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Calling all culinary explorers! Learn about Scotland’s history and local cuisine during the following food tours in Edinburgh. Featuring traditional staples, unique offerings, and a dram or two. Hosted by professional foodies who are in the know when it comes to the capital’s culinary scene!
You may also find our guides to whisky experiences or gin tours in Edinburgh helpful.
Local tip: Most of the following are actually food and drink tours with at least one sample of a local tipple, such as whisky, beer, cider, or a non-alcoholic drink, so you get a “buy one get one free” excursion.
Edinburgh Food Tours
Edinburgh’s Secret Food Tour For The First Timer
Please your palette over five servings during this 3.5-hour secret food tour.
Food featured in this experience includes local cheese, venison chorizo, and scones with jam and butter, the latter a big part of British afternoon tea!
First-time visitors also get the chance to sample the infamous Scottish delicacy, haggis, which is a mixture of sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs minced with onion, suet, spices, and oatmeal boiled in an animal’s stomach and served with neeps (turnip) and tatties (potatoes).
It’s actually pretty tasty!
There is also a “secret” serving revealed at the end of the food tour.
You’ll need a nip to wash it all down, which comes in the form of a lowland single malt.
Reviews love the mix of food and history and state that the portions are filling enough and, therefore, worth the value of the tour.
Note: As with most of the tours in this article, there is some walking between stops, and the Old Town can be difficult for people with mobility issues.
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Food servings: 5
- Drink included: 1 whisky
Reserve your spot here.
Eat Walk Tours For The Epicures
This 3.5 food tour focuses on locally sourced Scottish food and takes patrons to four different Old and New Town restaurants or pubs with around about 30-40 minutes walking in total, approx. 15 minutes between venues.
Instead of small samples, guests dine on full meals, and depending on what tour time you select, this may be brunch, lunch, or dinner, which the Scots call “tea”.
Meals may include smoked salmon, Cullen skink soup, haggis, black pudding, sticky toffee pudding, or a very Scottish creamy dish, the cranachan.
This small group tour leans into a more personalised experience, where dietary requirements can be met, and drinks can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic.
Eat Walk Tours is locally owned and has been operating since 2011.
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Food servings: 4 venues, number of servings not stated
- Drink included: 3 drinks
Reserve your spot here.
Taste and Tour – 6 Meals and 3 Drinks
For a great mix of food and drink, consider this 3.5-hour food tour, which sees soups, pies, and home baking on the menu, as well as coffee, beer, cider, and whisky!
The tour promises to provide the best of Edinburgh’s scran while sharing stories that explain why certain foods are associated with the city and country.
- Duration: 3.5 hours
- Food servings: 6 meals
- Drink included: 3 drinks
Reserve your spot here.
Edinburgh Cheese Crawl For A Gouda Time
One of Edinburgh’s more unique food tours is the 2-hour cheese crawl, which does exactly as it says on the cracker tin.
Meeting in the upscale neighbourhood of Stockbridge, which is home to the decades-old I.J. Mellis Cheesemongers, the tour vows to entertain with grate(ing?!) cheese puns, a testing quiz, and some fizz.
Reviews rave about the in-curd-ibly unusual experience in one of the city’s most stylish yet charming areas.
- Duration: 2 hours
- Food servings: Unknown
- Drink included: Yes, unkown
Reserve your spot here.
Withlocals The 10 Tastings Private Food Tour
Arrive with an empty belly if choosing this 3-hour food session, as the private tour provides ten offerings of savoury and sweet Scottish cuisine, such as the notorious deep-fried Mars Bar!
Other snacks may include pies, haggis and a local drink at two or three locations.
Options for vegetarians and vegans are available.
- Duration: 3 hours
- Food servings: 2-3
- Drink included: 1
Reserve your spot here.
Tolbooth Tavern Haggis Taster & Whisky Sampling
What makes the Tolbooth Tavern haggis taster & whisky sampling tour a little different from others in our Edinburgh food and drink tour guide is that there is no walking required as all of the samples are served in one sitting in a century-old Royal Mile pub called the Tolbooth Tavern.
This is also great for dreich, rainy days!
Another bonus is that this tour only takes around 30 minutes, which is ideal for those short on time during a one-day visit or weekend itinerary.
- Duration: 30 minutes (approx)
- Food servings: 1
- Drink included: 1
Reserve your spot here.
Afternoon Tea on a Bus
Another option for those who don’t want to join a walking tour is this 1.5-hour vintage bus experience.
Guests are invited to take a seat on a red double-decker and take in city views, such as Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish Parliament while dining on finger sandwiches, mini rolls or wraps, mini quiches, cakes, and traditional scones.
Accompanying drinks include tea, coffee, non-alcoholic drinks, Prosecco, and gin.
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Food servings: An afternoon tea platter
- Drink included: 1 glass of prosecco, 1 gin cocktail if selected, and unlimited tea, coffee, and soft drinks
Reserve your spot here.
A Chocolatarium Tour, Tasting & Chocolate Making
A fun, kid-friendly culinary tour in Edinburgh is The Chocolatarium, which is located just off the Royal Mile.
During the 1.5-hour experience, chocolatiers learn about the history of the sweet stuff, get their hands dirty in the kitchen making their own Scottish-themed edible souvenirs, and also snack their way around the country in the Tasting Room.
Whisky-flavoured chocolate, anyone?
- Duration: 1.5 hours
- Food servings: NA
- Drink included: A glass of water to cleanse the palette
Reserve your spot here.
We have personally reviewed this tour in, which you can read about here.
Donut Tour For Sweet Tooth Visitors
Join a local guide as they walk through the city centre snacking on pastries, cakes, and donuts during this 2-hour tour.
Expect to taste filled and flavours from family-run cafes and Scottish chain bakers.
- Duration: 2 hours
- Food servings: Unknown
- Drink included: Unknown
Reserve your spot here.
Final Words
From seafood soup to sweet scones, Cullen skink to cranachan, by foot or bus, Edinburgh food experiences come in traditional form or with a contemporary twist!
Which culinary tour will you choose to teach you more about the city’s food scene? Tell us in the comments!