Tantalise your tastebuds on the world’s most delicious departures – whether you want to learn to cook or just eat the spoils
Find flavours and fiestas
Intrepid Travel’s Real Food Adventure: Mexico was designed with help from Thomasina Miers, cookery writer and founder of ‘market-eating’ restaurant chain Wahaca. This means the trip is a true foodie treat, exploring some of Mexico’s best culinary regions. Visit Oaxaca’s aromatic markets, eat late-night tacos in Mexico City and learn to make Puebla’s chilli-chocolate mole poblano. There’s also time to see pre-Colombian ruins and take a foodie walk around the capital.
Who: Intrepid Travel
When: selected Fridays, Apr-Dec 2013
How long: 8 days
How much: from £820 (excl flights)
Combine culture and cooking
Discover the tastes of Thailand on Tell Tale Travel’s Tamarind and Spice solo traveller orientated group trip. Explore four different regions as you travel from Bangkok to the Central Plains and Chiang Mai, ending on the Andaman coast.
As well as learning to cook traditional dishes in each location, there’s time to visit markets, see the sights and even learn some jungle survival skills.
Who: Tell Tale Travel
When: 23 Nov 2013, 1 Feb 2014
How long: 15 days
How much: from £2,225 (incl flights)
Sample sushi and then some
Inside Japan’s Japanese Gastronomic Adventure packs more than just sushi into its mouthwatering itinerary. Highlights include breakfast at Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, dinner and drinks at a traditional izakaya (Japanese pub), a noodle-making class in the castle city of Matsumoto and a private tour of a sake brewery in Kyoto. The trip also includes stays in a Buddhist temple lodge (with authentic Buddhist Shojin cooking), and in a ryokan (inn) in the rural craft town of Takayama, before finishing amid the bright lights of Toyko’s Shinjuku district.
Who: Inside Japan
When: tailormade departures
How long: 13 nights
How much: from £1,999 (excl flights)
Pedal for pasta in Piedmont
Explore the vineyards and views of northern Italy’s foodie mecca, Piedmont. Headwater’s Gastronomic Barolo Cycling trip will have you pedalling past historic castles, frescoed chapels and medieval villages in between stays at the chicest hotels and meals at the region’s tastiest restaurants.
Who: Headwater
When: various departures, May-Oct 2013
How long: 9 days
How much: from £1,479 (excl flights)
Feast on a frenzy of flavours
Cambodia is mouth-watering, its cuisine influenced by its French colonisers, Asian neighbours and beyond. Selective Asia’s Cambodia with Spice trip gives a taster, from local cooking classes to visiting Kep – home to the best seafood on the planet.
Who: Selective Asia
When: tailormade departures
How long: 10 days
How much: from £756 (excl flights)
Combine curry and culture
Learn the art of Keralan cuisine on TransIndus’s Flavours in Kerala trip. You’ll stay at Ayesha Manzil – a beautiful homestay by the Arabian Sea in the former spice-trading port of Tellicherry – where Mrs Moosa will teach you the secrets of preparing a Malabari feast.
Who: TransIndus
When: tailormade departures
How long: 7 days
How much: from £1,525pp (incl flights)
Munch in the Middle-East
Jordan Holiday Architects’ Tastes of Jordan trip offers three different cookery courses: at a traditional home in Amman; at the Petra Kitchen (after exploring the city); and pizza-making by the Dead Sea! You’ll also tour a winery and the Roman ruins of Jerash.
Who: Jordan Holiday Architects
When: tailormade departures
How long: 9 days
How much: from £1,660 (incl flights)
Walk and wine-taste
Explore’s new Wine, Walks and Tapas tour journeys on foot from Bilbao to Barcelona through La Rioja, Montsant, Priorat and Cava, combining gentle walks with wine-tasting. Follow the coast and strands of the Camino, sampling innovative Basque, Catalan and Riojan tapas along the way.
Who: Explore
When: set departures, Apr-Oct 2013
How long: 10 days
How much: from £999 (excl flights)
Enjoy heavenly hospitality
Legend says that God thought Georgian food was so good, he gave its people the best land. Decide for yourself on Regent Holidays’ Cheese & Wine Tour of Georgia, which includes vineyards, cheese, local guesthouses and fine hospitality.
Who: Regent Holidays
When: tailormade, Apr-Oct 2013
How long: 9 days
How much: from £2,030 (incl flights)
Creative cookery in the Mediterranean
Explore the very best of Sicily's diverse cuisine and culture as part of Peter Sommer Travels Gastronomic Tour of Sicily. Take part in cooking classes designed to teach you a range of specialities, shop in local markets accompanied by culinary experts and walk on Mt Etna with a volcanologist.
Who: Peter Sommer Travels
When: 5 Oct 2013
How long: 7 days
How much: from £2,495 (excl flights)
Dine like a local
Delve into the culinary diversity of Northern India on Travel the Unknown's Delicacies of North India tour. Get to grips with the region's real culture by dining with locals and shopping in village markets, savouring a range of cuisines along the way.
Along the way, visit North India's iconic sights, including the Taj Mahal at sunrise, forts of Jaipur, Amritsar's Golden Temple and colonial Kolkata, as well as cooking in family homes, palace gardens and in the Himalayan foothills.
Who: Travel the Unknown
When: 9 Nov 2013
How long: 15 days
How much: from £2,795 (incl flights)
Immerse in culinary diversity
Bamboo Travel's Culinary Delights of South-East Asia Tour provides you the chance to indulge in some of Asia's most exciting foods while exploring the immense history of the region. Touring three countries and visiting some of the best cooking schools, the trip will set your tastebuds tingling.
Travellers start their journey in sumptuous Siem Reap, working their way through pepper farms in Kep and freshly-caught crab on Rabbit Island. Floating markets, cooking masterclasses and a palate of different flavours await in Vietnam. The trip finishes up in bustling Bangkok, home to a raucous range of tastes and specialities.
Who: Bamboo Travels
When: All year round
How long: 22 days
How much: from £3,895 (excl flights)
