The Very Best Escorted Tour Holidays for Gourmet Food fansh1
Food themed holidays are the perfect treat for gourmets and wannabe connoisseurs of fine gastronomy. Not only do you get to discover some of the worlds most incredible cities and rural landscapes, but you also gain a greater insight into the cuisine of the region. Taste perfect examples of local delicacies, signature dishes of celebrated international chefs, as well as learn how to cook complicated dishes perfectly, under expert guidance. If you ever wanted to learn the secrets of preparing perfect ravioli in Florence, now you can. Perhaps finding out how to infuse your cooking with fresh Thai flavours at the renowned Bai Pai cooking school in Bangkok is more to your taste? We can arrange that too. Of course, it’s also entirely possible that you take great delight in trying new foods, but without wanting to make it yourself. In that case you will enjoy a Michelin starred lunch, coupled with the perfect wine accompaniment at the famous Bodegas Lopez Heredia winery in the Rioja region of Spain as well as a gourmet Bush tucker menu, eaten in the company of koalas and wallabies on Kangaroo Island in Australia. In this post were going to look at some of the most enjoyable food themed holidays provided by Aspen Travel. It doesn’t matter if you prefer to eat or make the food, each of these holidays has huge highlights and is memorable in its own exclusive way.
Flavours of Italy by Trafalgar Tours
Italian cuisine is well-known and well loved around the globe. The word pizza is an Italian construct devised to describe one of the worlds favourite dishes and it is recognised in almost every country on the planet. Pasta follows not far behind in the popularity stakes on the world’s favourite menu. If you choose this trip, youll spend the first couple of nights of the holiday in a luxury hotel in Rome. Your time here will be your own, allowing you plenty of lazy hours to see the famous sites of this incredible, historical birthplace of modern culture, including the Colosseum, the Sistine chapel and the Vatican city. In this city that has provided the backdrop for countless films and inspired countless real life love stories, you will receive an introduction to urban Roman cuisine before moving onto the Tuscan countryside for a taste of Tuscan village ingredients. Its in Tuscany youll discover plenty of delicious Chianti and olive oil of unrivalled quality. Your next night will be spent out and about in Florence, exploring the city that inspired Stendal syndrome; a condition that affects people who are emotionally moved by artworks of astonishing beauty to such an extent that, one is physically paralysed by it! Here youll see the Accademia, Michelangelo’s David and have the chance to search the marketplace on the hunt for ultra fresh ingredients with which to prepare a meal during your cookery lesson. Your Italian city holiday will end in Venice, after having sampled a regional meal in Pisa and cured meats in Bologna. Even if you have visited Venice before, travel operator Trafalgar will ensure that this trip is completely unique. Travelling by private launch you’ll explore St Martins Square and all the iconic sites of the city; the Bridge of Sighs, the Basilica and Doges Palace. The farewell dinner on the final night will give your tastebuds a final tingle before you set off for home and have the chance to impress your friends and family with your new found authentic Italian cooking skills.
Gastronomic Spain by Great Rail Journeys
Travel by luxury train from Barcelona to San Sebastian in pursuit of exquisite Spanish culinary delights. Enjoy tapas in the shadow of Gaudi’s great architecture, peruse the private wine cellars of Laguardia, taste Michelin starred dishes in Rioja country and explore how best to cook fresh seafood the famous San Sebastian way. Between mealtimes youll have the opportunity to see some of Spains most magnificent sites. Discover Barcelona’s las Ramblas, the impressive Sagrada Familia and the Picasso Museum. Paella will be served by the harbour, or if you prefer, you can dine in one the Adria brother’s restaurants, which are amongst the finest in the city. For your next destination, the focus shifts from food to wine. In the Rioja-producing presence of the seven valleys, youll visit Haro, LaGuardia and Santo Domingo del la Calzada, a town associated with the Northern Spain pilgrim trail. The final City of the tour is San Sebastian. Located on the coast, this city close to the French border is known as a must visit destination for all lovers of good food as it boasts an extraordinary number of Michelin star restaurants. Not only will you get to sample some of the gastronomic delights on offer here, but you also have the opportunity to learn some culinary skills from the masters. Finding out how to make specialities to perfection is a great way to impress your next dinner guests.
Tastes of southern Australia by Trafalgar
There is so much more to Australian cuisine than barbecue prawns! This diverse land boasts numerous species of flora and fauna utterly unique to Australia, so it stands to reason that the food sources and consequently how theyre prepared down under should also be original. Trafalgars escorted tour of this fascinating land will not only help you to explore the diverse landscapes of south-eastern Australia, but also give you the opportunity to try bush tucker from some of the worlds oldest menus. Sampling gourmet local delights and deceptively simple fresh farm food with incredible flavour are also particular highlights of these holidays. Your journey will begin in Sydney, where you have the chance to explore this iconic city before moving on to the country’s capital, Canberra. There you’ll experience some of the more rural delights of Australasia, including a sheep farm, a nature Park, a mighty river and a remote goldrush town. You’ll find yourself briefly in Cosmopolitan Melbourne with its host of fashionable cafes serving every imaginable world cuisine after this, before taking a trip along the iconic great ocean road, whose highlights include the 12 apostles, wild koalas in the eucalyptus trees lining the road and a whale watching trip. In Warrnambool you’ll discover a whole other way of life. This is an area where aboriginal food and medicine is still prevalent and you’ll be given an insight into how to survive in the outback. Following this youll have a boutique lunch in Adelaide with wine pairings
Kuoni’s culinary tour of Thailand
Enjoy fresh rice directly from the fields you’re sailing past on your luxury Thai river cruise boat, flavoured with coconut and seafood delicacies. This gourmet food tour will introduce you to the authentic flavours of the East, prepared using traditional techniques and served in a way that’s both pleasing on the eye and designed to make your mouth water. You’ll enjoy some sophisticated urban flavours in Bangkok, dinner at sunset on a Thai rice barge and a cookery class at a famous Thai chef school. This is the perfect opportunity to find out more about the preparation of Thai ingredients and how to wow your friends with them.
A culinary tour of Southern India with Kuoni.
Indian cuisine has provided Britain with some of it’s best loved dishes. Whether you’re a fan of traditional dahl, new fangled balti or even Asian fusion cuisine, a trip to see the source of all this tastiness, will open your eyes to new techniques, new flavours and Indian food as you’ve never experienced it. As well as enjoying a farm-cooked meal, famous Kerala spices and the chance to savour the regional cuisine of Cochin, youll see village cooking and dancing demonstrations, explore colonial cities with incredible architecture, visit tranquil blue lakes and witness a sunset, almost as colourful as the food you’ll be preparing and eating.
Discovering the secret of good food has never been so popular and Aspen Travel is proud to introduce you to our extended range of holidays aimed at the foodie tourist. You will learn how to prepare ingredients with a view to producing delicious foods, that are healthy and tasty. Youll also get to sample an enormous variety of new and exciting tastes. If you’d like to tickle your tastebuds with thrilling new flavours, whilst discovering some of the world’s favourite holiday destinations, you’ll love our food themed holidays. Please give our team here a call to find more, about the level of cookery competence you’ll achieve and how much fun you’ll have doing it. We can advise you of our most suitable deals and dates.
