Tuck in: 8 of the best trips for foodies

Tickle your taste buds and discover new cultures with these mouth-watering foodie trips. From street food in Thailand to tapas in the tavernas of Spain, there's something to suit every taste.

7 mins

1: Cook up a feast in Jordan

Jordanian food (Shutterstock)

Jordanian food (Shutterstock)

Bake, sauté, and grill your way around Jordan as you get to grips with the local cuisine on Holiday Architects' Tastes of Jordan trip. Featuring various cooking and preparation techniques, and using a generous range of herbs and spices, Jordan has all the ingredients to rival its fellow middle-easterners in cooking up a feast.

On this tour you'll have your first cooking lesson in one of capital Amman's best kept secrets – the Beit Sitti Cooking School. Learn how to prepare a three-course Jordanian meal, and celebrate by eating the fruits of your labour. Next, you will learn the art of making mezze in Petra, surrounded by the city's awe-inspiring architecture. And finally, on the shores of the Dead Sea, indulge in a more international flavour with a session of Italian cooking and pizza-making!

Trip: Tastes of Jordan

Who: Holiday Architects

How long: 9 days

How much: From £1,660 (incl flights)

2: Cycling and cheeseboards in France

Loire Valley vineyard (Shutterstock)

Loire Valley vineyard (Shutterstock)

A trip for lovers of food, wine, culture and cycling! Explore the countryside on two wheels: pedal through sleepy villages, visit the magnificent chateaux, and indulge in rich French cuisine. Exodus's Loire Gastronomic Cycling trip has a delightfully relaxed schedule, so you can move at your own pace.

Travel distances are short, so you can enjoy lazy afternoon lunches and long, leisurely strolls through the vineyards. The trip involves five days of cycling on a round-trip from Chissay, averaging around 20 miles (32km) per day over easy terrain – perfect for beginners, and for those who go overboard on the cheese. There will also be a couple of free days, giving you the chance to explore more on your bike or on foot. En route, you will stay at hotels which have been carefully selected for their warm hospitality and, above all else, their fantastic local cuisine. 

All luggage transfers are included in the price, so you can spend your energy admiring the view and keeping your eyes peeled for the next fromagerie!

Trip: Loire Gastronomic Cycling

Who: Exodus

How long: 7 days

How much: From £1,199 (excl flights)

3: Taste Thailand

Bangkok street food vendor (Shutterstock)

Bangkok street food vendor (Shutterstock)

Soak up the tang of lemongrass, chilli and garlic, and indulge yourself in Thailand's distinctly flavoursome cuisine. Discover the separate evolution of Thai dishes across the regions with Experience Travel's Thai Food Lovers trip, and learn how local chefs find the perfect balance between sweet, sour, salty and bitter flavours.

Starting in Bangkok, the tour visits the city's attractions via popular street-food stands and markets, so you can immerse all of your senses! A short flight north then takes you to the province of Chiang Mai where you'll participate in the traditional morning ceremony of alms-giving to the Buddhist monks. You'll also visit Huan Soontaree Vechanont; a restaurant popular among local people – it's said to serve up the best example of typical northern Thai dishes. 

The trip concludes on the south-west island of Koh Lanta. Here, you'll notice the culinary influences from nearby Malaysia – so get ready for some delicious curries and ample seafood! Get stuck in at the Lanta Thai Cookery School, and bring the mouth-watering aromas back to your own kitchen with your very own recipe book.

Trip: Thai Food Lovers

Who: Experience Travel

How long: 14 days

How much: From £1,014 (exc. flights)

4: Craft beer brewing, USA

Acadia National Park (Shutterstock)

Acadia National Park (Shutterstock)

For specular views of Massachusetts in the day, and a taste of New England's craft brewing scene in the evenings, Abercrombie & Kent have a fine itinerary with their Brew England: The Art of the Microbrewery trip. Journeys are tailored to fit, so you can rest assured that you'll be getting the best of this trip – regardless of the amount of days you have free in you diary.

Pick up your rental car in Boston, and embark on a road trip that will take you to some of the most innovative microbreweries that the state has to offer. Savour the ales of Portsmouth, Bar Harbour, Essex and Nantucket, and other foodie delights such as Vermont's maple syrup, Stowe's cider and Burlington's ice cream – Ben & Jerry's, no less! As you travel from one to the next, be inundated with charming vistas of the Maine coast and New Hampshire's White Mountains. Explore the Acadia National Park, and witness the USA's first sunrise over Cadillac Mountain, or take a ride through the mountain passes on the Conway Scenic Rail.

Trip: Brew New England: The Art of the Microbrewery

Who: Abercrombie & Kent

How long: Varies

How much: Price dependant on itinerary

5: Sample Bolivia's best wines

With HighLives Travel's Gourmet tours to Bolivia comes the opportunity for adventurous food-lovers to discover the fruit of the country's harvests. Here, the traditional rubs shoulders with the contemporary: you'll meet Danish chef Claus Meyer, who hopes to catalyse Bolivia's culinary development with his new La Paz restaurant Gustu, which sources ingredients exclusively from within Bolivia's borders.

Bolivian wine has not yet infiltrated the international market – its signature grape Muscat of Alexandria has only recently made it to the shelves as a table wine, having traditionally been distilled into brandy. But the wine-growing region of Tarija is beginning to thrive, and is now  growing Chenin Blanc and Merlot grapes. Travellers on this trip will get to see it (and swig it) first-hand.

After exploring the quinoa fields of the high Andean plains, and the salt flats of Uyuni, sights will turn to La Paz and the raucous markets of food, textiles, and witchcraft – llama foetus, anyone? The trip rounds up with a 15-course dinner at Gustu, which will feature the most irresistible Bolivian delicacies.

Trip: Gourmet tours to Bolivia

Who: HighLives Travel

How long: 8 days

How much: From £3,000 (inc. flights)

6: Tavernas and tapas, Spain

San Vicente de la Sonsierra, La Rioja, Spain (Shutterstock)

San Vicente de la Sonsierra, La Rioja, Spain (Shutterstock)

The only worry with this Northern Spain Real Food Adventure trip with Intrepid is that you might end up bursting at the seams! Spain has good food, good wine, good company – all of which make it very difficult not to indulge. But you're here for a good time, so shed your inhibitions and dive right into a sea of feisty rhythms and even feistier flavours...

Start in the charismatic city of Barcelona, exploring the tavernas and sampling local produce at the old market of La Boqueria. Get an introduction to the culinary treats of Catalonia and whip up your own feast in a cooking class, where you'll learn the ins and outs of the region's specialities. Head north-west and get your fill of chorizo, morcilla and seta in La Rioja's tapas haven of Logrono. Each bar boasts its own best dish, meaning that the search for that perfect tapas plate could continue well into the night – all in the name of research, of course. 

Explore the wine caves of Laguardia before going north towards the seaside city of San Sebastian. Prepare your stomach for the txikiteo – a crawl of Basque-style tapas bars – and wash it all down with a visit to a sagardotegia, a traditional cider house.

Trip: Real Food Adventure – Northern Spain

Who: Intrepid

How long: 8 days

How much: From £1,680 (exc. flights)

7: Discover India on a plate

Delhi food market, India (Shutterstock)

Delhi food market, India (Shutterstock)

Awaken your senses with TravelLocal's private culinary tour of India... With history and cuisine featuring side-by-side, this trip promises a wealth of new experiences.

India is a country of multitudes, with languages and traditions in abundance. From the tandoori practices of Delhi's Punjabi cuisine, to the saffron-infused Awadhi dishes of Lucknow and the Chettinad cooking of Chennai – you'll try them all, and learn to appreciate the subtleties in India's incredible diversity. 

If you're still able to move, discover the former capital of the British Raj in Kolkata on a historic walking tour, and receive a cookery class at a traditional Bengali home. Fly to Cochin to end your stay with a night on a houseboat, and relax with one of Kerala's famous fish curries. We can think of worse ways to end a trip...

Trip: Feast for the Soul – A culinary tour of India

Who: TravelLocal

How long: 12 days

How much: From £1,495 (exc. flights)

8: Tour the verdant vineyards of Argentina and Chile

Vineyards in Cafayate, Argentina (Shutterstock)

Vineyards in Cafayate, Argentina (Shutterstock)

The landscape of Argentina can seem almost alien at first glance. From vast, arid plains to boldly coloured rock formations that seem to spurt out of the ground – it makes for some very dramatic scenery. On Journey Latin America's 15-day Vineyards of Chile and Argentina trip, you'll get to navigate your way through these landmarks on a five-day self-drive exploration of the country's north-west region, visiting vineyards that grow some of the world's favourite grape varieties.

Starting in Buenos Aires, you'll get a feel for the rhythm and colour of this buoyant culture before a visit to the ever-impressive Iguazú falls. After picking up your car in Salta, you'll make your way across the cactus-strewn altiplano of the Calchaquies Valley towards Molinos, stopping at the town of Cachi for lunch. If you're here in the spring, you'll get to witness the carpets of red peppers that cover swathes of the hillsides. 

Travelling onwards on Route 40, you'll arrive at Cafayate, a town that prides itself on its torrontés – an aromatic dry white wine. Rent a bike and explore the region's bodegas, and taste the delectable local cuisine. Return to the capital via a two-night ranch stay at the Estancia Dos Lunas.

Trip: The Vineyards of Chile and Argentina

Who: Journey Latin America

How long: 15 days

How much: From £3,855 (exc. flights)

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