You can also find out more about JDan Warren felt the pain of his worn-out trail shoes just one day into the 225-mile trek across Scotland. No amount of blisters or midges could stop Dee Johnson and the librarian from reaching the promised pastries. Bakehouse The family stayed in the fishing town of Mallaig on the west coast, which was a 14-day journey plus two ferry trips from their home near Montrose.
The pair, who are known as “bakery Pilgrims”, travel considerable distances to obtain a good loaf of bread or bun. Warren describes their journey: “Sometimes, we were pushing our way through overgrown trails and there was a lot mud.” But their eventual reward was a soft brioche bun, filled with crème pâtissière and finished with crumble and berries.
I can understand. The honey buns’ siren song at Popty’r Dref bakery We drove nearly four hours from Oxfordshire in order to visit Dolgellau. We tagged along on a hike to Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), which was actually just a scenic place to enjoy our bakery purchases.
My family and I also traveled an hour to try the honey croissants and babkas at Farro bakery Bristol. Not long before that, it was a rhubarb-cardamom-brioche concoction at Pobl bakery Talgarth Mill near Hay-on-Wye. Both were well-worth the trip.
It turns out that we are just amateurs compared to the hardened tourists who frequent bakeries. Maddy Nutt, a professional cyclist, often plans long distance routes around the promise or a croissant. She says she will go to great lengths to find the best bakeries. Staple Stores. She was three minutes late because of a puncture. She spent £3 on a charity shop rucksack and took home what remained of the bakery’s daily output.
There is a lot of camaraderie among people who are travelling long distances for a good bakery. The chewy almond thumbprint cookie at Briar Bakery Ashburton in Devon is one example.
In the UK you don’t need to travel very far to find a good bakery. Greggs is a chain of more than 2,600 shops. Gail’s, a chain associated with high-street gentrificationNow has 170 branches. A pack of two croissants from a Tesco bakery costs £1.75.
Bakery tourists are attracted by the more rare treats. These treats are often created by small businesses, usually run by the owner-baker, from a single location. Some bakeries use sustainable ingredients such as flour from regenerative farms. The pastries are usually a modern twist on classics. For example, a kimchi egg danish from Long Boi’s Bakehouse Levenshulme is a Manchester suburb, while a spiral shaped miso bacon-escargot comes from London. Arôme.
The carbon footprint of a trip to a distant bakery is obvious, but many people have substituted this type of travel for other holidays and breaks. Bakery wanderlust goes beyond social media influencers who are on the prowl for pastries. The trend is known as “bbangjisullae”, a portmanteau combining “bbang” which means “bread” with “seongjisullae”, meaning “pilgrimage”. Koreans seem to be more and more willing to travel to the country’s top bakeries. some take overnight trains You don’t want to miss the limited supplies in the morning.
A bright and sunny Saturday morning found me at Bath bakery LandracePilgrims wait in line with local residents. Charlotte Briggs says, “They come all for the cinnamon rolls.” At £4 apiece, these fragrant, springy coils have kept a spot on the counter since the shop opened in 2019.
Tomos Owens, Hetty Niblett and their lycra-clad bikes cycled for nearly two hours just to get there. “I just love croissants,” says Owens. “We’ve waited in this line even when it was -3C during winter.” The two try as many spots in the book as they can Britain’s Best BakeriesThe book was published in the last year.
After Karin saw Landrace’s creations, mother and daughter Chie Takita and Karin Takita from Ibaraki, Japan, added the UK to their itinerary. Instagram. The pair came away with a newfound appreciation for hot cross buns – “So good!” – despite Chie’s previous impressions of “dry” British buns.
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Cecilia Burgess tells her daughter Bella, 9, how she heard about another popular place. Lovingly Artisan British Baker magazine named it one of the UK’s top ten sourdoughs. “I drove from Barnard Castle to Barnard Castle across the Pennines for over an hour in order to get this sourdough. Everyone thought I was crazy. “To me, it was well worth it.” Burgess enjoys an Italian-style pastry at Landrace. The filling is cream mixed with roasted pistachios.
Bakery Tŷ MelinAngharad Gardner, with her partner Lance Gardner, created. It means “millhouse” in Welsh. They have four sites in south Wales, all of which bake their signature “croissant bomb” – a crispy outer filled with chocolate or hazelnut or salted caramel – which has become a social media sensation. “We have been overwhelmed … we have customers willing to travel so far to try our products. Conway says that the effort and hours we spend are worth it. Conway says their most popular product is their almond croissant. A customer came from Scotland all the way to Cardiff for one.
There are few bakeries in the world that have attracted more tourists than Lannan in Edinburgh. The shop in Stockbridge has grown to be a cult since it opened in July 2023. “People come from all over.” Darcie Maher is a baker-patron. “We recently had someone from Canada come to the bakery just to taste the goods. Last year, someone from New Zealand booked their entire trip around Lannan.
Maher is not fond of being called a “viral baker”, but has nonetheless become a celebrity. Many bakers can rattle off the names of which bakeries they have worked at and who owns them.
Megan Hermes from Guildford in Surrey says, “I’m a little smug because I feel like I have been to Lannan by just seeing the pictures on social media.” She has not yet made the trip to Stockbridge but is willing to do the miles to get a tasty pastry. The local government worker’s plan began as a reward for herself after a 25km run. It has now evolved into a plan of traveling across the country and visiting bakeries on weekends. She says: “I am not interested in a beer crawl, but I’m up for a baker crawl.” This has meant waiting in line for up to an hour on some sites, such as London’s Toad bakeryHome to the yuzu-orange cake.
Bakeries can be pricey: at Landrace, the sausage roll will set you back £5. However, these sweets are much cheaper than a meal at a local restaurant or other activities and experiences that people used to travel to attend.
Milly Kenny Ryder – author of Britain’s Best Bakeries – planned a trip for Dublin’s Scéal with her husband and child – only to realise after booking flights that it had moved outside the city. She didn’t let the extra train trip deter her. It was raining heavily and we were all wearing soggy socks. It was worth it” She doesn’t mind a long queue, even if she has to wait for an hour or more. Eric’sThe London bakery’s recent creations included a lime-mascarpone mascarpone pastry.
Evie Clement of Somerset went to Paris for breakfast in February. She planned her trip around the best places to eat. Includes stops Land&Monkeys, Leonie The following are some examples of how to get started: Café NuancesClement tried the “amazing pain suisse” in London. Clement and her brother Guy have taken the bus to the UK for the 40-minute trip in order to enjoy baked goods. Bristol’s East Village Cafe.
Renown can be a source of pressure for bakers. Maher says that when Lannan opened its doors, they were busier than expected. I was sleeping on a mattress of foam in the basement and working 120 hours per week.
Lannan now has 10 bakers, up from just two. There have been rumours that some of the most sought-after bakeries deliberately limit supply, creating an artificial scarcity to push up the hype factor – but this seems absurd to Maher, who has spoken about maxing out the bakery’s oven capacity. Lannan employs staff seven days per week, although it’s only open Wednesday through Sunday.
Many people are willing to travel far to find baked heaven because they understand how difficult it can be to reach. Home cooks are often the ones who travel to bakeries. They appreciate the differences between their banana loaf and the complex hazelnut vanilla poached pears danishes from London. Fortitude Bakehouse Or the perfectly constructed rosemary & sea salt twists available at Mabel in Norfolk.
Every day starts off with a smile when you open up your brown paper bag to sample the baked goods.
