The top gourmet stays to book this year

Food is often the compass that guides our travels, the promise of something simmering, spiced or sweet pulling us across borders as surely as any landmark. A good meal delivers joy, of course, but it also tells a story. Seek out a place’s culinary traditions and you’re not just eating, you’re uncovering history, ritual and identity, one dish at a time. From learning the art of hand-pressed tortillas in the Guatemalan highlands to watching golden layers of baklava emerge from a centuries-old oven in Turkey, these 12 food-focused experiences are an invitation to step behind the scenes, meet the makers and taste a destination in the most intimate way possible.

Hatton, Sri Lanka

Where: Ceylon Tea Trails

The experience: Tea was introduced to Sri Lanka by the British in 1867, and today, the country is the world’s fourth-largest producer, known for bright, citrussy black teas grown in misty highland estates. Ceylon Tea Trails — five restored planter bungalows scattered across the 550-acre Dunkeld Tea Estate — offers an immersive way to experience this heritage. Guests wake to cool highland air and views of emerald tea fields, with complimentary access to the century-old Dunkeld Tea Factory. The 90-minute private tour is led by Bernard, the estate’s resident tea planter, whose encyclopaedic knowledge traces Sri Lanka’s tea story from colonial beginnings to modern craft. As he guides you through humming machinery and aromatic drying rooms, you’ll smell leaves at each stage and learn how withering, rolling and curing shape the final flavour. The visit ends with a chance to sip the estate’s signature brews while overlooking the hillsides that produced them.

In the area: Nearby, Castlereagh Reservoir is a popular spot for kayaking. Keen hikers can drive to Adam’s Peak, an hour away, where most visitors start under the cover of darkness to summit at sunrise.

Le Marche, Italy

Where: La Tavola Marche

The experience: Le Marche is a region defined by rolling hills that shift from olive groves to vineyards and a dramatic, cliff-carved coastline. It’s also the part of Italy where every cut of an animal is honoured, and where centuries-old butchery traditions still hold pride of place. At La Tavola Marche, these come alive through immersive retreats run by master butchers. The standout is the four-night Whole Hog Workshop, a hands-on journey into Italian pork. Days unfold at a purposeful pace: first, learning how each cut becomes pancetta, prosciutto or sausage. Next up, it’s time to cure, mix and stuff salami, preparing the meats you worked on the day before. Between lessons, explore hilltop towns or unwind over hearty meals from local farms. The retreat coincides with Acqualagna’s International White Truffle Fair in October, so the final day swaps the butcher’s block for the forest floor as you join a truffle hunter in search of the season’s prized fungi.

In the area: Le Marche is largely rural, dotted with medieval villages. One of the most impressive is Urbino, a Unesco World Heritage Site known for the 15th-century Ducal Palace.

Bohuslan, Sweden

Where: Slipens Hotell

The experience: Sweden’s top chefs make pilgrimages to Bohuslän for a reason. The western province’s frigid waters slow the growth of shellfish, concentrating their sweetness and giving the region its reputation for some of the most flavourful seafood in the country. But you don’t need a Michelin-star splurge to experience it. Instead, stay at Slipens Hotell, a snug waterfront retreat on windswept Skaftö island. Time your stay between late September and November for lobster season, where you can join a trip with Bobo, a local fisherman. Wearing a flotation suit, you’ll head out to haul up lobster pots, wind whipping across the deck as granite islands pass by. After the two-hour trip, the boat pulls up outside the hotel, where warmth, and a steaming bowl of mussel soup, await. By dinnertime, the day’s catch makes its encore: freshly harvested lobster served as the opening course of the meal and included in your stay.

In the area: Bohuslän is a kaleidoscope of pretty fishing villages with rust-red cabins set among granite boulders. Grebbestad and Fjällbacka, an hour north, are especially charming.

Kigali, Rwanda

Where: Heaven Boutique Hotel

The experience: In East Africa, bananas have been used to brew beer for centuries. Communities transform ripe fruit into beer, burying freshly harvested bananas in shaded pits until they soften, then mashing them and adding ground sorghum to spark fermentation. In Rwanda, the result is urwagwa: a sweet, subtly fizzy brew poured at weddings and baptisms. At centrally located Heaven Boutique Hotel, you can learn the craft first-hand. Its outdoor banana beer experience condenses the process into a lively, 90-minute workshop led by a local expert. Expect to get your hands sticky as you peel and mash ripe bananas, before grinding and toasting sorghum (a cereal grain), which gives the beer its body and kick. Your own creation won’t be ready for a day or two, but you’ll finish the session with a glass of freshly brewed urwagwa from a previous batch, tasting the soft, sweet, earthy flavours that have been cherished across Rwanda for generations.

In the area: The Kigali Genocide Memorial offers powerful insight into the 1994 tragedy. Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, about three hours north west, is also possible on a one-day tour.

Hong Kong, China

Where: Peninsula Hong Kong

The experience: Dim sum is a mainstay of Hong Kong’s yum cha (drink tea) tradition, where the snacks are served alongside pots of loose leaf tea for breakfast or brunch. In fact, tradition is so central to daily life that ‘let’s yum cha’ is shorthand for catching up. Level up your dim sum game at Peninsula Hong Kong’s Culinary Academy in the vibrant Kowloon district, where masterclasses are led by chefs of the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Spring Moon. Over two lively hours, you’ll learn to pleat har gow (shrimp dumplings), shape siu mai dumplings filled with pork and shrimp, and wrap pillowy char siu bao packed with barbecued pork. The highlight is Spring Moon’s gilded goldfish-shaped dumpling folded with jeweller-like precision. Once the folding and steaming are done, you’ll have lunch in Spring Moon, tasting your creations alongside the restaurant’s classics.

In the area: Victoria Peak offers panoramic skyline views — ride the historic Peak Tram there for the full experience. In Kowloon, the Temple Street Night Market has hawker stalls, souvenirs and street-side eateries.

Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

Where: Casa Palopó

The experience: The humble tortilla is a symbol of creation for the Mayas. According to the sacred text of the K’iche’ Maya, humans were formed from masa, the maize dough used for tortillas, while the colours of corn — yellow, white, red and black — mirror the four cardinal points in Maya cosmology. At Casa Palopó, a boutique property overlooking Lake Atitlán, this tradition is brought to life by women from the nearby village of Santa Catarina Palopó. In an hour-long workshop on the hotel grounds, they share the cultural significance of tortillas and teach you to make them the traditional way. Hand-grind maize on a metate before shaping it and cooking it on a comal griddle. Served hot with spoonfuls of salsa, these tortillas are quite possibly unlike any you’ve tasted before.

In the area: Lake Atitlán is made for the outdoors, whether kayaking its waters or tackling volcano trails. Dotting the lakeshore are several vibrant Maya villages, each with its own character. Of these, San Juan La Laguna, known for its women’s weaving cooperatives, and San Antonio Palopó, celebrated for its traditional ceramics, are the most captivating.

Istanbul, Türkiye

Where: Shangri-La Bosphorus

The experience: Baklava’s syrupy, gossamer-thin layers were perfected during the Ottoman Empire, making Istanbul the perfect place to trace the pastry to its roots. Guests at Shangri-La Bosphorus can do just that with a visit to Karaköy Güllüoğlu, one of the city’s most famous baklava specialists. Founded in 1843 in Gaziantep — now considered the global capital of baklava — the Güllü family moved their bakery to Istanbul in 1949. On their intimate, family-led tour, you’ll step into kitchens where generations of artisans have rolled dough until it’s as thin as tissue paper, and try stretching filo yourself, a skill that requires a steady hand and lots of patience. Afterwards, sample the signature pistachio baklava in the bakery’s garden before returning to the Shangri-La, where a baklava butler serves more Güllüoğlu creations, paired with rich Turkish ice cream.

In the area: Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace are essential stops, while the Grand Bazaar and Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar offer a taste of Istanbul’s trading heritage. For a hammam, visit the opulent 300-year-old Cagaloglu Hamami.

St George’s, Grenada

Where: True Blue Bay Boutique Resort

The experience: Cocoa beans have been grown on Grenada since the 18th century, but the first bar of homegrown chocolate didn’t appear until 1999, a milestone that ignited today’s artisanal movement. Bean-to-bar makers now dot the island and several hotels celebrate cacao culture, but few with the flair of True Blue Bay. Since 2015, it’s hosted the week-long Grenada Chocolate Festival, a celebration of cacao in all its forms. Visitors can join tastings, workshops and hands-on sessions led by local chocolatiers and international experts, roasting and grinding beans one morning, sampling cocoa tea or single-origin bars the next. True Blue Bay is also a gateway to cocoa adventures across the island, from farm tours to cacao-inspired wellness rituals. Outside festival season, the resort still caters to chocolate-lovers with decadent bakery treats and a weekly chocolate night featuring inventive dishes.

In the area: Visit St George’s Market to shop from local traders; Saturdays are the liveliest. Divers can explore offshore shipwrecks and reefs, while inland more than a dozen waterfalls await.

Tokyo, Japan

Where: Palace Hotel Tokyo

The experience: Japan offers a dizzying range of culinary delights, but few are as personal — or as portable — as the bento box. Part packed lunch, part art form, it’s a daily ritual for schoolchildren and office workers. Guests of the Palace Hotel Tokyo can explore the tradition with a private three-and-a-half-hour masterclass led by Marc Matsumoto, host of Bento Expo and author of Ultimate Bento. The experience begins in a local grocery shop, where Matsumoto shares tips on choosing ingredients. Back in his kitchen studio, he introduces regional and stylistic variations and explains how to create harmony between flavours and textures. Under his guidance, you’ll assemble a bespoke bento box reflecting your tastes, learning the techniques that elevate an everyday lunch. The session ends with a shared meal of your creation, a wooden bento box and your own copy of Matsumoto’s cookbook.

You May Also Like

TRAVEL

Zurich’s most exquisite patisseries—in pictures

TRAVEL

North Yorkshire could be the UK's next great food break—here's why

TRAVEL

Where to find the best afternoon tea in Bath

In the area: The hotel is beside the Imperial Palace gardens and close to Ginza’s shopping streets. Visitors can easily reach Shinjuku and Shibuya for fashion, fast eats and nightlife. If you only visit one temple, make it Senso-ji, Tokyo’s oldest and grandest.

Mendoza, Argentina

Where: Awasi Mendoza

The experience: There aren’t many culinary rituals that capture the soul of Argentina quite like the asado (traditional Argentinian barbecue). This is fire-cooking at its most elemental: slabs of beef pinned to a metal cross and eased towards glowing embers, the heat coaxing out tenderness as gauchos have done for generations. Today, it remains the heartbeat of gatherings across the country and, at Awasi Mendoza — a secluded, design-led boutique retreat at the foot of the Andes — you’re invited to step into the role of asador (cook) yourself. In the leafy garden, chefs talk you through the choreography of fire, from how to stack logs in the pit to when to rake the coals and how to read the temperature by instinct. Before long, you’re crimping empanada edges for the clay oven and chopping parsley for a chimichurri destined for a sizzling rib-eye. Within an hour, you’ll be seated at a long wooden table, tasting the fruits of your labour alongside glasses of Malbec from the hotel’s own 55-acre vineyard. The only choice left is whether you want lunch with a backdrop of the Andes dusted in snow or dinner beneath a sky splashed with stars.

In the area: Mendoza is Malbec country and Catena Zapata, a 15-minute drive away from Awasi, is the family-run winery credited with putting this red grape variety on the world’s stage. Join a winery tour with tastings, try blending a bottle of your own or book a table at its Michelin-starred restaurant, Angélica Cocina Maestra, for a tasting menu designed for the wine. Lovers of the outdoors can hike the trails around the Aconcagua mountain before soaking tired muscles in the thermal pools at Termas Cacheuta. In Mendoza city, a 40-minute drive away, you’ll find Plaza Independencia and its excellent food markets.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Where: Moire Hoi An

The experience: Coffee arrived in Vietnam with French colonists in the 19th century and has since become a national obsession. Cafes spill onto pavements from Hanoi to the Mekong Delta, each region nurturing its own rituals shaped by climate, creativity and necessity. Egg coffee, for example, was born when a resourceful Hanoi bartender whisked egg yolks into hot coffee during a wartime milk shortage. At Moire Hoi An’s riverside cafe, The Yellow Bicycle, guests can explore this rich coffee lore through the daily Memorable Ritual. Led by in-house baristas, you’ll learn why Vietnam favours robusta beans — earthier, punchier and higher in caffeine — and how the phin drip intensifies their flavour. Tastings include bold black coffee and its condensed-milk counterpart. Those keen to dive deeper can join the hour-long coffee-making class to whisk, drip and pour their way through Vietnam’s signatures, from black and salted to egg coffee.

In the area: Hoi An’s old town is a Unesco World Heritage Site, with museums housed in merchant homes. For food, Bale Well on Tran Hung Dao is a favourite for banh xeo (savoury fried) pancakes.

Northern Territory, Australia

Where: Ayers Rock Resort

The experience: Few landmarks symbolise Australia quite like Uluru. Rising from the ochre sands of the Red Centre, this monolith is central to the Anangu people, whose connection to the land stretches back tens of thousands of years. Nearby Ayers Rock Resort offers a range of accommodation from tent pitches to suites, and guests can join the Bush Food Experience, learning about the ingredients that have sustained Aboriginal communities for millennia. The session explores traditional hunting and gathering, with tastings of native plants and explanations of their uses. For something more indulgent, the Sounds of Silence dinner begins with canapes and sparkling wine as Uluru glows at sunset, followed by a bush-tucker-inspired feast.

In the area: At night, head for the Field of Light, an open-air artwork created by artist Bruce Munro.