I knew that we would have to pay a visit to both of these cities while in Scotland.
I have the history beast within and my husband is a William Wallace fan, aye.
With visiting Linlithgow and Stirling, we discovered beautiful land outside of the larger Edinburgh; where the towns are quaint and the hills roll green for miles.
TRAIN BITS and TIPS
We hitched a ride via Scotrail train from Waverley station in Edinburgh. For £18, we had return tickets for a six person family with the "kids go free" option at the ticket machine.
I found it made sense to ride to the furthest destination first, Stirling, and on the way back to Edinburgh we would stop at Linlithgow.
Both stops fall on the same route, which was a bonus: As long as a destination is on the same route, there is no need to buy more tickets if you stop along the way (between the furthest destination of your ticket and your starting point).
Note: The "Kids go Free" tickets can only be used in off-peak hours: Roughly, between 9:00am-4:30ish pm. Up to two children can travel free with each adult. The UK folks are wonderful at checking for the validity of tickets on trains. So make sure you're not trying to dupe the system by riding 'free' or with the wrong ticket.
For the sake of historical timelines, I am writing about Linlithgow first (we visited Stirling first). Linlithgow Palace is a definite must for anyone who is on the 'Mary Stewart Trail', as this is where it all began...
LINLITHGOW
Linlithgow is a small town about 20 minutes west of Edinburgh. From the train station, one can see the palace, so it's easy to find on foot, and not far from the station; about a five minute walk.
As soon as I approached this "palace", I was in heaven.
There's so much to see, to wander, and to explore within the walls. My kids had a grand time getting lost in the ruin, and we all agreed, this place was spooky as hell.
*My photos make it appear bright and cheerful, but that's thanks to RAW and my ability to adjust white balance and such in post-processing. This place was darker than the photos suggest.
Linlithgow Palace was where Mary, Queen of Scots was born. Unlike other royal houses we've visited in the UK, there is not a way of telling just which room she was born in, that's if it still exists with additions throughout the years.
No marked rooms, no audio guides. You can buy a map, or download one to your phone, tablet, etc,.
This palace is a hallow shell and you must use your imagination to fully picture what it once looked like.
I loved this ruin of a palace. Loved is an understatement.
I have visited many ruins before, but none of them had given me skin crawls like Linlithgow. It's one of the creepiest places I have ever stepped foot in, and was the absolute highlight of my royal adventures while we were in Scotland!
If/when I find myself visiting the country again, I will make my way back to Linlithgow just to see the palace one more time. I wish I had explored more of the peel and surrounding Royal Park, but unfortunately the sun was beginning to set.
The admission fees to this palace are nominal compared to Stirling or Edinburgh's Castle. It was included on our Historic Scotland Explorer Passes, so we paid £0 to get in.
Admission without Explorer Pass:
Adults: £5.50
Children: £3.30
I thought nothing could compare.
Linlithgow wins my vote. Hands down.
It's less touristy than Heidelberg, thus nearly vacant. Linlithgow is smaller than Heidelberg, but the historical feel you get from it is more genuine.
We only saw two ladies there during our visit, but they disappeared after the first five minutes of our encounter...
STIRLING
Stirling reminded me of a much smaller Edinburgh. Lots of the same architecture and a bit more hustle and bustle than Linlithgow. It'd definitely be worth an overnight stay should I ever return to Scotland.
The walk to Stirling Castle -our main focus- took about 15-20 minutes from the train station, through the main part of town, so we got a good feel of the city along the way.
I stopped into the tourism office near the old town jail and picked up a map. Our cell GPS worked just fine, but I was curious to know more about the area other than just having knowledge of the castle, the Old Stirling Bridge, and the Wallace Monument.
If you ever find yourself in Stirling, do hit up the tourism office. Even if you don't need help in finding your way around, the old jail next door is quite interesting!
Overall, we made a fabulous day of visiting these two cities. It was certainly worth the trip, and really gave us a sense of Scotland.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city, but one can easily drown in the touristy bits.
Stirling and Linlithgow have a slower paced feel and I don't remember seeing a single souvenir shop in either place. Not to say that they don't exist, but the lack of crowds was a nice change of pace. And the valley views in both areas were worth the trip, alone!
Should you find yourself visiting Edinburgh with more than a few days of time to kill, do yourself a favor: Get out of the bigger city and at least hit up Stirling. It's but a simple 50 minute train ride away, so there are no excuses regarding transportation.
You wouldn't regret it!
Next post:
All of the remaining goodness of Edinburgh , and then it'll will be time to turn to the page in our travels...! Onward we will go.
I have the history beast within and my husband is a William Wallace fan, aye.
With visiting Linlithgow and Stirling, we discovered beautiful land outside of the larger Edinburgh; where the towns are quaint and the hills roll green for miles.
TRAIN BITS and TIPS
We hitched a ride via Scotrail train from Waverley station in Edinburgh. For £18, we had return tickets for a six person family with the "kids go free" option at the ticket machine.
I found it made sense to ride to the furthest destination first, Stirling, and on the way back to Edinburgh we would stop at Linlithgow.
Both stops fall on the same route, which was a bonus: As long as a destination is on the same route, there is no need to buy more tickets if you stop along the way (between the furthest destination of your ticket and your starting point).
Note: The "Kids go Free" tickets can only be used in off-peak hours: Roughly, between 9:00am-4:30ish pm. Up to two children can travel free with each adult. The UK folks are wonderful at checking for the validity of tickets on trains. So make sure you're not trying to dupe the system by riding 'free' or with the wrong ticket.
For the sake of historical timelines, I am writing about Linlithgow first (we visited Stirling first). Linlithgow Palace is a definite must for anyone who is on the 'Mary Stewart Trail', as this is where it all began...
LINLITHGOW
Linlithgow is a small town about 20 minutes west of Edinburgh. From the train station, one can see the palace, so it's easy to find on foot, and not far from the station; about a five minute walk.
As soon as I approached this "palace", I was in heaven.
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| The tower seen next to the gate is part of a chapel on the grounds. It has obviously had some modern upgrades {look at the steeple} which I found to be weird. It is not attached to the actual palace. |
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| The inner courtyard of the palace. It is said that the fountain once flowed with wine. |
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| A unicorn perched on the fountain. The Unicorn is Scotland's National Animal! For reals. |
*My photos make it appear bright and cheerful, but that's thanks to RAW and my ability to adjust white balance and such in post-processing. This place was darker than the photos suggest.
Linlithgow Palace was where Mary, Queen of Scots was born. Unlike other royal houses we've visited in the UK, there is not a way of telling just which room she was born in, that's if it still exists with additions throughout the years.
No marked rooms, no audio guides. You can buy a map, or download one to your phone, tablet, etc,.
This palace is a hallow shell and you must use your imagination to fully picture what it once looked like.
 |
| If you pay close attention, you'll notice there are fireplaces floating about the grounds, high up on walls. There are floors missing in this place, therefore you can't walk through every level. |
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| Another 'floating' fireplace. CREEPY. This is on what would have been the third floor. Underneath this 'room', the floors are missing down to the ground. There are wooden plank walkways built later on for the sake of tourism, but not throughout the entire palace. Otherwise, as mentioned, the floors are missing through most of the palace. |
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| This is what was once the Great Hall |
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| One of the largest fireplaces I have ever seen. |
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| The "Peel"- Linlithgow Loch |
The wind in this place was unreal. It created a low howling noise throughout our adventure. The same type of haunting wind sounds you hear in horror movies. It surely added to the feel of this palace in ruin.
Rumor has it that the ghost of Mary de Guise (Mary, Queen of Scots' mother) still haunts Linlithgow. I had a feeling she was there...
The ruins:
Once the Union of the Crowns took place in the early 1600s, joining Scotland and England, this palace and many other royal castles in Scotland were hardly used by royals. They all up and left; taking residence in England to hold the Royal Court there.
Because of neglect, this palace was partially rebuilt around 1620 to repair a main exterior wall collapse. In 1746, the palace was gutted by fire set by the Duke of Cumberland's army. The Great Hall fireplace was restored in 1906, but the rest of it remains as it was after the fire.
I loved this ruin of a palace. Loved is an understatement.
I have visited many ruins before, but none of them had given me skin crawls like Linlithgow. It's one of the creepiest places I have ever stepped foot in, and was the absolute highlight of my royal adventures while we were in Scotland!
If/when I find myself visiting the country again, I will make my way back to Linlithgow just to see the palace one more time. I wish I had explored more of the peel and surrounding Royal Park, but unfortunately the sun was beginning to set.
The admission fees to this palace are nominal compared to Stirling or Edinburgh's Castle. It was included on our Historic Scotland Explorer Passes, so we paid £0 to get in.
Admission without Explorer Pass:
Adults: £5.50
Children: £3.30
I have visited another HUGE ruined castle/palace
that every seasoned Euro traveler has heard of:
Heidelberg Castle.
I thought nothing could compare.
Linlithgow wins my vote. Hands down.
It's less touristy than Heidelberg, thus nearly vacant. Linlithgow is smaller than Heidelberg, but the historical feel you get from it is more genuine.
We only saw two ladies there during our visit, but they disappeared after the first five minutes of our encounter...
 |
| This is one of the few photos I captured in Linlithgow other than the palace ruins. Wish I had more time to explore the area! |
STIRLING
Stirling reminded me of a much smaller Edinburgh. Lots of the same architecture and a bit more hustle and bustle than Linlithgow. It'd definitely be worth an overnight stay should I ever return to Scotland.
The walk to Stirling Castle -our main focus- took about 15-20 minutes from the train station, through the main part of town, so we got a good feel of the city along the way.
I stopped into the tourism office near the old town jail and picked up a map. Our cell GPS worked just fine, but I was curious to know more about the area other than just having knowledge of the castle, the Old Stirling Bridge, and the Wallace Monument.
If you ever find yourself in Stirling, do hit up the tourism office. Even if you don't need help in finding your way around, the old jail next door is quite interesting!
 |
| Main part of town: Stirling Baptist Church. |
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| Part of the Old Stirling jail. |
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| Not only did the weather cooperate, we also had some beautiful rainbows in the mix of our Stirling adventures! |
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| There are a lot of super cool hands on activities for kids here. Playable instruments in this room {above}, and in others there were period garb that children could put on for picture ops. |
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| The sun coming up over Stirling. Seen from the castle wall. |
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| Castles and rainbows. Perfection. |
The Stewart Trail:
Stirling Castle played a pivotal role in Mary, Queen of Scots' reign. This is where she was crowned queen at the tender age of nine months old. Until that point in her infancy, she resided at Linlithgow Palace. She lived at Stirling castle for about five years, before moving to Inchmahome Priory, then to France for her safety.
After returning to Scotland from France later in her reign (after the demise of her French King husband), she frequented Stirling often.
Stirling is also where Mary's son, James VI
{James I of England, later on in his life}
was baptized.
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| One of the famous Unicorn tapestries hanging in the Queen's Hall. |
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| Colored hills to the north. Also seen in the distance is the William Wallace Monument. |
Overall, we made a fabulous day of visiting these two cities. It was certainly worth the trip, and really gave us a sense of Scotland.
Edinburgh is a beautiful city, but one can easily drown in the touristy bits.
Stirling and Linlithgow have a slower paced feel and I don't remember seeing a single souvenir shop in either place. Not to say that they don't exist, but the lack of crowds was a nice change of pace. And the valley views in both areas were worth the trip, alone!
Should you find yourself visiting Edinburgh with more than a few days of time to kill, do yourself a favor: Get out of the bigger city and at least hit up Stirling. It's but a simple 50 minute train ride away, so there are no excuses regarding transportation.
You wouldn't regret it!
Next post:
All of the remaining goodness of Edinburgh , and then it'll will be time to turn to the page in our travels...! Onward we will go.
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