Let’s Talk About: Food Tours

Friends, today I’m here to convince you to consider booking a food tour for your next vacation.

That’s right. A food tour.

The way to my heart and one of my favorite things to do on a vacation, especially when I’m visiting a new city.

London, Venice, and New York City. Greenville (3x), San Juan, Charleston, Charlotte, and the one I’ve just booked for Denver – which will be my second one in the city.

Let’s get straight to the basics.

Food tours are typically 3 hours long and include somewhere between 3-6 restaurant stops in walking distance from one another with appetizer-size portions and group sizes of no more than 15 people.

Cost? Absolutely depends on the type of food tour and city. I’ve paid from $49 upwards of $125 for tours but most have been between $75-90.

But why do them in the first place?

Food tours are the perfect way to learn about the city you’re in. Most, if not all, of the food tours I’ve done focus on the historical aspect of the city you’re in as they take you from spot to spot. So you’re not only eating, but you’re learning as you go!

Food tours give you an insider look at the local eateries traversed by, well, locals! On food tours, you’re going to highly-curated restaurants that have a special spot in the city’s heart. This means they’re less touristy (most times) and more trafficked by the people who actually live there. These places are the real deal!

Food tours are a huge opportunity to make friends from all over. To this day, Gabe and I are still friends with a couple from our food tour in Greenville, South Carolina. And we’ve connected with several others who have made our tours even more enjoyable. Focused on just the food experience? That’s okay! Stick to your tour guide and learn from them directly. I will never forget Clementina, our tour guide in Venice via Secret Food Tours, who was so knowledgeable about the area, its history, and even gave us tips as a local on what to do (and not do) during our visit to the area.

How about finding these tours?

Google searching and reading website reviews are key here. But I’ve provided below our favorite food tour company and a couple of the others we’ve used in the past!

• Secret Food Tours is absolutely top-notch. I’ve done multiple food tours with them and have never been let down! Both my Venice and London food tours are on the top of my list and they have a wide array of cities both in the U.S. and abroad for food tours.

Others we’ve loved and can’t miss out on acknowledging…

• For our food tour in San Juan, Puerto Rico we booked through Flavors Food Tours and loved *every second* of it. This tour was on the higher price end per ticket but it was absolutely worth it.
• If you happen to be in the Denver, Colorado area with a couple of hours to kill, consider doing a food tour with Delicious Denver Food Tours! We may or may not have flown to Texas with an intentional 9-hour layover in Denver just to do a food tour there in 2021.
• Foods of New York Tours was such a fun and unique way to experience New York City. We chose the Chelsea Market + High Line experience and really loved it!
• And to the company that started it all, Greenville History & Culinary Tours! I’ve unashamedly done their At the Chef’s Table Culinary Tour three times and each one has been different though we’ve visited the same restaurants.

Have I experienced a bad food tour?

Absolutely. Let’s just say that if a food tour takes you to a “local” spot that has 98 locations nationwide and hands you a single kernel of popcorn with truffle sprinkled on top, then that tour company is definitely not worth the future investment and time. That said, that was one of my favorites in terms of laughter at the absurdity of the price paid for the lack of food consumed. We’ll leave it at that.

Did I convince you yet?! I really hope I did.

Stop spending your time scrolling through Google reviews on your hunt for meals on your next trip and let someone else plan the stops. You won’t regret it.

Until next week,