The Easter weekend is just around the corner, and if you’ve got a couple of days off work and really want to make the most of it, a staycation is your best friend. And if you fancy going somewhere with great food, lovely scenery, a fascinating history and an overall charming vibe, there’s one that should be on your radar.

Home to one of the UK’s most ancient universities, St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland is truly unique. Where else would you find a 170-year-old pub a stone’s throw away from an Oliver Bonas? It’s somewhere I’ve visited plenty of times, but each time I go back there’s something new to discover.

During a recent weekend trip to Lower Largo, a tiny village in Fife, we decided to head to St. Andrews for the afternoon. From Edinburgh it’s around an hour and a half’s drive, and from Glasgow it’s an hour and three quarters.

No matter if you’re into it or not, most people probably know that St. Andrews is most famous for its golf scene. The Old Course, one of the most famous courses in the world, boasts an iconic landmark that you have to take a picture with, no matter how many times you’ve been.

The Swilcan Bridge, built more than 700 years ago, was our first port of call on this trip. It’s located on the 18th hole of the course, and it feels bizarre just walking onto the green, but it’s the perfect photo opportunity. You’ll definitely meet other tourists there, so you might have to wait a while until your turn for a picture, but it’s worth it.

Conveniently, there’s a great pub called the Jigger Inn just a two-minute walk away, which was where we then headed to grab some food.

Dating back to the 1850s, the Jigger Inn is a cosy, welcoming pub with roaring fires that overlooks the golf course. There’s a great selection of drinks behind the bar, or you can sit and order food, which is exactly what we did.

You can’t tell me there’s a better combination than a caesar salad, chips and wine, and the Jigger Inn did all of these brilliantly.

Sufficiently fuelled, it was then time to explore the actual town itself. It’s not the biggest, and most of the shops and attractions can be found on one of about three main streets, but you could easily wander around for hours and not get bored.

St. Andrews a really unique place with clear medieval influences that are still very evident when you walk around the town. The university began teaching in 1413, which is completely baffling to think about, especially as it’s still a thriving educational establishment now.

There’s no denying that it’s an incredibly affluent area. Students from all over the world come here to study, and the multiculturalism only adds to its charm. It’s also famously the place where William and Catherine met and began their romance.

One of the major attractions is the ruins of the St. Andrews Cathedral, located close to the waterfront. It was built all the way back in 1158, and was once the largest church in Scotland. There’s not much left of it now, and it has instead transformed into a graveyard.

Sadly, there was ring fencing around many of the graves due to potential structural issues, but it’s still an eerie yet interesting place to stroll around.

There’s so much going on in St. Andrews that you almost forget that the sea is right there. Just beyond the Old Course lies the famous West Sands Beach, which was actually featured in that iconic scene at the beginning of Chariots of Fire.

If it had been slightly warmer, this would have been the perfect place for a stroll, but the wind was whipping us this way and that so we decided to head back into the safety of the town centre.

St. Andrews is full of great shops, from chains such as H&M and Jo Malone to independent boutiques and stores that you won’t find anywhere else. As an avid reader, I was keen to visit Topping and Company, a famous family-owned booksellers with a handful of stores across the UK.

The staff were friendly and approachable, and the selection of books on offer were second to none. There was an entire table of signed first editions at the front of the shop, and the shelves seemed to stretch up and further into the shop for miles.

It’s the kind of place that you could spend ages browsing – and spend an absolute fortune too. Luckily, I managed to restrict myself to just one book, which was excellent restraint on my part.

There was just one final stop to make on our trip, and if you’ve got a sweet tooth, you’ll want to know about it.

You can’t go to St. Andrews without a visit to Fisher and Donaldson. Established in Fife in 1919, this family baker is famous for one thing and one thing only – its fudge donuts.

Widely considered the very best in Scotland, these decadent treats are filled with fresh custard and topped with a mouth-watering fudge icing. Of course there are other cakes and biscuits on offer, but the fudge donut honestly blows everything else out of the water. We took some home to have with a coffee later on, and it’s safe to say they didn’t last very long.

St. Andrews is just a lovely place to spend the day or even the weekend if you fancy going at a slightly slower place. It’s great no matter the weather, but I can’t wait to go back in the summer when it’s slightly less cold.