St Andrews is best known as the Home of Golf: it is also has Scotland's oldest University (founded 1411), with its Faculties of Arts, Divinity and Science. It is situated on the Fife peninsula, forty miles north of Edinburgh. It has miles of beautiful beaches, many golf courses, fine mediaeval buildings with historic associations, a mediaeval street plan, several museums, interesting shops, wooded paths and picturesque alleys, a cliff walk, many nice cafes and restaurants and above all, Scottish (East Coast) weather---clear, dry, luminous and breezy.
St Andrews Castle, with its mine and counter-mine (scene of an underground battle) and its bottle dungeon, where enemies of the Archbishop were left to die, is one of the main attractions: it has glorious views out to sea. Nearby is the ruined mediaeval cathedral, in its time the largest in Scotland, with its (alleged) relics of St Andrew visited by pilgrims. Other historic sites are the house of Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots; the stones inlaid in the street marking spots where Protestants and Catholics burnt each other to death; and the ruins of very early churches.
The East Neuk of Fife, about ten miles away, has several pretty fishing villages, with stone-built harbours, fresh seafood at the quayside, craft shops, more cliff walks, old houses and cottages. For those who like classic Scottish castles and tower houses, those at Kellie, Elcho, Balvaird, Earlshall, Scotstarvit and Glamis are all nearby.
Golfers may be interested to come first for the conference, then for a few days' holiday elsewhere in Scotland, returning for the next Scottish challenge to the temper of the international golfer: the Open Championship 2000 on the St Andrews Old Course (20-23 July). This is likely to be crowded and expensive.
The rest of Scotland has even more to offer the discerning visitor: fine scenery in the Borders, the Highlands and Islands, more and better castles, lochs with mythical monsters (was Nessie a 1930's hoax?), Edinburgh with more history, atmosphere and (in August) a series of mind-blowing Festivals, and Glasgow with splendid architecture, shops and museums. Dundee, twelve miles from St Andrews, has fine modern buildings, a stunning riverside location and the very ship in which Scott went to the Antarctic, the Discovery.