The British Isles & Ireland, aboard Cunard's Queen Anne:
185th Anniversary Voyage
May/June 2025
The story of our fourth Cunard cruise after having visited the Mediterranean Sea on Queen Elizabeth (2015); New York on Queen Mary
2 (2010); and the Panama Canal on Queen Victoria (2012). Queen Anne took us around Great Britain in an anti-clockwise direction,
beginning and finishing in Southampton. Our 14-night voyage (after a night in the Hilton Utilita Bowl Hotel, Southampton) began with
embarkation on May 18th, and ended on June 1st.
May 20th: we arrive in Newhaven (a tender port) and join the In Search of Outlander excursion. This trip is based on the book and
TV series, and takes us to the Newton Viewpoint (fantastic views of three bridges: Forth railway bridge; Forth Road Bridge; Queensferry
Crossing); Linlithgow Palace; Stirling (passing the Kelpies); Deanston Distillery (external view only); Doune Castle; and the village
of Culross.
Linlithgow Burgh Hall dates from 1670.
St Michael's Church, Linlithgow, has a church spire designed to look like Jesus' crown of thorns. A former worship site of Scottish
royalty, a series of plaques shows the line of descent from Mary, Queen of Scots to King Charles III.
Linlithgow Palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its fountain was
built by King James V in 1538.
The entrance to the outer enclosure of Linlithgow Palace was built by King James V around 1533 and features four European orders of
chivalry engraved above the arch:
Order of the Garter;
Order of the Thistle;
Order of the Golden Fleece;
Order of St Michael.