See Edinburgh through a Ukrainian lens on this small-group cultural walking tour with Nataliya, a Kyiv-born storyteller and guide. Discover hidden links between Scotland and Ukraine, from royal heritage and community memorials to the Ukrainian Community Centre, before sitting down to a generous Ukrainian-inspired taster plate at a local café with flavours that blend Ukrainian and Scottish traditions. This relaxed, immersive walk reveals history, resilience, and community in places both iconic and unexpected.

Tour Highlights

• Explore Edinburgh’s Ukrainian heritage, uncover royal links, public memorials, and community spaces that connect the city with Ukraine.

• Hear personal stories of migration and resilience from Nataliya, whose own journey shapes the narrative.

• Visit meaningful sites, including St Margaret’s Chapel, Calton Hill plaques, and the Holodomor Memorial Stone.

• Meet community members and enjoy homemade Ukrainian biscuits and dishes inside the Ukrainian Community Centre.

• Relax with a generous taster plate at a local café blending Ukrainian and Scottish flavours, a delicious and warming end to your walk.

Detailed Itinerary:

You’ll begin your experience outside the National Galleries of Scotland, where Nataliya welcomes your small group with warmth and curiosity. With views of Edinburgh Castle in the distance, she introduces the surprising story of Queen Margaret, whose 11th-century heritage links Scotland to Kyiv, a connection you wouldn’t normally expect.

From there, you’ll follow a carefully chosen route that ties architecture, memorials, and public spaces to stories of migration, resilience, and cultural pride. As you pass places like the Duke of Wellington statue, a site of weekly Ukrainian gatherings and make your way up toward Calton Hill, Nataliya points out plaques and markers that reflect how long these connections have existed in Edinburgh’s fabric.

A thoughtful pause comes at the Holodomor Memorial Stone, a quiet space dedicated to the millions who died in the 1932–33 Ukrainian famine. This is a reflective moment, not rushed, where Nataliya offers historical context alongside reflections on how memory shapes identity and community today.

The walk continues into the Ukrainian Community Centre, a vibrant cultural hub founded by immigrants soon after World War II and kept alive by generations since. Here, you’ll be welcomed with homemade biscuits and have the chance to hear first-hand stories from community members who keep Ukrainian culture strong in Edinburgh.

Your cultural journey concludes at The Square Café, a local favourite where Ukrainian and Scottish culinary traditions meet. You’ll sit down together to enjoy a generous taster plate that blends flavours from both cultures, savoury and sweet, and reflects how food can carry memory, comfort, and identity across continents. As you eat, Nataliya shares the stories behind the dishes and how each reflects the experiences of Ukrainian people in Scotland.

By the end of the walk, you will have seen, heard, and tasted Edinburgh in ways most visitors don’t, discovering layers of heritage and community that feel personal and meaningful.