Cupar
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Straddling the small River Eden and surrounded by gentle hills, CUPAR, the capital of Fife, has retained much of its medieval character - and its self-confident air - from the days when it was a bustling market centre. The Mercat Cross, stranded in the midst of the lorries and cars which speed through the centre, now consists of salvaged sections of the seventeenth-century original, following its destruction by an errant lorry some years ago.
One of the best reasons for stopping off at Cupar is to visit the Hill of Tarvit (July & Aug daily 11am-5.30pm; Easter, May, June & Sept daily 1.30-5.30pm; Oct Sat & Sun 1.30-5.30pm; NTS; £5; gardens daily 9.30am-sunset), an Edwardian mansion two miles south of town remodelled by Sir Robert Lorimer from a late seventeenth-century building. The estate includes the five-storey, late sixteenth-century Scotstarvit Tower, a fine example of a Scots tower house, providing both fortification and comfort.
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