Food & Wine

Best Culinary Tours 

If you want to experience true farm-to-table eating and sharing in the region’s delicacies, you will want to take a wine and food vacation from Road Scholar. Clam chowder in New England, anyone? Does homemade pasta in Sicily sound tempting? How about touring famous wineries in Napa Valley? Does maple candy in Vermont make your mouth water?

Learn about the world’s finest cuisines and culinary traditions on one of Road Scholar’s many food and wine tours. From the flavors of Oaxaca, Mexico, to the best barbecue in the world in South Carolina, when it comes to food, each country has its specialties and Road Scholar will help feed your appetite for food and learning. 

A Hands-On, Sea-to-Table Extravaganza on Chincoteague Island

Chincoteague is known for its salty oysters and wild horses. On this incredible six-day Road Scholar trip, you will explore the region’s food as you harvest clams, oysters, and crabs with local fishermen. Then, you will cook what you catch off Virginia’s Atlantic coast in a hands-on seafood extravaganza. 

Join husband-and-wife clammers for a hands-on harvesting experience, and take your clams to the kitchen to prepare an island chowder with a well-known local chef. Learn the craft of beer making, working with a local brewer on a small batch stout.  

Experience Farm-Fresh Flavor in Vermont

Visit local farms in Vermont to discover the state’s impressive history with food. Along with local chefs, small-scale cheese makers, and maple tappers, Road Scholar travelers will experience firsthand the Vermont farm-to-plate way of life with hands-on classes and field trips to working farms. Some of the delicious food and wine tours you will experience on this six-day trip include maple candy, wine at Shelburne Vineyard, traditional apple cider, goat cheese, and a sugar on snow tasting at Williams Maple Farm. 

Cooking Class Vacation in Sicily

Sicilian food reflects an influence from several surrounding countries — Italy, Greece, Spain, and the Middle East. Sicily has a wonderful assortment of fresh fish, eggplants, tomatoes, and grapes grow right on the island. Eat your way through Sicily on this 10-day Road Scholar wining and dining excursion. You will receive hands-on cooking lessons from Italian chefs and ancient history lessons through Syracuse and Taormina.

Lobsters, Wineries, and Foods of New England

You will immerse yourself in local flavors on this special seven-day culinary tour of New England. Explore local vineyards, visit a Vermont apple orchard, and ride aboard a Maine lobster vessel with a local expert. Travelers will visit Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, learning about the food, wine, and culture along the way. Learn about specialty products created in New England by taking field trips to vineyards, farms and sugarhouses to enjoy local delicacies like johnnycakes, lobster, clam chowder, local cheeses, yogurt and maple syrup. Is your mouth watering yet? 

Significance of Culinary Adventures for Food and Wine Enthusiasts

Culinary tours allow program participants to immerse themselves in the culture and traditions of the destinations they’re visiting. There are plenty of reasons why you should travel with Road Scholar through our culinary adventures. Some of the reasons why culinary travel tours are significant for food and wine enthusiasts include:

• Cultural exploration: First and foremost, food and wine tours offer a great opportunity to understand the local culture through its cuisine. Food and drink are often deeply connected to an area’s history, values, and traditions, and local dishes with regionally sourced ingredients allow enthusiasts to gain insight into the unique flavors and culinary techniques of the area they’re visiting.
• Wine tasting and pairing: Embarking on cooking tours allow wine aficionados to explore different vineyards and wineries while enjoying pairing sessions that teach them how to match wines with specific dishes. Participants can also learn about the winemaking practices of a particular region, understanding how the terroir and climate influence the flavors and development of local wines.
• Authenticity: Traveling to a particular region on culinary tours is one of the best ways to get a truly authentic experience when it comes to tasting a dish in its place of origin. You can learn how local chefs prepare dishes using traditional methods and ingredients through food and wine tours, offering a more genuine and flavorful experience you can’t find at home.
• Educational experiences: Culinary travel tours often include unique cooking classes, demonstrations, and interactions with local artisans and chefs. Whether you’re enjoying solo travel or a group travel experience, cooking tours allow food and wine enthusiasts to learn new cooking techniques, gain insights into the production process of local favorites, and better understand how food and wine are paired. From there, these new skills can be brought back home when preparing dishes for friends, family, or yourself.

Interactive Food and Wine Tours

At Road Scholar, we have a wide range of food and wine tours in our collection of travel programs. As you browse some of our most popular programs, you will come across destinations across the globe that allow you to learn about local culinary traditions and preparation methods. Some popular interactive culinary tours include:

• Tuscany: Venture off to the Tuscan region of Italy, where you can enlist in intimate cooking classes, visit local markets to gather ingredients, and prepare regional favorite dishes using centuries-old traditions.
• South Carolina: Understand the true meaning of southern comfort food by joining our culinary tours in South Carolina, where you can discover the secrets to making the perfect barbeque that pairs well with ribs, rub, chicken, and more.
• Guadalupe Valley: Mexico’s Guadalupe Valley is the North American equivalent of Tuscany, where adventurers can walk the tidy rows of vineyards and pair their wines with Baja Californian cuisine.

Ready for an unforgettable culinary travel tour? Find an adventure today by browsing our collection of food and wine tours across the globe.

Book Your Food and Wine Tour With Road Scholar

At Road Scholar, we have a wide range of culinary tours especially curated for the epicurean traveler. We have educational adventures that will allow you to discover the world’s cultures and history.