Britain’s Best Bakeries not to miss on your Easter travels
Published 24 March 2026

Owned by Flora Shedden, a Dunkeld local and once the youngest-ever finalist on The Great British Bake Off, this stylish whitewashed bakery enjoys a prime position on the main thoroughfare and has contributed to the town's burgeoning reputation as a foodie pit stop for the Highlands. Locals have much to be pleased about too, with a roster of seasonal danishes (from wild garlic and goat's cheese to fig, honey and walnut), alongside beautifully flavoured, inch-thick shortbread, golden sausage rolls, focaccia sandwiches and house sourdough made with landrace flour, grown and milled in Scotland. Hot eats include cheese and kimchi toasties as well as seasonal soups, which are best enjoyed at a spot by the window if you can snag one.

Some bakeries deserve extra praise for their beautiful creations, and this sophisticated sourdough bakery and coffee shop at the heart of the Crieff community is one of them. But while Emily Hart’s almond croissants may be a sweet hit with many, she is equally well-known for her savoury danishes, sourdough loaves and focaccia. However, we reckon the soft, flaky, buttery morning bun, drenched in orange and cinnamon sugar, is the showstopper, transporting us to pastry heaven.

Gothelney Farm is a beacon of regionally powered regenerative agriculture and when it comes to picking up a loaf, it doesn’t get more local than on-site Field Bakery, where Rosy Benson oversees the stone mill and shows the care that goes into nurturing the soil. The results speak for themselves: extraordinarily good loaves, cinnamon buns and kimchi sausage rolls (made from the farm's own pasture-reared pigs) are the top picks – note that bakery hours are limited to Fridays (and occasional Saturdays), but coffee and locally produced provisions make the trip worthwhile, and a pre-order system is in place to avoid missing out. For the real bread heads, there’s also a regular roster of field-to-loaf workshops and baking classes. 

Anna Gerrans and Nat Galliano-Hale’s bakery opened as a wholesale business in 2021, supplying sourdough to cafés and restaurants. But a weekly counter selling baked goods directly to the public quickly built up a following and, such was the demand, the couple moved to a larger retail space in 2023, allowing them to incorporate a café alongside the on-view bakery. Meticulously baked sourdough loaves, viennoiserie and updated versions of classics such as Danish pastries (with fillings like coffee crème patisserie, whipped cream and dark chocolate crumb) give locals good reason to keep coming back. As an added attraction, there are also eclectic savouries along the lines of bone broth with a carrot kimchi toastie.

Family-run with a passion for all things sourdough, this easy-going bakery and café is fast building up a solid, enthusiastic fan base. Bang on target, with cheery staff encouraging a sense of bonhomie, it’s as good for breakfast (shakshuka eggs) as it is for lunch (fish-finger sandwich or a savoury roasted beetroot and cream danish). The coffee is good, sourdough croissants and cinnamon rolls fill the gaps, and ‘Friday Night Dinner’ ranges from steak or pie feasts to chicken and salsa rossa with hazelnut pangrattato. There's an offshoot in Faversham.

Working directly with Somerset farmers through the South West Grain network, James Cartwright and Frederica Bullough have been serving up the model of an accessible, sustainable food system alongside their delicious bakes since 2022. Their Wiveliscombe bakery has won over locals with its full-flavoured porridge tin loaves, and rye/spelt malt loaves, while the line-up of seasonal sweets might include rhubarb and custard pies, roast apricot bostock and cream buns with strawberries macerated in Somerset cider brandy. As a small operation, hours are limited to Friday collections with orders to be made by 2pm on Wednesday. Plans are afoot to start up pizza nights, join the farmers' market circuit and offer baking classes.

Baker Aidan Monks was on the sourdough scene long before it became fashionable. In fact, he first set up shop in Kendal in the late ‘80s and has built a mini empire in the North West that continues to rake in the plaudits. Exclusively British organic flours are baked into a wide range of loaves and pastries that are available for delivery country-wide and are sold over the counter in Burneside, Altrincham Market, Kirkby Lonsdale’s weekly market, and at the Kendal HQ, which is a worthy detour for any Lake District visitor. Favourites from the range include the khorasan loaf, Northumberland rye and the flavoursome, buttery croissants which, with a specialty coffee from neighbouring Rinaldo’s, makes for the perfect mid-morning treat.

Five years have flown by since Monika Olszewska and Charlie Smith followed their dream of opening a bakery by the sea, and it's been a story of ongoing success among the Fishguard community. You'll often find queues down the High Street for their all-organic sourdough and their seasonal danishes sporting spectacular lamination. So long as you get there early, there's plenty to choose from – perhaps a carrot-cake cruffin, a slice of rum and raisin croissant pudding, or a leek and Stilton savoury.

Named for the fabled Lost Windmill of West Cowes, this heritage-minded bakery and coffee shop puts the Isle of Wight firmly on Britain's baking map. Flour sourced from the island underpins everything, from standout sourdough loaves to slow-fermented croissants – a four-day process that shows in every buttery layer. Cherry and almond bostock and glazed cardamom knots are among the sweet highlights, while homemade buckwheat granola or soup with a sourdough roll will see you through from breakfast and lunch.

It’s not hard to understand the appeal of this standalone bakery across the courtyard from the White Horse pub. With a charming beamed and stone-walled interior – plus a winter-warming wood-burner and pretty, partially covered terrace seating – it’s clearly popular with a local crowd. The daytime fare is exactly what you would expect: breakfasts of Clarence Court poached eggs with local thick-cut ham on sourdough or croissants filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese, plus excellent pain au chocolat, almond croissants, Danish pastries and very good coffee. Lunch brings home-baked focaccia filled with roast pork and apple sauce or a Walsingham Cheddar and ham toastie. Don’t forget to pick up a baguette, some rye bread or a sourdough loaf when you leave.