Home from Home (Linlithgow)

Member Name: suz1584

Product:	Linlithgow
Date:	30/10/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I love it with so many memories

Disadvantages: I haven't visited in a while

I have recently come back to writing reviews on Dooyoo after being off for a while, I have actually just noticed that all my reviews have been about places I've visited. I love writing reviews about places I've been, to give you an idea of what they are like but more for me to remind myself why I like a place so much and bring back all the memories.

This review is about Linlithgow which is a town located in the Lowlands of Scotland, about 20 miles from Edinburgh. Linlithgow is a place close to my heart as my Mum is from there and I spent a lot of my time here when I was younger staying at my Gran's house, unfortunately since she passed away I haven't visited much but I am going to review my thoughts of the town.

Linlithgow is quite a large town but when I was younger it always seemed like it had a great community feel with everyone knowing everyone as you walked along the street. My Gran lived about a 2 minute drive from the shops and I always knew we had arrived when I seen the canal (her house was right next to it). I always wanted to go on a canal boat for a holiday but never got the chance but now I've reminded myself of them maybe sometime next year you will get a review about that!

There was always plenty to keep me occupied as a child and also as a teenager including the swimming pool a variety of parks and the walks by the loch which passed by Linlithgow Palace.

The Palace is always what reminds me off Linlithgow. It's a huge palace which unfortunately is just a ruin with no roof, I don't know if you can still go in here but we were never able to go in due to it always being unsafe. Looking from the outside is spectacular enough for me though.

I always thought that St Michaels Parish Church was part of the Palace with it's a large metal spire that glistens in the summers but I'm sure also entraps lightning in bad weather. I've never seen a building so outstanding in my whole life and I am the first to admit when I see a picture of it on the t.v or in a magazine a get a bit excited about it. It brings back all my childhood memories and really worth a visit to Linlithgow just for this.

Within Linlithgow there is many shops to visit really too many for me to mention but there are many small businesses that you can buy small gifts and something a little bit different. There are small gift shops to buy yourself a souvenir to remind you of your trip.

There are also many other shops which are more chain shops like Peacocks and M&CO which is great to have within the town as it saves you travelling into Edinburgh if you don't want to.

There is also outside tennis courts so in the summer months you can spend hours here in the sun keeping fit. They are located just opposite some houses about a 5 minute walk from Tesco's. A bit of a strange place to have them if I'm honest because if you don't know the place I would say it would be difficult to find them.

Canal Centre

As I've already mentioned at the start of my review Linlithgow has a canal centre which is located on Manse Road. They have two boats which you can pay a small price to go on a boat trip but on between April - September.

I would advise you to check the website to see when they have the boats running though as some months they have the boats running on weekends only. The website to check this is - http://www.lucs.org.uk/index.html

Definitely worth a trip if you're holidaying here.

Where to stay

Because I've only ever stayed at my Gran's when I've been down in Linlithgow I've never had to find somewhere to stay but I am going to be a little bit biased now and tell you to give Belsyde Guest House a go.

I was looking on the Linlithgow website at places to stay - http://www.linlithgow.com/stay.htm and came across Belsyde Guest House which is showing as a 4 star bed and breakfast and it gave me goosebumps seeing it here. Why? Because this is the house my mum grew up in.

I have visited this B&B with my mum just to have a look around and it was a gorgeous building which is outwith the actual town in a nice country setting. Looking at the pictures of the guest house now I can see why it's 4 star accommodation and I can tell that the have updated the property so much since I last seen it.

The rooms look absolutely stunning and very welcoming as well as looking homely. You should definitely have a look at the website as the pictures really lure you in to want to book a weekend here.

There are several other B&B's within Linlithgow if this one doesn't suit your needs or requirements.

Linlithgow Museum

Linlithgow is similar to may towns and villages in Scotland that it has a lot of history, You can tell there is a lot to learn about Linlithgow with all the old buildings and there is an old feeling around the town as if you can almost sense there is history.

If you are interested to learn more then I would recommend you visit the Linlithgow Museum which is currently run by Linlithgow Heritage Trust and it all about "The Linlithgow Story".

Overall

I would love to go back and visit Linlithgow just to see how much things have changed if at all. There is plenty to see and do here and with it being a short drive or train trip into Edinburgh I'm sure you'd have more than enough to do if you were there for a weekend or even a week.

It's definitely a place that makes me smile when I think about it and even though it's a busy town it still feels like a small village to me that I would be happy to spend many weekends.

Summary: Brought all my memories back