Food Tours; The Best Way To Travel

Food is our common ground, a universal experience.

James Beard

Travel can expand your mind through art, architecture, culture, and the people that you meet but all of that combined with the food you encounter can firmly cement your travel memories in your mind. 

When my husband and I travel, we almost always fall in love with a restaurant, snack, or dessert that we try and it seems like the best stories we bring home with us center around the food we ate or how we discovered or experienced that food. We often tell the story about our first experience with Sticky Toffee Pudding in Scotland, the lovely high tea at Harrods in London, and we never go to New Orleans without stopping for Beignets at Café Du Monde. I firmly believe that experiencing food as we travel is the best way to fall in love with that place and sometimes the easiest way to try a variety of food is by taking a food tour.

What is a food tour?

Think of a food tour as an excursion but with food! It’s a fun way to meet people, immerse yourself in the local culinary scene, and a terrific way to find great places to eat. For the price of your tour, you’ll have the chance to have a small taste of some great food and drinks mixed with some sightseeing between the biggest food items. Most are walking tours but don’t let that deter you. After eating all the food along the tour, you’ll be thankful for the walk.

If a food tour sounds like fun, consider scheduling your experience for the first day of your trip. This gives you an opportunity to discover great places to go back to during your trip for a great meal, snack, or even to grab drinks. A great tour will take you to spots in town where you can try appetizers, main courses, beverages, desserts, and snacks. Some tours even include adult beverages and the tour description will clearly note this option but will help if you need something more kid-friendly or you prefer to drink non-alcoholic.

We took our first food tour in Chicago. Our friends that live outside the city wanted us to have a taste of all things Chicago and this tour did not disappoint! We had a slice of deep-dish pizza, Rueben sandwiches, chocolates, oil and vinegar, gourmet tea, macarons, and an introduction to my favorite supplier of spices. It was a great tour and we were hooked!

A few months later, as we planned a trip to Ashville, North Carolina with friends for a long weekend visit to The Biltmore Estate, we decided to try another food tour.  In Asheville, we tasted an appetizer called Devils on Horseback and enjoyed a delicious red wine, local chocolates and more wine, gourmet popcorn, and an Italian main course.  Thank tour was a lot of food and I was thankful for the walking part of the tour!

We also took a food tour while visiting Bar Harbor, Maine.  This tour included local blueberry soda, gourmet French fries, blueberry and caramel popcorn, lobster rolls, coffee, several appetizers in a local Irish pub, and vinegar and oil tasting.  This tour offered tons of food and some off-the-beaten-path sites worth seeing.  We enjoyed it so much, we had a delicious dinner later that evening in one of the restaurants we had as a stop on the tour.  See?  A tour that keeps on giving! 

How to find a food tour

First, I would say that as you search for a food tour, look for recommendations.  Many food tours rely on recommendations so they will ask you to write a review so others can find them.  That’s how we found the tour we took in Maine.  I looked through Trip Advisor and read reviews, scheduling the tour that appealed to me. 

I’ve also recommended that you schedule your food tour for the first day of your trip.  The best way to do this is to plan in advance.  A little research might help you find a recommendation perhaps from say, a travel blogger or website, or even a local visitor’s center or tourist board. 

If you can’t find a formal food tour though, don’t despair! Make your own!

Ask a local

Who better to ask for recommendations on the best food and drink in town than a local?  A native will likely steer you to an eatery that is frequented by locals and might be a bit off the beaten path of the tourist mobs and if they will recommend where they eat, it is likely that the food is good. 

On more than one occasion, we have eaten where the locals have pointed.  In fact, one specific local was a U.S. Customs Agent that had come on board the cruise ship we were getting off of to check our re-entry into the U.S.  He lived in Key West and was kind enough to recommend a local restaurant that offered traditional Cuban home cooking.  Delish!  Thank you to our Custom’s Agent friend!  

We’ve never had a local steer us wrong.

Ask the staff at the front desk of your hotel or the Airbnb host you use, grocery clerks, shop keepers, and tour guides are all great sources for recommendations. Your travel professional might be able to help you with a tour as well so be sure to ask them to help.

More research before you go

Find out what the local specialty might be for your destination.  When in Rome, right?  Trip Advisor, locals, and just simple web searches can point you to good local food or specialties that you might want to try and where the best spots are to find them. 

One very memorable research that we took advantage of was during the same cruise mentioned earlier that stopped in Key West.  Before getting off the ship, my husband did a quick search for places to eat in Key West.  He found an article that had a list.  Of course, the one listed spot that jumped out at him was Glazed Donuts on Eaton Street.  OMG!!!  If you love a FANTASTIC donut and you’re in Key West, this has to be on your list of places to go.  God bless Glazed Donuts!  Since that discovery, we have been known to plan a trip to Key West around stopping at Glazed Donuts for a treat (or two).  And, when I say plan, I mean check out their website for hours operation and know that they often sell out and you will wait in line! They ARE that good!

My husband and I are always afraid that we’ll fall in love with something yummy in our travels that we can never have again.  And while that is likely to happen, eating with the locals or trying a regional cuisine has always given us a great experience and great food porn (what we call it when we photograph our food and feature it here on the blog).

I hope your next trip is a delicious one!  Bon appétit!