Culinary experiences are becoming quite popular with today’s travelers. For your foodie clients seeking a culinary getaway, we’ve rounded up five experiences—from culinary bike tours to wine escapes—in destinations around the world.
Foodie Scene
Travelers can now experience Europe via its culinary scene with Collette’s new Culinary Guide to Europe.
The tours throughout Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, and Greece will offer your clients lunch in a Tuscan winery, a cooking class with an expert chef in Spain, or sampling macaroons in France. These culinary offerings allow your guest to taste and see the cuisine of Europe in a unique way. Tour options include Spain’s Classics, France Magnifique, Italy’s Treasures, and Explore Greece and its Islands. Rates vary depending on tour, but start at $1,999. Guests can save up to $200 per couple now through May 1, 2015. For more information, call (855) 355-8687 or visit gocollette.com/landing-pages/2015/consumer/food-and-wine.
Tuscany & Jamaican Culinary Experiences
Villas of Distinction is offering culinary experiences throughout the world, including at The Villa Morgana in Tuscany and Sea Salt at the Tryall Club in Jamaica.
In Italy, at The Villa Morgana in Buoconvento, guests can pick fresh herbs from the villa’s gardens to be used in a cooking class where they’ll learn how to make local dishes with the chef in the villa’s kitchen. The property also offers cooking classes tailored to kids. Rates start at $914 per night.
In Jamaica, guests staying in a villa at Sea Salt at the Tryall Club in Montego Bay enjoy their own private chef who creates local dishes. Guests can select and help prepare the catch of the day with an experienced chef during a cooking class, or help with the selection and sit back to watch the chef prepare the meal. Rates start at $1,299 per night. For more information, visit villasofdistinction.com
Culinary Adventure in Uruguay
Explorateur Journeys has debuted Chef on Wheels, which takes gastronomy and adventure to a new level with a trip that features interactions with chefs and instruction on traditional dishes—all coming together on an active cycling tour through local villages.
The tour starts off in Carmelo at a winery, where guests will also enjoy a home-cooked Uruguayan asado. Another evening on the tour, they’ll also enjoy dinner with a celebrated local chef who will prepare a secret menu based on “La Cuisine Secret”—an invitation-only nomadic dining concept that’s popular with local foodies. Travelers will also stop at a farmer’s market with a local chef and try recipes (and cocktails) with the chef in the kitchen. Guests will cycle along the beach and visit small towns in Montevideo, visit special art exhibitions, and enjoy more home cooking in a chef’s kitchen. Finally, the tour comes to an end with a cycling and canoeing adventure at the Garzon Lagoon, where guests will arrive at a hidden “Lagoon Shack” and enjoy lunch prepped by a local chef. There, they’ll also have the opportunity to interact with local children who attend special cooking classes designed to help educate the local community. For more information and rates, e-mail [email protected] or visit explorateurjourneys.com.
South African Wine Weekends
Scheduled for dates in May, June, July, and August, Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat is offering Gourmet Food and Wine Weekends in the Cederberg Mountains near Cape Town.
Executive chef Floris Smith partners up with South African winemakers from four top wine farms as they come up with culinary creations showcasing the tastes and flavors of the Cape Floral Kingdom. The Gourmet Food and Wine Weekends offer guests special presentations, talks, tastings, nature drives, rock art excursions, wine, and lodge activities.
Scheduled weekends include May 29-31, 2015 featuring the Glen Carlou wine estate; June 26-28, 2015 with tastings at the Bouchard Finlayson winery; July 24-26, 2015 showcasing wines from the Cederberg Private Cellar; and Aug. 21-23, 2015 featuring wine from the Constantia Uitsig winery. Rates start at $220 pp per night. For more information, visit busmanskloof.co.za.
