Livingston (Scotland)

Livingston is a large town in West Lothian in the central belt of Scotland, built as a "New Town" from 1963. In 2020 it had a population of 56,840.

Understand
In the 12th century a Flemish man, De Leving, built a fortified tower (long gone) and the settlement of Levingstoun or Livingston grew up around it. In the 19th century, West Lothian became urbanised when the shale oil industry developed, but the Livingston area remained farmland until the 1960s. Then five "new towns" were built rapidly to relieve congestion in Glasgow, four of them on greenfield sites (East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Cumbernauld and Livingston) while the fifth was built onto the existing town of Irvine. Livingston was laid out on a grid, with A899 running north-south and A705 running east-west, and a chequerboard of residential estates. These include Livingston Village, Bellsquarry, Craigshill, Howden, Dedridge, Ladywell, Knightsridge, Murieston, Adambrae, Deans and Eliburn. The town has expanded to engulf Polbeth, West Calder, East Calder, Mid Calder, Uphall and Pumpherston. It was run by a development corporation (a "quango") until 1997 then local government transferred to West Lothian; Robin Cook was its MP from 1983 until his death in 2005.

By road
The M8 (Edinburgh-Glasgow) runs to the north of Livingston and the usual approach is to exit at jcn 3 and turn south onto A899. Otherwise follow A71 which runs south of town.

By bus
Lothian Country Bus X27/28 runs daily from Edinburgh every 30 mins via Heriot Watt University at Riccarton to Livingston, taking an hour, and continuing to Deans and Bathgate. Bus 287 also plies between Livingston and Bathgate; change there for Bus 29 to Falkirk.

First Bus 600 runs from Edinburgh Airport every 30 min via Ratho, Newbridge, Kirkliston, Winchburgh, Broxburn and Uphall taking an hour to Livingston, and continuing to Whitburn.

Stagecoach Fife X51 runs hourly from Glasgow Buchanan station to Livingston, taking an hour, and continuing via South Queensferry and over the Forth bridge to Dunfermline, another hour.

Blue Bus 77 runs M-Sa every 2-3 hours from Lanark, taking 40 min.

Livingston is on Almondvale Ave between the two main shopping centres.

By rail
The fundamental assumption of a 1960s New Town is that everyone will drive, and railways are old hat. So the town straggles between two railway lines, neither particularly convenient.

is next to Carmondean Shopping Centre between Eliburn and Deans. It has trains from Edinburgh every 20 min via Haymarket, Edinburgh Park and Uphall, taking 20 min. These continue west via Bathgate and Glasgow Queen Street (50 min) to Helensburgh or Milngavie.

is by the Murieston shops and has trains from Edinburgh every 30 min via Haymarket, Slateford, Kingsknowe, Wester Hailes, Curriehill and Kirknewton, taking 30 min. These continue through West Calder, Shotts and a dozen other halts, taking up to an hour to reach Glasgow Central.

Get around
SD Travel Bus 31 runs hourly from Livingston to Linlithgow and Torphichen, continuing to Bathgate. There's no bus along the lane to Cairnpapple Hill but it's an easy bike ride.

See

 * , 3 miles north of Livingston, is a 4000-year-old ritual complex with Bronze Age and early Christian tombs. The burial chamber has been roofed over by a modern concrete dome but you can shimmy in. It's open daily Apr-Sep 9:30AM-5:30PM, adult £6.
 * , 3 miles northwest of Livingston, has been a religious site at least since the Bronze Age. In medieval times it was a base for the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, providing shelter and treatment for pilgrims. In 1298 Edward I of England was injured by his own horse before the Battle of Falkirk and was treated here. It's open daily Apr-Sep Sa Su 1-5PM, adult £2.
 * , 3 miles northwest of Livingston, has been a religious site at least since the Bronze Age. In medieval times it was a base for the Knights Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, providing shelter and treatment for pilgrims. In 1298 Edward I of England was injured by his own horse before the Battle of Falkirk and was treated here. It's open daily Apr-Sep Sa Su 1-5PM, adult £2.

Do

 * Walk the Almond Valley. The best of it is downstream: use the car park on Pumpherston Rd (by the bottle bank) and follow the riverside trail. From the weir this follows a feeder sluice to the Union Canal, which spans the valley by an impressive aqueduct.
 * Watch football at
 * Vue Cinema is a multiplex in the main shopping mall at Almondvale Ave.
 * West Lothian Highland Games used to be held in Bathgate village, but were scrapped in 2022.
 * Vue Cinema is a multiplex in the main shopping mall at Almondvale Ave.
 * West Lothian Highland Games used to be held in Bathgate village, but were scrapped in 2022.
 * West Lothian Highland Games used to be held in Bathgate village, but were scrapped in 2022.

Buy


The core of Livingston is an extensive shopping area, bisected by Almondvale Avenue. The area east of the avenue is Livingston Centre and has more eating places. West side is the Designer Outlet; Vue Cinema is here. Together they have over 250 stores, generally open M-W F 9AM-7PM, Th Sa 9AM-8PM, Su 10AM-6PM. These 250 are relentlessly the same as each other and as any other retail unit in the country, not least by lying empty: as of mid-2019 only about half the units are occupied.

Eat
There's no stand-out, but lots of budget places in the main mall of Almondvale, with others in the villages of Uphall and Mid Calder.

Drink

 * Beefeater Restaurant & Pub is within the Premier Inn at M8 jcn 3, open daily 07:00-23:00.
 * Harvester on Almondvale Ave is a chain pub with food open daily 9AM-8PM.
 * Beefeater Restaurant & Pub is within the Premier Inn at M8 jcn 3, open daily 07:00-23:00.
 * Harvester on Almondvale Ave is a chain pub with food open daily 9AM-8PM.
 * Harvester on Almondvale Ave is a chain pub with food open daily 9AM-8PM.

Connect
As of July 2023, Livingston and its surrounds have 4G from EE and Vodafone, and 5G with O2 and Three.

Go next

 * Edinburgh and Glasgow both rate as must-see.
 * Linlithgow has an impressive ruined medieval palace, birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots, and the coast is attractive around Blackness Castle.
 * To discover if they made a better job of Scotland's other four twentieth century New Towns, see East Kilbride, Glenrothes, Cumbernauld and Irvine.