Best Places to Visit in Moray
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best places to visit in Moray are Ess of Glenlatterach, Spynie Palace, Sculptor's Cave, Cove Bay, Duffus Castle and Linn Falls.
Moray runs a fertile coast and glen country along the southern shore of the Moray Firth, rich in castles, caves and quiet waterfalls. Near Elgin stand two great ruins: Spynie Palace, the bishops' stronghold with its huge David's Tower, and Duffus Castle, whose stone tower cracked and slid down its own earthwork mound.
On the coast, the Sculptor's Cave at Covesea carries Pictish carvings and a far older past of Bronze Age ritual, reached along the shore at low tide, while the old fishing village of Cove Bay keeps its little harbour below the houses. Inland, the Linn Falls drop in a double cascade near Aberlour, and the obscure Ess of Glenlatterach hides in the hills south of Elgin.
Elgin, the old county town, sits at the centre of it all. Some are cared-for monuments, others quiet corners.
Here are six places to visit across Moray.
Ess of Glenlatterach
Photo: thejackrustles via Geograph.org.uk
The Ess of Glenlatterach is a waterfall in Glen Latterach, in the hills south of Elgin in Moray, on the Leanoch Burn. It is marked on the old maps but little written about, out in quiet farming and moorland country.
Little is recorded of it beyond its name and rough position. It is an obscure fall away from any marked route.
Spynie Palace
Photo: Des Colhoun via Geograph.org.uk
Spynie Palace Climb David's Tower, one of the largest stone tower houses in Scotland, and the whole sweep of countryside and the Moray Firth opens beneath you. This fifteenth-century giant is the great survivor of the ruined stronghold of the bishops of Moray, a couple of miles north of Elgin in the north-east of the country.
A sea loch once lapped its walls before the water was drained away. Courtyard walls and other buildings still ring the tower, and bishops lived here for centuries, hosting visiting kings and queens, before the place was abandoned.
Historic Environment Scotland now keeps it.
Sculptor's Cave
Photo: Ken Ross via Geograph.org.uk
Sculptor's Cave is a sea cave in the cliffs at Covesea, on the Moray Firth coast between Lossiemouth and Burghead. Two long passages lead in from the shore to a large chamber, and the walls near the entrance are carved with Pictish symbols, among them fish, crescents and a mirror, cut around the sixth or seventh century.
It has a far older past too: excavations found that it was used in the late Bronze Age and the Roman iron age as a place of ritual and burial, including the remains of children. It is reached on foot along the shore from Lossiemouth, over slippery rocks and only when the tide is well out.
Cove Bay
Photo: don cload via Geograph.org.uk
Cove Bay is a former fishing village on a rocky stretch of the North Sea coast a few miles south of Aberdeen. Boats were once berthed in a gap in the rocks below the houses, and a stone pier and breakwater were built there in the 1870s.
Only a handful of boats now work out of the little harbour, landing shellfish. The village has been drawn into the edge of the city but keeps its old core above the shore.
Duffus Castle
Photo: Colin Smith via Geograph.org.uk
Duffus Castle is a ruined castle rising from flat farmland north-west of Elgin in Moray, keeping the clear shape of its old motte and bailey. A stone tower was later built on top of the earth mound, but the weight was too much and part of it cracked and slid down the slope, where it lies to this day.
A broad ditch, once wet, runs around the site. Historic Environment Scotland keeps the ruin, which is open and free, reached by a footbridge across the ditch.
Linn Falls
Photo: Anne Burgess via Geograph.org.uk
Linn Falls is a waterfall on the Aberlour Burn, on the southern edge of the village of Aberlour in Moray. The burn drops in a double cascade into a pool within a wooded gorge, reached on a short walk from the village of about twenty to thirty minutes, on a burn-side path with steps and handrails on the steep final stretch.
It is also known as the Linn of Ruthrie. The route passes near the Aberlour distillery and leads on toward the River Spey.
The woods around it are mossy and can be muddy underfoot.
FAQs
Which castles are worth visiting near Elgin?
Spynie Palace and Duffus Castle are the two castles worth visiting near Elgin. Spynie Palace, the ruined stronghold of the bishops of Moray, keeps its huge fifteenth-century David's Tower, which can be climbed for views over the Moray Firth. Duffus Castle, on flat farmland nearby, keeps the clear shape of its motte and bailey, with a stone tower that cracked and slid down its own mound.
What makes the Sculptor's Cave special?
The sea cave at Covesea, between Lossiemouth and Burghead, has Pictish symbols carved on its walls near the entrance, cut around the sixth or seventh century, and a far older past: excavations found it was used in the late Bronze Age and Roman iron age for ritual and burial. It is reached along the shore only when the tide is well out.
Is Linn Falls near Aberlour a good short waterfall walk?
Linn Falls, on the southern edge of Aberlour, drops in a double cascade into a wooded gorge, reached on a short walk of twenty to thirty minutes on a burn-side path with steps and handrails near the top. The route passes near the Aberlour distillery and leads on toward the River Spey.
Conclusion
Moray lines its firth and glen country with castles, caves and quiet water. Near Elgin, Spynie Palace keeps its huge David's Tower and Duffus Castle its cracked, slipped tower on its old mound.
On the coast, the Sculptor's Cave at Covesea carries Pictish carvings and a far older past, reached along the shore at low tide, while the old fishing village of Cove Bay keeps its harbour below the houses. Inland, the Linn Falls drop in a double cascade near Aberlour and the obscure Ess of Glenlatterach hides in the hills south of Elgin.
From bishop's tower to Pictish cave, these are the places to seek out across Moray.
