North Berwick has been crowned the best seaside town in Scotland in a roundup of the UK’s finest coastal spots, putting the East Lothian town ahead of well-known rivals including Tobermory and Ullapool. Holiday Cars described it as a wonderful coastal retreat just a 30-minute train journey from Edinburgh, a selling point that helps explain why the town has become such a draw for day-trippers and longer stays alike.

The win rests on more than a good rail connection. North Berwick has two sandy beaches in town, West Beach and East Beach, while Bass Rock sits offshore with a gannet colony of more than 150,000 birds. The nearby Renaissance Club hosts the Scottish Open, and several famous links courses, including Muirfield, are within easy reach. Tantallon Castle is only a few miles away, adding another layer to a place that packs history, sport and shoreline into one compact stretch of coast.

Edinburgh Waverley also has straightforward train connections to North Berwick, making the town one of the easiest coastal escapes from the capital. In August, it hosts The Fringe by the Sea alongside the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, giving it a summer calendar that is unusually busy for a seaside town of its size. That mix of access, scenery and events appears to have carried real weight in the ranking, which named North Berwick the standout choice in Scotland and New Quay in Wales as the best overall seaside town.

The result also underlines how Scottish coastal places are being judged against each other in sharper ways than before. Oban, Tobermory and Ullapool all sit in the conversation, but North Berwick has the kind of combination that is hard to ignore: fast access from Edinburgh, two beaches, a globally known bird colony and a festival season that reaches beyond the usual summer trade. For now, that balance has put it at the front of the Scottish pack.