on the East Coast line meaning there are direct trains from Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Cupar, Kirkcaldy - plenty of places to find accommodation.

As an added bonus, Scotrail and Stagecoach are again providing their Golf Link ticket during the Open. This means you can buy a special ticket that includes your train travel to Leuchars and your onward bus travel to St Andrews. (More details at www.scotrail.co.uk/opengolf)

Road

Now, if you’re planning to drive to The Open is where things might get a little complicated. Yes, it’s easy to get to St Andrews even if the roads are more country than city class but St Andrews is not a big city. It’s not even a big town. The roads weren’t designed to handle the amount of travellers that descend on St Andrews every 5 years. That’s why the police get involved.

Each year, there are dedicated travel routes marked by yellow AA route signs. These signs (which direct you to the A91 into St Andrews) take you to the public park and ride car parks which will ease traffic delay to help you get to the golf faster.

Having attended in previous years, I would highly suggest you follow the signs even if you think you know a different/quicker way into St Andrews. It’s not worth the hassle and having worked in St Andrews during The Open, you’d be praying for a miracle to actually get a parking space near the town centre, or even in the residential estates outside the town.

Do remember that parking will likely cost you about £15 a day and they only take cash. Yes, you read that correctly - in this day and age they only take cash!

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Basically, these are your main options for getting to St Andrews for The Open. Most likely, accommodation in and around St Andrews will be well booked by now (more on that in another blog) so unless you have your own helicopter, you’ll be choosing between train and car.

If you do have your own helicopter, speak to your hotel as there are a few with helipads in and around St Andrews.

I hope this has been of use. In the run up to July, as part of my Open Series, I’ll be blogging about:

• Accommodation for The Open
• What to do in St Andrews for the non-golfer
• General Hints and Tips for your best Open
• Secrets of the Locals
• Don’t Miss at The Open
• Plan Your Day at The Open

Check back soon for the next in the series.