Livingston (Scotland)

Livingston is a town in The Lothians.

Livingston from the air

Understand

Livingston is the fourth post-war new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is located approximately 15 miles (25 km) west of Edinburgh and 30 miles (50 km) east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.

Livingston is the largest town in the West Lothian area. It was built around a collection of small villages, Livingston Village, Bellsquarry and Livingston Station (now Nether Dechmont or Deans ). It contains a number of residential precincts or areas. These include Craigshill, Howden, Dedridge, Ladywell, Knightsridge, Murieston, Adambrae, Deans and Eliburn. Its neighbouring villages include Polbeth, West Calder, East Calder, Mid Calder, Uphall Station and Pumpherston. Livingston is the 7th largest town in Scotland, based on 2004 population estimates. The 2011 census showed the population had grown over the previous decade from almost 51,000 to over 56,000.

Livingston is also the second largest settlement in the Lothians after Edinburgh. Until 1963 the area surrounding the ancient village of Livingston was open farm land. The name was taken from this village which dates back to 12th century when a Flemish entrepreneur called De Leving was granted land in the area. He built a fortified tower which is long since gone and the settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun, Layingston and eventually Livingston.

Livingston is the fourth of Scotland’s five "new towns" built to accommodate overspill from Glasgow's highly populated city centre following the Second World War. Construction behan in 1963. By 1970 most of the town's residential zones had been constructed. After almost 50 years of rapid growth, what was once "Livingston New Town" has for some time just been known as Livingston.

Livingston was the fourth of the Scottish new towns

Livingston now covers over 10 sq mi of the River Almond valley to the south of the line of the M8 motorway. The key to Livingston's success has been its location 15 mi (24 km) west of Edinburgh and 30 mi east of Glasgow.

As for the name of the town, it was taken from the existing Livingston Village, one of a number of old settlements which add character to their newer neighbours. Livingston dates back to the 1100s when a Flemish entrepreneur called De Leving was granted land in the valley. He built a fortified tower, and the settlement that grew up around it became known as Levingstoun and, later, Livingston.

Get in

By road

Livingston has excellent connections to the central Scotland road network. The M8 bounds Livingston in the north. A899 dual carriageway spine road passes north south along Livingston's eastern edge and connects the M8 in the north to the A71 in the South and has the A89 to the west.

By bus

Livingston has a central bus terminal located on Almondvale Avenue between the two shopping centres in the town centre. This provides regular services to surrounding towns and villages. First Group are the main bus operator in Livingston, other operators include E&M Horsburgh, Passenger Travel, Blue Bus, Davidsons Buses, SD Travel, Prentice Westwood and Nordi Travel. Livingston has buses to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Airport, Ocean Terminal, Oban, Lanark and Falkirk. There are 7 stances at the bus terminal.

By rail

Livingston has two railway stations; 🌍 Livingston North and 🌍 Livingston South. Livingston North is located adjacent to the Carmondean Shopping Centre between Eliburn and Deans and sits on the Edinburgh → Bathgate → Glasgow Queen Street → Helensburgh line. Livingston South is located at the Murieston Shops and sits on the Edinburgh → Shotts → Motherwell → Glasgow Central Line.

Airports

Livingston is 15 km west of Edinburgh Airport which has regular flights to UK and international destinations.

Get around

Public transport in Livingston is mainly by bus. The busses are more expensive and less regular than city busses, but are still usable. Unless you are visiting people that live nearby, most of the interesting things in livingston are all within a small radius and can easily be reached by foot.

See

Do
  • Arrol Square, Deans, ☎ +44 1506 410123. Daily 10AM - 10PM. Racing karts. 
  • Ten pin Bowling. 
  • Deer Park Golf and Country Club, Golf Course Road, ☎ +44 1506 446699. 
  • Bubbles Leisure Pool, Almondvale Boulevard, ☎ +44 1506 777870. Daily. 
  • 🌍 Escape Livingston, 11 Beveridge Square. Escape game. (updated Dec 2016)
  • 🌍 Livingston FC, Almondvale Stadium, Alderstone Rd, EH54 7DN. Watch football (i.e. soccer). Livingston FC play in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish football. Their home ground is the 9000-capacity Almondvale Stadium (or "Tony Macaroni Arena"). (updated Oct 2018)
  • West Lothian Highland Games are held in late May in Meadow Park in the nearby village of Bathgate. The next event is Sat 25 May 2019.

Buy
Almondvale Shopping Centre

At the heart of Livingston is the Almondvale Shopping Centre. Parts of this date back to the early 1970s, but it has grown steadily since.

The main visitor attraction to Livingston is its shopping centres. A large area of the town is dedicated to shopping, with many fashion stores and some home and electrical stores. If you are into big brand shopping, this is the place to come!

Shopping centres

  • 🌍 Livingston Centre, Almondvale South, EH54 6HR, ☎ +44 1506 432961. M-W F 9AM-7PM; Th 9AM-8PM; Sa 9AM-9PM; Su 10AM-6PM. Livingston Centre Shopping Centre is made up of "The Elements", "Amondvale Shopping Centre" and "Asda Walmart". It contains about 160 shops and several restaurants and is directly across the road from the designer outlet. 
  • 🌍 Livingston Designer Outlet, Almondvale Avenue, EH54 6QX, ☎ +44 1506 423600. M-W F-Sa 9AM-6PM; Th 9AM-8PM; Su 11AM-6. Factory Outlet Shopping Centre selling discounted designer clothes. It contains over 100 shops, some restaurants and fast food outlets, and the Vue 8 screen cinema  

Eat

Italian restaurants

Chinese restaurants
  • Cathay Cuisine, 25, Main St, Deans, ☎ +44 1506 409988. 
  • Hong Chinese Restaurant & Take Away, 149a, Uphall Station Rd, Pumpherston, ☎ +44 1506 441832. 
  • Sapphire Restaurant, Units 2 & 3, Bankton Centre, Murieston, ☎ +44 1506 417272. 
  • Imperial Palace, 14, Marrfield Terrace, Uphall Station, ☎ +44 1506 438656. 
  • China Glen, McArthur Glen Designer Outlet, Almondvale Avenue, ☎ +44 1506 420011. 

Indian restaurants

American restaurants
  • Frankie & Benny's, Unit 2, Almondvale South Retail Park, ☎ +44 1506 465420. 
  • Da Vinci's Hotel - Brooklyn Bar, Hawk Brae, Ladywell West, ☎ +44 1506 460841. 
  • Chicargo Rock Cafe, Unit 1, McAster Design Outlet Centre, ☎ +44 1506 463123. 

Fast food

Drink

Pubs

Sleep
  • Linwater Caravan Park, West Clifton, East Calder, EH53 0HT. Park for touring caravans, motorhomes and tents, about 5 km east of Livingston. 
  • Premier Inn Livingston, Starlaw Road. 2-star hotel, 74 rooms. Friendly value hotel located close to downtown; 27 km to Edinburgh International. 
  • Macdonald Houston House, Uphall. 3-star hotel, 71 rooms. 16th century manor house set in 20 acres of gardens & woods; close to Edinburgh airport. 
  • Best Western Hilcroft Hotel, East Main Street. 32 rooms. 

Connect

For those travelling with laptops free wifi can be found in either the Lloyds bar or the JD Wetherspoons, both located in the Designer Outlet. Tese pubs can get very noisy in the evenings, so if you want peace to read your emails, during the day is a better bet.

Go next
Routes through Livingston

Glasgow ← Coatbridge ←  W  E  → Edinburgh


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