Walks you can reach from Cardenden by train

Scenic coastal walk on the Fife Coastal Path beneath the iconic Forth Bridge, through charming towns including Aberdour with its harbour and sandy beach, on to Burntisland.

Time: 6h (4h30 walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Exposed to coastal weather; pack layers and waterproofs.

Walk details: ScotRail (tips).

Recommended: Route into Edinburgh along the shoreline and old railway path, with some modest climbing.

Coastal: three quarters along the coast.

Woodland: two fifths under tree cover.

Time: 8h30 (6h30 walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Walk details: Railwalks.

Recommended: Varied walk, urban at both ends with scenic views in between.

Coastal: almost all along the coast.

Time: 7h30 (6h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Cafe at Dysart Harbour midway.

Warnings: Some climbing.

Walk details: Railwalks.

Recommended: Mainly hard-surfaced with a few short climbs, around suburban Dalgety Bay with some sections secluded by trees and great views to the Forth bridges.

Coastal: nine tenths along the coast.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: A few short climbs.

Walk details: Railwalks.

About half on road, half off-road, with gorse, grazing animals, kissing gates, stiles and small lochs. Most road sections are small and quiet or in-town with good pavements and though there is a 2 km stretch along the A909. Includes the Old North Road local heritage trail and a footpath along the banks of Stenhouse Reservoir, with likely views to the Firth of Forth. Optional side trips up Dunearn Hill (an ancient hill-fort) or Burntisland Binn. Bring food and drink as there is nowhere to stop and eat; bus routes on the B925 and B9157.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Nowhere to eat en route — pack lunch!

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a fifth of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

A varied rural walk on tracks and paths through fields and woodland, including a picturesque wooded glen and burn and with short pavement sections beside busier roads at each end. Over 90% off-road. Rough and occasionally steep paths. Mostly uses Fife's core paths. Highlights include the late-18th-century designed landscape of Raith Park and the wooded ravines of the Den Burn. No places to eat or buy food between Lochgelly and Kirkcaldy. A bus service runs between the two towns.

Woodland: half under tree cover.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Nowhere to eat en route — pack lunch!

Warnings: One short core-path section involves climbing a very rickety gate wrapped in barbed wire through undergrowth; it can be avoided via a couple of quiet roads.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Roughly half on road (mostly quieter roads) and half off-road on Fife's core paths and including a large field with no path to follow south of Auchtertool. There are kissing gates and possibly stiles and muddy tracks. Almost all on Fife's core paths. No places to buy food mid-route.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Nowhere to eat en route — pack lunch!

End-of-walk reward: There is a café at the Ecology Centre on Kinghorn Loch, about a mile outside Kinghorn.

Warnings: Take particular care on the road heading north from Auchtertool, which has narrow verges and tight bends, and at the B9157 crossing at Kilrie.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

About three-quarters off-road on core paths, with grazing land, kissing gates, self-closing gates, slopes of about 10% and possibly stiles and muddy tracks. There are pavemented in-town road sections at each end. Goes along the banks of Camilla Loch and through Beveridge Park, part of a historic designed landscape. There may be grazing water buffalo. Bring food and drink as there is nowhere to stop and eat. An alternative route avoids the unwelcoming Raith Estate.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: Nowhere to eat en route — pack lunch!

Warnings: One road section just north of Auchtertool has tight bends and needs extra caution.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

The vista back onto the Forth Bridge keeps changing; The Rail Bridge viewpoint is stunning. A longer route following the Fife Pilgrim Way almost the whole way, mostly off-road or on small roads and tracks across farmland, woodland, playing fields and fields of sheep, with long moderate slopes becoming steep over Castland Hill. Surfaces vary from tarmac and firm gravel to rough, muddy grassy field edges and with a long pavement stretch into Dunfermline. Follows the Fife Pilgrim Way (Inverkeithing to Dunfermline section), waymarked with thigh-high wooden posts. Rosyth is described as Scotland's only Garden City. A post office, convenience store, café and takeaway lie a few minutes off the route near Hilton Road.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Lunch: The route avoids most habitation in the middle; a post office, convenience store, café and takeaway are a few minutes off-route near Hilton Road. Many places to eat in central Dunfermline and in Inverkeithing.

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a quarter of the walk. A long, busy and unpleasant stretch along and across the A985, though it has a wide bank/verge. The route is a little unclear across farmland near Wester Gellet and at Douglas Bank Cemetery. Graded strenuous; muddy in places.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 5h30 (4h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 4h30 (3h walking, 1h30 lunch)

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a fifth of the walk.

Walk details: Slow Ways.

Time: 7h (5h walking, 1h30 lunch, 30m break)

Walk details: Slow Ways.