Forres Walking Tour

Witches, Digestives & a Pickled Admiral

Forres is one of the oldest towns in Scotland and has strong links to a historical king: Almost a thousand years ago, Macbeth, King of Alba, ruled over Scotland. Forres Castle was his stronghold in his ancestral heartland of Moray. Only a hill is left of the castle nowadays, but Macbeth’s story was, with a bit of artistic license though, immortalised by William Shakespeare.

Our tour starts right in the middle of Forres on the historic High Street where you will hear about the Merkat Cross and the historic tolbooth before we have a look at the carved figureheads on the exterior of Falconer’s Museum and tell you about its founders Hugh and Alexander.

Past Forres Town Hall and St Leonard's Church, we then head towards Grant Park, named after Sir Alexander Grant, the creator of McVities's Digestives and a generous philanthropist who helped to establish the National Library of Scotland. At the park, we will admire the ''Sunken Garden'' and the floral sculptures, the reasons for many awards from the popular Britain and Scotland in Bloom competitions. We now head uphill towards Nelson’s Tower, opened in 1812 to commemorate Admiral Lord Nelson and his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and perhaps even Neil Smith, a Forres man who was involved in a rather bizarre ''preservation campaign''.

The top of Cluny Hill is also the site of an ancient fort and offers magnificent views across the town onto Findhorn Bay and the Moray Firth. We now descend from Cluny Hill to have a closer look at the story of King Macbeth again. Just outside Forres you will find a hill known as ''Macbeth’s Hillock''. It is said to be the ''blasted heath'' where the real king has met the three witches. Whether those were the same women to whom the witches’ stone, or next stop, is dedicated is not known. Now, we head onwards to Sueno’s Stone, the tallest Pictish stone in the whole of Scotland. We have a look at the intricate carvings and hear of mighty Pictish warriors before heading back to the starting point of our tour.

Duration 1.5 hours

Highlights - Forres Tolbooth - The Sunken Garden - Cluny Hill - Nelson's Tower - Sueno's Stone - The Witches Stone

Included - Private Bubble Tour for up to 6 people - Professional Guide

Not Included - Meals