The beautiful UK city ‘of kings’ that tourists ‘have never heard of’
It's one of the UK's youngest cities, having only been awarded the status in 2022.
A city which was once the de facto capital of Scotland is one of the smallest in the UK - and it's often overlooked. Dunfermline is a former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, located around three miles from the Firth of Forth's northern shore.
It's also one of the UK's youngest cities, having only been awarded the status in 2022 as part of Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours. The sprawling site in the city centre was gifted to the people of Dunfermline by one its most famous sons, the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie - who went on to become the USA's richest man. But the city is often overlooked by tourists as it sits very close to major tourist spots, like Edinburgh and Stirling.
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The Telegraph included Dunfermline in a ranking of Britain's smallest cities from worst to best, suggesting it may also be one of the least visited. It put the ancient settlement in 18th with a middling 4.5/10 score, though it acknowledged its significant historical sites, and the "really quite special" Pittencrieff Park.
It was named Scotland's best park in the Fields in Trust UK's Best Park 2019, and is said to be great for a woodland walk.
Carnegie isn't the only famous name associated with the "City of Kings", a name it picked up due to it being the birth and burial place of several monarchs.
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Nicola Sturgeon booed by crowds at Dunfermline Abbey
Around notable royals and aristocrats are entombed within the 12th-century Dunfermline Abbey and Palace, the city's most famous landmark.
But the sprawling abbey, founded in 1128, only attracts 30,000 visitors every year, despite its close proximity to the Forth Road Bridge, which attracts millions of visitors every year.
Robert the Bruce, famed for winning Scotland's independence in the First War of Scottish Independence against England, was buried there in 1329.
It's also easily accessible for a day trip if you're staying Edinburgh, as its just thirty minutes from the centre of the modern-day capital, Edinburgh, via the Queensferry Crossing.
With a population of around 60,000, it's far smaller than the likes of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which have populations of around 530,000 and 650,000 respectively.
