Small-group food tours since 2017
16 food and drink tours in 12 destinations, most of them in Europe, from three-hour walks to ten days on the road: Parmigiano dairies at dawn, pintxos bars, sherry bodegas, Tokyo markets and Texas pits, with a host who lives there and never more than 12 guests.
Cannoli siciliani and Grilled sardines, Lisbon, on our Sicily Food Tour and Portugal Food Tour.
Featured tours · 2026 and 2027
Prices are per person in a shared double room, in US dollars, with most meals and every tasting on the program included. Flights to the start city are not included.
Bologna · Modena · Parma · Langhirano
ProducersCookingWine
From$3,690per person, double room, most meals
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San Sebastián · Astigarraga · Getaria · Bilbao
SpiritsSeafoodBBQ & grill
From$3,890per person, double room, most meals
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Florence · Panzano · Montalcino · Pienza
WineCookingProducers
From$4,190per person, double room, most meals
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Lyon · Avignon · Châteauneuf-du-Pape · Luberon · Marseille
WineMarketsCooking
From$4,490per person, double room, most meals
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Tokyo · Kyoto · Osaka
MarketsSpiritsCooking
From$6,490per person, double room, most meals
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New Orleans · Breaux Bridge · Lafayette · Avery Island
CookingSpiritsProducers
From$2,890per person, double room, most meals
View tourA group of 6 or more? Any tour runs as a private tour on your dates.
Destinations
2 tours · from $175
1 tour · from $4,190
1 tour · from $4,290
1 tour · from $3,390
2 tours · from $165
1 tour · from $3,490
1 tour · from $3,790
1 tour · from $4,490
2 tours · from $145
2 tours · from $2,290
1 tour · from $3,290
1 tour · from $6,490
Tour categories
Whole turbot over charcoal in Getaria, a cider house rib steak, then Kansas City burnt ends, Memphis ribs and Lockhart brisket.
3 tours
A Parmigiano dairy at dawn, a balsamic attic, Modica chocolate, olive mills in Tuscany, Andalusia and Crete, and a crawfish farm.
6 tours
Catania’s fish market, turbot on the Getaria grills, Lisbon sardines and clams, and grilled octopus in Athens.
4 tours
Chianti and Brunello, Etna, Jerez sherry, Douro port and Châteauneuf-du-Pape, plus the Texas Hill Country, always with food.
7 tours
Palermo’s Ballarò, San Sebastián pintxos bars, Les Halles de Lyon, Tsukiji, Oaxaca’s smoke corridor and the French Quarter.
9 tours
Hands-on classes where you cook and then eat: Bologna tortellini, Tuscan pici, Lyon quenelles, Cretan pies, Kyoto dashi and mole.
8 tours
Basque cider houses and txakoli, sake in Fushimi, mezcal at an Oaxacan palenque and a Kansas City distillery, at the local legal age.
7 tours
Day walks of three to four and a half hours in Bologna, San Sebastián and the French Quarter, and eight days on foot through Lisbon and Porto.
4 tours
Deals
Departures in the next eight weeks at a lower price, savings on 2027 dates booked early, and dates with no single supplement. Limited seats on each.
Last minute: save $250to · 7 days
Andalusia
$3,240 $3,490
Per person, shared double room
Few seats
Last minute: save $250to · 10 days
Barbecue Country
$4,140 $4,390
Per person, shared double room
Guaranteed
Last minute: save $250to · 8 days
Portugal
$3,540 $3,790
Per person, shared double room
Few seats
Last minute: save $150to · 5 days
Barbecue Country
$2,140 $2,290
Per person, shared double room
Guaranteed
Why book with us
01
Cheesemakers, fishermen, pitmasters and winemakers teach part of every tour, at their own dairies, docks, pits and cellars.
02
Vegetarian, gluten-free and pescatarian menus are arranged before you arrive, not improvised at the table.
03
Small enough for a cider house bench, a fishing dock or a farmhouse kitchen. Most departures run with 8 to 11.
04
Giulia in Bologna, Ane in San Sebastián, Aiko in Kyoto, Remy in Louisiana. Every host lives where you eat, and you know who meets you before you fly.
Guest stories
We do not publish star ratings. These are three stories from our files, shared with the guests’ permission, first names only.
Basque Country Food Tour, May 2026
Meera has celiac disease and had never eaten a pintxo. Ane sent our notes to every bar on the route a month ahead, and in San Sebastián each counter had a gluten-free tray waiting. In Getaria the cook grilled her a whole turbot of her own. She wrote that it was the first trip where she never had to explain herself at a table.
Tuscany Food and Wine, September 2025
Ray uses a cane and worried about the hill towns. Chiara had the van drop him at the top of Montalcino and Pienza so every walk ran downhill, and saved him the shady end of the table at the pecorino farm. His note said the pici from the class were better than his mother’s, and asked us not to tell her.
Great American Barbecue Trail, May 2026
Doug came with a notebook and left with three pages on burnt ends alone. On the Lockhart day Cody arranged for him to stand by the pits at opening, before the line formed, and watch the first briskets come off. He wrote to us that he finally understands why his own brisket always dried out.
Food guides
Food guides · San Sebastián
I grew up in Gros, across the river from the old town, and I still learn something at the counter every week. These are the unwritten rules, written down.
Food guides · Emilia-Romagna
I grew up in Bologna, an hour from Modena and Parma, where people argue about cheese ages the way others argue about football. Here is what the marks on the rind, the ham and the bottle mean.
Drinks · Andalusia
Outside Spain many people know sherry as the sweet bottle at the back of a cupboard. In Jerez it is a cold glass of fino with lunch. Here is everything in between.
Before you book
Anything else, write to Lena at [email protected].
All questions
No. Multi-day prices cover the hotels, the meals and tastings listed, transport on the route and your host, from the first evening to the last morning. You book your own flight to the start city, in Europe, Japan, Mexico or the USA, and Lena tells you which arrival times match the group transfer.
12 guests at most, usually 8 to 11, with one host from start to finish and the cooks, pitmasters, farmers and winemakers who teach along the way. Day walks are capped at 12 too.
Neither, if you pace yourself. Tastings are portioned so that four or five stops add up to a meal, and each tour page lists exactly which breakfasts, lunches and dinners are included. Your host will tell you which stop is worth saving room for.
Not at all. Wine, beer and spirits are poured only for guests of legal drinking age where the tour runs (18 in Europe and Mexico, 20 in Japan, 21 in the USA), never pushed, and every pairing has a non-alcoholic option, from fresh juices to local sodas and coffee.
Vegetarian, pescatarian and gluten-free menus are arranged with notice when you book. Severe shellfish or nut allergies are harder on some tours, such as a Basque cider house or a crawfish boil, and Lena will tell you honestly which ones work.
Email [email protected] with the tour, the date and how many of you are coming. Lena confirms seats within one working day. A $300 deposit per person holds a multi-day tour; the balance is due 60 days before departure. Day tours are paid when you book.
Gift cards
Gift cards from $145 for a food walk to any amount for a multi-day tour, valid for three years on every tour we run.
New dates and deals by email
Subscribers hear about new departures a week before they go on the site, plus last-minute seats and what is in season where we travel. Email us the word Subscribe and we add you; reply Stop at any time.
Dates and seats
Tell us the tour, the date and how many of you are coming. Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day with seats, room options, the total price and any questions about dietary needs.
Lena, Grant and Priya, Charleston
SubjectTour enquiry: dates and seats
Please include
Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day. No payment now. A $300 deposit per person holds seats on a multi-day tour; day tours are paid when you book.
Search · 16 food tours in 12 destinations
Or browse all 16 tours, all 12 destinations or current deals.
