Forres is thought to be the "Varris" shown on maps by Ptolemy almost 2,000 years ago. There was a royal castle there from at least 900 AD and in around 1140 AD it became a royal burgh. Royal burghs were founded by the Kings of Scots of the 12th century to encourage trade and economic improvement. The local abbey was plundered by Wolf of Badenoch

On 23 June 1496 King James IV of Scotland issued a Royal Charter laying down the rights and privileges which the town's people are believed to have held by an earlier charter since the reign of King David I some 300 years earlier.

Forres has grown in recent years and now has over 9,000 inhabitants. Sitting between the floodplain of the River Findhorn and the wooded slopes of Cluny and Sanquhar Hills, Forres is well known for its award winning floral sculptures and is steeped in local history and traditions.

It has a number of Bars and pubs, including The Newmarket, The Red Lion, and The Mosset Tavern.

The town is the location of Sueno's Stone, an enormous carved stone, probably created by Picts to commemorate a battle against Norse invaders. Brodie Castle lies near the town.

Shakespeare's play Macbeth locates Duncan's castle here. Macbeth's castle was located at Inverness.

The town has a network of footpaths that have been established and waymarked by the Forres Footpaths Trust in recent years.

Forres was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Inverness, Fortrose and Nairn, in the Inverness Burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. The constituency was abolished in 1918 and the Forres and Nairn components were merged into the then new constituency of Moray and Nairn.