St Mary's Environment

St Andrews is a town of some 15,000 people, beautifully situated on the Fife coast. The major cities of Dundee and Edinburgh are about 25 and 70 minutes travel away respectively.

Today St Andrews is known as the home of Scotland's first university, the home of golf, and a popular tourist destination. The ruins of the cathedral and castle are memories of the days when St Andrews was a focus of significant national and international eccelsiastical and political interest.

The University is spread throughout the town and both are steeped in history. The historic chapel and quadrangles of St Salvator's College and St Mary's College are popular visitor attractions. The history of St Andrews is sometimes used as an 'excuse' for a number of interesting student traditions. These include the pier walk and the 'Academic Family' system, where many entrant students choose an academic 'mother' and 'father' from their friends in third and fourth year. But this does not mean that the University remains in the past. You'll find some of the most up-to-date Information Technology available to you, great sporting facilities, and a wonderful Music Centre.

The Scottish hills are within easy driving distance. The beautiful and rugged scenery is well worth a walk through in the summer, and there can be exciting opportunities for both downhill and cross-country skiing in the winter. Because of its proximity to the sea, St Andrews itself rarely has snow lying for any length of time. Indeed, this corner of the country is sometimes able to boast more hours of sunshine per year than anywhere else in the UK.

This allows for something akin to a street-cafe culture enjoyed by tourists in the summer and (hardy) students in the early autumn and late spring. Those coming from cities with atmospheric pollution particularly appreciate the unlimited supply of (very) fresh air in St Andrews and especially down on the shore.