Elgin

Introduction

Elgin sits in Cook and Kane counties in northern Illinois, about 35 miles northwest of Chicago along the Fox River. Its position on the river and its proximity to the city make it a practical stop if you are exploring the Chicago area.

Before you go

Elgin's story starts deep in prehistory: the sandstone beneath the town holds the footprints and remains of Ornithosuchus, a crocodile-like reptile that walked on its hind legs across Triassic sands. You can see this and other strange local reptiles at the Elgin museum, so set aside time for it if you have any interest in what came before the town. The same sandstone later became the town's building material, quarried first on higher ground to the south before the settlement grew on its present site from the 12th century under the patronage of Alexander II, when the cathedral foundations were laid.

That cathedral went on to be wrecked repeatedly, by "wyld, wykked Heland-men" among many others, so expect a building with a complicated past rather than an intact medieval one. Note that the "Elgin Marbles" have only a tenuous connection with the town: the 7th Earl of Elgin removed sculptures from the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century, but none of the Earls of Elgin lived here, and the friezes are in the British Museum in London. For orientation and local information, the Tourist Information point is in the library near the cathedral.

Getting there

By road, Elgin sits on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness, and the road runs straight through town with no bypass, so allow for traffic if you're driving. Trains connect Elgin with Aberdeen via Dyce, Inverurie, Huntly and Keith, and continue west to Forres, Nairn and Inverness; services run every couple of hours. Elgin railway station lies half a mile south of the town centre and has step-free access, toilets, a ticket office and ticket machines, but no left luggage or cafe — just a vending machine.

Stagecoach Bus 10 runs hourly from Aberdeen Union Square via Inverurie, Huntly and Keith and continues to Forres, Nairn and Inverness. Bus 35 takes a longer, roundabout route from Aberdeen through Dyce, Oldmeldrum, Fyvie, Turriff, Macduff, Banff, Portsoy, Buckie and Cullen, with some buses turning back at Banff, so check which service reaches Elgin. Local connections include Bus 33 between Elgin, Lossiemouth and the RAF base, Bus 32 to Duffus, Hopeman and Burghead, Bus 36 from Dufftown via Craigellachie, and Bus 31 from Aviemore via Boat of Garten, Nethy Bridge, Grantown-on-Spey, Craigellachie and Rothes. Elgin bus station is in the town centre on Alexandra Road, along the A96.

Getting around

Downtown Elgin is compact and quite walkable, with cafes, shops and restaurants clustered together in the core, so if you base yourself centrally you can meet many day-to-day needs on foot. Outside downtown, walking becomes less practical and you'll want wheels for anything further out. Pace Suburban Bus Service covers the city and surrounding areas, with the Elgin Transportation Center as the central hub and natural starting point for routes and connections — but be realistic about coverage, since service is limited in reach and frequency and has gaps. For outlying sites, late evenings or anywhere the bus network thins out, taxis and ride-hailing fill the gap and are the most flexible option; keep an app or number ready as a backup if you're travelling car-free.

Metra's Milwaukee District – West Line links Elgin with Chicago's Union Station, making rail the most straightforward way to arrive without a car; the city has three stations — Big Timber Road, Elgin Station (closest to downtown) and National Street — and which you use depends on where you're staying and where you're headed. From a station, Pace buses and CTA buses and trains connect you onward. Cycling is supported by the Fox River Trail, a popular paved recreational path, plus on-street and off-street bike routes, but infrastructure gaps and traffic-heavy areas make it better for leisure and trail rides than as a full substitute for commuting or errands across the whole city.

Where to stay

Elgin has plenty of small hotels and guesthouses, most within easy reach of the station and High Street. The Royal Hotel on Station Road is a pleasant traditional railway hotel facing the station, and the Laichmoray Hotel on Maisondieu Road is a clean, convenient small hotel nearby. For something with more character, the Sunninghill Hotel on Hay Street is an old-style hotel in a Victorian villa, while the Mansion House Hotel on Haugh Road is a baronial pile that is comfortable but showing its age. The Mansefield on Mayne Road is a good central hotel with a restaurant, and St Michael's Guesthouse sits a block north of it on Northfield Terrace.

Guesthouses cluster along the High Street and its side streets: Moraydale Guesthouse and West End Guesthouse are both on the High Street, Southbank Guest House is a comfy, friendly B&B in a Georgian town house midway between the station and the High Street, and Kilmorie House and The Pines are B&Bs on the east side of town. Oldmills Garden is a guesthouse on the west side. If you prefer a chain, the Premier Inn on Linkwood Way sits on a commercial park a mile east of the centre, and the Travelodge on Coxton Park is a reliable budget option two miles east. For a rural stay, the Riverside Caravan Park on West Road is a clean caravan site a mile west of town, open April to October. Note that the Eight Acres Hotel on Morriston Road now houses asylum-seekers.

Food & drink

Elgin has a solid spread of everyday eating places clustered along and around High Street. For a cosy, relaxed meal, try the Drouthy Cobbler on High Street. Thai and Chinese cooking is done well at the Pattaya Restaurant, also on High Street, where the spice levels are judged just right. Qismat on High Street is a reliable choice for South Asian, Indian and Pakistani food. If you're after pizza, Scribbles on High Street serves pizza and the like, Pizzeria Planta sits on Batchen Street, and Pizzeria Toscana on Thunderton Place is a relaxed small place for pizza and other favourites. Ada on South Street offers Turkish food.

For drinking, the Granary on Thunderton Place is a family-friendly Belhaven pub with good grub, while the Muckle Cross on High Street is a standard Wetherspoons with decent food, drink and service. Dicey's Bar on High Street is a nightspot that can get really busy, and Joanna's Nightclub next door is open on Saturday nights. Other town-centre options include McKerron's, Thunderton House, Against The Grain, White Horse Inn, Dean's, The Cocktail Joint and Ionic Bar. Whisky is the local draw: Glen Moray Distillery on Bruceland Road runs tours, and Gordon & MacPhail on Newmill Road, an independent bottler of rare whiskies since its days as a grocer, offers tastings in its shop. Other distilleries line the Spey valley, including Benriach, Longmorn, Mannochmore, Glenlossie and Glen Elgin.

What to see and do

Elgin's centrepiece is its cathedral on King Street, a ruin dating from the 1220s that was rebuilt repeatedly after fires and left to decay following the Reformation; stabilisation and preservation only began in the 19th century. Beside it stands the Bishop's House of 1406, which you can look at from outside but not enter, and to the east a Biblical Garden that makes a peaceful pause during daylight hours. West along the High Street, a column on a mound commemorates the 5th Duke of Gordon, with the fragmentary remains of a 12th-century castle nearby that was captured by the English and later destroyed by Robert the Bruce. Note that Elgin Museum on High Street is closed temporarily because the building is unsafe.

• Moray Motor Museum on Bridge Street houses a collection of antique vehicles in a former mill.
• Spynie Palace, a ruined fortified residence of the bishops, lies outside town; the cathedral church stood here until it moved to Elgin in 1224.
• Duffus Castle, off the B9017 towards the coast, is a free ruin with a motte-and-bailey origin and a later stone phase, abandoned in the early 18th century.
• Fochabers, a village east of Elgin, has the walled garden of Gordon Castle, a folk museum, and two churches worth a look for their stained glass.

For activities, the Moray Playhouse cinema on the High Street shows mainstream releases, and Elgin City play football at Borough Briggs just north of the centre. Golfers can head to the course on Birnie Road south of town, with more courses along the coast near Lossiemouth and Burghead. The Speyside Way is a hiking and cycling trail on a former railway line that runs through the Spey valley to Fochabers and the estuary. Further north, Burghead holds the Burning of the Clavie, a New Year's custom observed on the Julian date in January, when a burning barrel of staves is carried through the town and set on Doorie Hill. Highland Games take place at Gordon Castle, and the Speyfest music festival fills Fochabers with traditional and contemporary Celtic music in summer.

Three days in Elgin

Day one: Start in Elgin itself, getting your bearings in the town before following the Fox River, which runs through the city. Use the Tourist Information as your first stop for orientation, then let the river set your pace for the rest of the day.

Day two: Head out of town by train. Trains connect Elgin with Dyce, Inverurie, Huntly, Keith, Forres and Nairn, and the line also reaches Aberdeen and Inverness, so you can pick a direction and build a day around it. Aberdeen Union Square is the main bus interchange if you would rather travel by Stagecoach Bus, with services on to Oldmeldrum, Fyvie and Turriff.

Day three: Give the day to collections and old stones. The Elgin Marbles, taken from the Acropolis at Athens under the Earl of Elgin, are held in the British Museum in London, while the name of Elgin itself carries through the town's story. Round off your time with a last walk by the Fox River before you leave.