We stumbled upon aran when looking for an early breakfast spot on our last morning in Scotland, and…read moreit blessed us with the best breakfast of our entire trip. Creative, fresh, healthy, and welcoming, this place is worth a stop in Linlithgow outside of Edinburgh. We entered and walked upstairs to encounter a beautiful, airy, and modern but comfortable cafe. The friendly woman at the counter helped us with our order of a few specials from the board on the wall, along with a staple from their regular menu, a pastry, and a latte. Between the four of us, we had a yogurt bowl, two different porridges, the banana bread with yogurt, and a side of haggis, all delivered to our table by the friendly gentleman making the dishes. Everything was incredibly high quality and delicious. One of the porridge variations - which we also ordered as a yogurt bowl - had tons of fresh blueberries, sliced banana, and granola, with a touch of honey. The yogurt version was especially good, with a nicely thick Greek-style yogurt. The other porridge had matcha stirred into it and was topped with the most beautiful strawberries and a pistachio crumble, along with a touch of honey. This one was my order and was one of the best breakfast dishes I've ever had. The banana bread with yogurt was artfully plated and satisfying. My nephew wanted to have haggis before he left and enjoyed the side of it, which lives up to the chef's promise of being delicious. The coffee here was excellent as well. My latte was smooth and needed no sweetener to be enjoyable. There are also a number of high quality, local items for sale in the cafe, which would make nice souvenirs. This was a great end to our time in Scotland, the only downside being we could not be repeated customers. Hopefully we will return someday.

If you love great coffee and great baked goods, Aran is an absolute must!…read more We just wanted a little caffeine and sugar pick-me-up, so we didn't dine in or explore much of their menu. Their bakery case is clearly labeled with what's gluten-free, what's dairy-free, and what's vegan. We got empire cookies that were absolutely lovely (we should have gotten two more to bring home!): buttery shortbreads filled with jam, topped with icing, and a sugared jelly candy. We enjoyed them with an iced Americano (soya for me, oat for my partner) sitting outside in the sun at the Cross Well. While they were SUPER busy on a midweek day, the staff was friendly, patient, and went out of their way to find us to hand us our cookies and drinks when they were ready!

Another branch of the famous Oliphant bakery. This one is handily located a little closer to the…read moremajestic Linlithgow Palace. When weather permits I recommend buying some supplies from here and taking them down to the Peel. Lovely.

Very good. The birthday cakes are excellent, as are the custard slices, eclairs, and fairly much…read moreeverything. They do a good choice of bread and rolls, get there early in the day to get the best choice.

Linlithgow has long been known for its wells. There's an old rhyme which begins, 'Glasgow for…read morebells, Lithgow for wells' There are several ancient wells still to be found here, including Dog Well, New Well, Lion Well and St Michael's Well. This last is surmounted with the 1720 (perhaps earlier) statue of St Michael with the words underneath, St Michael is kinde to strangers. It's very worn (as you'd expect) and isn't used as a well any more. The saint is holding a shield bearing the town's coat of arms: a black dog, chained to an oak tree on an island, probably in the middle of Linlithgow Loch. St Michael is the patron saint of Linlithgow Church and also the burgh.