Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
through Linlithgow and west to Falkirk, where it meets the Forth & Clyde Canal
linking the capital with Glasgow; the two canals are connected by the Falkirk Wheel
(see p.288). he Canal Centre runs a couple of regular
narrow-boat trips
through
town or east towards the Avon Aqueduct - Scotland's largest - as well as the
occasional foray onto the Forth & Clyde via the Falkirk Wheel. Along the way, the
guide will tell of the near two-hundred-year history of the canals and serve tea and
biscuits too.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
LINLITHGOW
By train
Linlithgow is on the main train routes from
Edinburgh to both Glasgow Queen St (4 trains hourly) and
Stirling (2 trains hourly); the journey from Edinburgh takes
20min and the train station lies at the southern end of town.
By car
19 miles west of Edinburgh, Linlithgow is just off
the M9 road to Stirling.
EATING
Livingston's Restaurant
52 High St, a minute's walk
northwest of the station
T
01506 846 565,
W
livingstons-restaurant.co.uk.
Part housed in the
original stable building for Linlithgow Palace, this award-
winning family business is split over three stylish rooms,
two of which look onto a pleasant enclosed garden. The
cuisine is heavily French-influenced but there are flashes of
inspired originality. Two-course lunch and dinner menus
for £17 and £35 respectively.
Tues-Sat noon-2pm &
6-9pm.
South Queensferry
Eight miles northwest of Edinburgh city centre, the small town of
South Queensferry
(also known as Queensferry) is best known today for its location at the southern end
of the two mighty
Forth bridges
(see p.315). Named after the saintly wife of King
Malcolm Canmore, Margaret, who would often use the ferry here to travel between the
royal palaces in Dunfermline and Edinburgh, it's an attractive settlement tightly packed
with old buildings, most of which date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Only one row of houses separates the cobbled High Street from the water; through the
gaps there's a great perspective of the two Forth bridges, an old stone harbour and a
curved, pebbly beach, the scene each New Year's Day of the teeth-chattering “Loony
Dook”, when a gaggle of hungover locals charge into the sea for the quickest of dips.
Queensferry Museum
53 High St • Mon & Thurs-Sat 10am-1pm & 2.15-5pm, Sun noon-5pm • Free •
T
0131 331 5545
he tiny
Queensferry Museum
contains photos and relics of the town's history
showing its importance as a ferry port. he most interesting item on show is the
Burry Man
costume
, part of a unique Queensferry tradition designed to ward off
evil spirits. Still worn around town on the first Friday of August every year, the
Burry man suits are cotton with over ten thousand sticky “burrs” - burdock seed
cases - attached from head to toe. You'll also find details on the building of the
two bridges.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
SOUTH QUEENSFERRY
By train
From Edinburgh Waverley take the train to
Dalmeny (every 30min; 20min). From there it's a mile to
town: head west on Station Rd then turn right on The Loan.
By bus
Regular buses (3 hourly) connect Edinburgh's bus
station with Hopetoun Rd at the heart of South Queensferry
within 40min.
By car
South Queensferry is signposted off the M90
motorway on the south end of the Forth Rd Bridge.
EATING AND DRINKING
The Boathouse
19b High St
T
0131 331 5429,
W
theboathouse-sq.co.uk.
With incredible Rail Bridge
views it's little wonder this seafood restaurant - with
tagged-on bistro and cocktail bar - is so popular. The
dishes are pretty simple; just two or three luxurious
ingredients delicately forming a jus, oil or sauce to
complement the catch of the day. Two-course lunches are a
little steep at £16.
Daily 10am-11.30pm.
