The walled harbour of Anstruther, known locally as 'Anster,' once contained Scotland's main fishing fleet with over 1,000 boats until the onslaught of deep sea trawlers and the demise of the herring stock. There are now mostly leisure boats moored in the harbour but Anstruther still reflects on its fishing past at the Scottish Fisheries Museum found at the head of the harbour. The museum gives a unique insight into the life and work of a fishing community, with the marvellous interiors of a typical fisherman's home. There is also a collection of model fishing boats, fishing gear and equipment, maps and compasses, as well as an aquarium. Behind the museum in East Green is one of Fife's best restaurants, the Cellar, which serves exceptionally fresh and well prepared seafood. 'Anster' also boasts a fine 9-hole golf course, located at the foot of Bankwell Road, behind the Craw's Nest Hotel. The Craw's Nest is one of the better hotels in the area where you can enjoy good food with a fine view over the Forth.

Between Anstruther and Crail on the B9171 road is Scotland's Secret Bunker, an underground Nuclear War Command Centre, redundant since the end of Cold War aggression. This is where central government and military commanders would have run the country in the event of a nuclear war. The operations rooms of the RAF and Royal Observer Corps as well as dormitories and broadcast studios have all been left as they were during past decades of tension.

Out of all Fife's East Neuk villages, the village of Crail has the most picturesque harbour. From Crail's wide main street, steep cobble-stoned wynds run down to it, this being the older part of the village. Painters and landscape photographers spend hours here. The small anchorage caters mainly for lobster and crab fishing boats and creel-markers are seen in the water all along the coast. The upper streets of the village are more spacious with the Tolbooth at its centre, behind which is the small Crail Museum and Heritage Centre giving an insight into the burgh's history. Crail Preservation Society has conserved this and many other fine buildings in the village. A mile or so north of the village is Balcomie Links which sports two of the best 18-hole golf courses in Fife.

In the summer, boats from Anstruther and Crail run excursions to the Isle of May some 5 miles (8km) off-shore. The grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson built the existing lighthouse but the first lighthouse in Scotland was built here in 1636. The island became a National Nature Reserve in 1956 and is home to a large population of puffins, razorbills, shags, guillemots and kittihawks, as well as many common grey seals.