Savannah's Best Food Tours

Savannah, Square by Square: A Donut Tour Through Oglethorpe's Grid

General James Oglethorpe laid Savannah out around public squares in the 1730s, and nearly three centuries later you can still walk the plan block by block. So that's what we do, with sugar.

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Broughton Street to the river

The donut tour starts on Broughton Street, the old downtown shopping street, at Toast! All Day. Warm beignets and a cold coffee drink, which is the correct order of operations on a Georgia morning. A short walk brings you into Wright Square. Your guide explains how the squares were meant to work and tells the story of Tomochichi, the Yamacraw leader who is honored here and who made the colony possible in the first place.

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Rise is next, with donuts, blueberry beignets and a taste of Southern biscuit baking. Then Johnson Square, the oldest of them all, ringed by banks and live oaks hung with Spanish moss. The third bakery stop depends on the day: French crullers some mornings, kolaches on others. Ellis Square has fountains and a giant chessboard, and it points you toward City Market and Byrd's Famous Cookies, where the samples keep coming.

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The walk ends near the river at Savannah's Candy Kitchen. Watch the pralines being made, pecans and all, then cool down with a frozen treat. Along the way the history goes well past the Civil War: colonial planning, ironwork balconies, and the preservationists who fought to save these blocks when others wanted them gone.

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Every stop has seating and air conditioning. In July, you'll be grateful.

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A lot of our Savannah guests are staying at the beach in Hilton Head, Bluffton or Tybee Island and make this food tour their one day in the city.

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When the sun goes down

The squares feel different after dark. Savannah has a reputation for ghosts, and our evening tour, the Savannah After Dark Haunted Donut Tour, leans right into it, trading the daytime history for spooky stories under the oaks with sweet treats along the walking tour route. Come in the morning for the Savannah Historic Downtown Donut Tour, come back at night for the haunted one. Or pick a side.