A Two-Hour Dessert Walk Through Downtown Santa Monica
Walk to four sweet stops for donuts, churros, and a guide-selected cold treat during a two-hour downtown Santa Monica tour.
The meeting point is a donut window. Randy's Donuts at 829 Wilshire Boulevard hands out the first round, and the guide uses that stop to set up the two hours ahead. From there the group walks west along Wilshire toward the ocean.
Underground Donut Tour sends this walk out at 11:00 AM, 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM, seven days a week. The company started in Chicago in 2015 as a side project of Jeff Woelker, and now runs walks in cities across the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK.
Pricing runs per person and starts at USD 70. The booking form takes a single traveller, caps one reservation at fifteen, and caps a shared walk at twenty. Confirmation is instant and the ticket is a phone screen, which leaves a late-morning decision enough room for the 2:00 PM departure. Gratuities and parking sit outside that price.
Santa Monica Sweet Treats Food Tour: Donuts, Churros, and MoreUnderground Donut Tour · 120 minutes on foot · Rated 4.9 from 113 reviewswww.viator.comThe Four Counters
Randy's opens at 829 Wilshire. The second stop drops to 631 Wilshire for small-batch donuts, a rotating list the operator describes as classic, seasonal and California-inspired; the listing names Sidecar Doughnuts. Third is Papi Tacos & Churros at 313 Wilshire, fifteen minutes of cinnamon and sugar in front of a painted wall. The street numbers count down as the group walks toward the ocean.
The operator's own tour page puts the finish at McConnell's Fine Ice Creams, 1456 3rd Street Promenade. The listing keeps that last stop open, saying it shifts with the weather and with how far the group still wants to walk. The first three are fixed.
The Walking Between
The stretch between counters is the other half of what two hours buys. The route runs down Wilshire and turns onto the Third Street Promenade, the three blocks between Wilshire and Broadway that were closed to cars and opened to pedestrians in November 1965.
The operator puts the walking time to work on the city's history, its beach culture, and its turn from a seaside retreat into one of Southern California's busier destinations. Palms, low buildings and the ocean a few blocks west do the rest.
Who Ends Up on It
The operator calls this a family-friendly walking tour, and the booking form carries a child band for ages ten and under. Anyone eleven or older books as an adult, and every reservation needs at least one adult on it. Narration is English only.
The pace is a stroll. Four stops inside two hours leaves most of the clock standing at counters, with short blocks in between. The operator says strollers are generally welcome, and notes that some routes include busy sidewalks or uneven surfaces. Anyone who needs a specific accommodation is asked to contact the tour directly.
Come hungry. Amity M wrote in October 2024: "It was a ton of sugar, and we were craving protein when it was over, but it was a positive, memorable experience!"
Booking and the Refund Window
Cancelling at least twenty-four hours before the departure time returns the full amount. The operator explains the line on its own site: guides are assigned and orders go in with the partner shops before each walk. Inside that window its policy offers a rebooking, a later date or another city, in place of a refund, and it notes that a reservation made through a booking platform is settled by that platform.
The form asks one question, about special requirements. A dietary note belongs there. The operator says several of its Santa Monica partners carry vegan and gluten-free donuts, and asks for restrictions at the time of booking so the guide can plan the tastings.
📍 Randy's Donuts, 829 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica.
The listing tells people to look for public parking near the start, or near the end of the route by the Santa Monica Pier. Parking is not in the price. This walk does not loop back to the window it began at. It finishes on the Third Street Promenade, about six tenths of a mile from the start, with the shops open and the pier a few blocks south.