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Town in Moray, Scotland
Photo: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Elgin is the county town of Moray in northeast Scotland, best known for its ruined cathedral which made it a "city". Together with nearby Lossiemouth it's the service town for two nearby Royal Air Force bases, with a population in 2022 of 24,600.
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Ruins of a cathedral dating from 1224. Over the following years it proved ever-so-combustible, needing rebuilding after 1270, 1390 and 1402. It was abandoned after the Reformation in 1560 and fell derelict; only from the 19th century did stabilisation and preservation begin.
This is closed temporarily as the building is unsafe.
Collection of antique vehicles in a former mill.
Ruin of a fortified Bishop's residence from the late 12th century. The cathedral church was here until it moved to Elgin town in 1224.
A ruin off B9017 towards the coast. A wooden motte-and-bailey was built in 1140, wrecked around 1300, then replaced by a stone castle in the 14th century. That in turn was abandoned in 1705.
Cosy relaxed place.
Good Thai and Chinese food, spice levels just right.
Reliable choice for South Asian, Indian and Pakistani food.
Relaxed small place for pizza and other favourites.
Part of Belhaven chain, family-friendly place with good grub.
This nightspot can get really busy.
Standard Wetherspoons pub with decent food, drink and service.
This was founded in 1897; it was closed 1910-20 but re-opened by the owners of Glenmorangie, who were acquired by LVMH. In 2008 it was sold to La Martiniquaise, who expanded whisky production to 5.5 million litres annually. The company has a wide portfolio of spirits and most is blended, eg into Cutty Sark, Glen Turner and Label 5. Unlike LVMH they aim at the budget market, and their capacity is why single-malt Glen Moray is often available at discount supermarket prices.
Opened as a grocer in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail is an independent bottler of rare whiskies. The shop offers whisky tastings.
Pleasant trad railway hotel.
Clean convenient small hotel.
Old-style hotel in a Victorian villa.
Good central hotel and restaurant.
Comfy friendly B&B in a Georgian town house, midway between the station and High Street.
Baronial pile, comfy but showing its age.
This now houses asylum-seekers.
Clean caravan site a mile west of town, open April-Oct.
Decent-enough chain hotel, on the commercial park a mile east of town centre.
Reliable budget chain hotel two miles east of town.
By road follow A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness, which runs through town, there's no bypass.
Read in the guideYou can walk around town and take the bus for places along A96, but you need your own wheels for other outlying sites.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Inverness, Highland · Regional · INV
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