Edinburgh's Best Food Tours

Hangings, Body Snatchers and Cronuts: An Edinburgh Doughnut Tour Up the Royal Mile

Fair warning: the history here is dark. The doughnuts help.

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Out of the Grassmarket

We gather in the Grassmarket, the broad old square under the castle rock where public hangings once drew a crowd. Your guide gets the grim bit out of the way early, and then the first sweet stop lightens the mood considerably.

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Up the curve of Victoria Street you go, past the painted shopfronts, and out onto the Royal Mile. Room and Rumours serves doughnuts and crème brûlée creations. Mòr is known for its cronuts. In between, you'll pass St Giles' Cathedral and a parking space that marks the grave of John Knox (really), and step into Tweeddale Court, which Outlander fans will recognise straight away. The closes run off the Mile like ribs, and each one seems to come with a tale: witch trials, Burke and Hare, the old Flodden Wall.

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Then the walk drops down towards the New Town. Mimi's Bakehouse is the stop for a proper Scottish scone or traybake, and the food tour wraps up near Princes Street Gardens with the Scott Monument towering overhead.

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When the haar rolls in

Edinburgh weather does what it likes. A sea fog called the haar can swallow the castle in minutes. Our guides know which closes and cafés offer shelter, so the Royal Mile Historic Doughnut Tour runs happily as a walking tour in most conditions and the stories carry on regardless.

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In November and December there's the Royal Mile Historic Holiday Doughnut Tour, which ends at the Christmas market in Princes Street Gardens. The big wheel is lit up, the Scott Monument glows, and you've a doughnut in hand. A decent way to spend a winter morning in Scotland.