Aberdour is an attractive village on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, about five miles east of the spectacular Forth Rail and Road Bridges. It looks south to the Island of Inchcolm - the "Iona of the East" - and Leith and Edinburgh on the south bank of the river.

Aberdour was originally two villages, Wester Aberdour and Easter Aberdour, lying on either side of the Dour Burn, which forms a natural harbour as it flows into the River Forth  Although the villages are now unified, a friendly rivalry still exists to this day between West and East.

Situated almost centrally between Wester and Easter Aberdour is Aberdour Castle, the home of the Earls of Morton from the late 1200's until the family moved to the nearby Aberdour House in 1725. The castle is now in the care of Historic Scotland and is open to the public throughout the year.

From the 1700's to the 1850's, Aberdour was a centre for the export of coal from  local collieries - up to 150,000 tons per annum being shipped from the harbour which could handle vessels up to 200 tons. But it was as a holiday resort for summer visitors that Aberdour was best known. It became a favourite retreat for residents of Leith and Edinburgh coming over on the ferries sailing from Granton and Leith.

The opening of the Forth Rail Bridge in 1890 brought the railway and slowly killed off the ferry traffic, but the short rail journey from Edinburgh only served to increase the popularity of the village.

Today, Aberdour has much to offer in the way of visitor attractions. The "Blue Flag"  Silversands Beach and "Seaside Award" winning Harbour Beach are highly popular and safe places for visitors to bring their children for a day at the seaside. Few other villages have a ruined castle, a beautiful 12^th Century church, a superb seaside golf course with magnificent river views, and excellent hotels and pubs.

This year (2006) we have retained our title as the "Best Kept Medium Village" in Fife for the ninth successive year and the garden of Aberdour's traditional railway station has been voted the "Best Station Garden in the UK".

Aberdour is twinned with Corte Franca in Italy, and links between the two communities are being strengthened.

Every year the village holds the "Aberdour Festival" when we crown our King and Queen, and celebrate with a week of musical, sporting and other activities. Private gardens are open to the public.

Communication links with the village are very good - Edinburgh is about half an hour away by train. The village is 10 minutes from the M90 motorway, and Stirling, Perth, Dundee and St Andrews can be reached within the hour by road.

Aberdour has a reputation of being a warm and inviting place to visit and stay, and rightly deserves it's title as the "Jewel of Fife".