The best food destinations
102 places we'd send a food-first traveler, from household names to under-the-radar picks.
Asheville, USABlue Ridge foliage and mountain breweries in golden fall
Asturias, SpainGreen cliffs, cider houses, Spain's cool-summer coast
Bamberg, GermanyUNESCO Bavarian town of smoked beer and a river-straddling town hall
Bangkok, ThailandGlittering temples and new green parks, cool dry-season street food
Barcelona, SpainGaudí, tapas and Mediterranean beaches, warm well into October
Battambang, CambodiaFrench shophouses and a circus, dry-season rides on the bamboo train
Belgrade, SerbiaDanube nightlife, grilled-meat feasts, and gritty riverside energy
Bentonville, USAWorld-class art and Ozark singletrack in mild spring
Bologna, ItalyItaly's ragù heartland: porticoed streets and no tourist queues
Bordeaux, FranceGrand riverfront city of stone and vineyards, best at autumn harvest
Bornholm, DenmarkBaltic sun island of smokehouses and cliffs, quiet before peak summer
Brussels, BelgiumGrand squares, art nouveau, and Europe's best beer culture
Budapest, HungaryThermal bathhouses and ruin bars, grand along the Danube
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaSteak, tango and jacarandas in the mild spring of November
Busan, South KoreaHillside mural villages and seafood markets by the beach, warm coast
Cáceres, SpainPerfectly preserved stone old town, Extremadura's food scene
Cafayate, ArgentinaHigh-desert Torrontes wine country, harvest February to April
Cameron Highlands, MalaysiaCool tea terraces and strawberry farms above the tropical heat
Cape Town, South AfricaTable Mountain hikes and Cape beaches in dry southern summer
Charleston, USAAntebellum lanes and Lowcountry shrimp in mild azalea spring
Chengdu, ChinaPanda nurseries and numbing hotpot, teahouse afternoons in mild seasons
Chettinad, IndiaMerchant mansions and fiery Tamil cuisine in cool dry winter
Chiang Rai, ThailandWhite Temple and misty hill tribes in cool, dry northern winter
Chicago, USALakefront skyline and deep-dish, warm festival-filled summer
Chongqing, ChinaHotpot capital and river-canyon skyline, spring and autumn only
Colchagua Valley, ChileCarmenere wine country at harvest during the March vendimia
Colmar, FranceHalf-timbered Alsace wine town of canals, glowing at Christmas markets
Copenhagen, DenmarkHarborside hygge, new-Nordic tables, and long light-filled summer days
Dallas, USAArts-district museums and big Texan dining, warm bright spring
Dingle, IrelandWild Atlantic peninsula: fishing pubs, trad music, empty headlands
Douro Valley, PortugalTerraced wine country cruised by river, golden at September harvest
Eger, HungaryBaroque wine town of the Valley of the Beautiful Women cellars
Fès, MoroccoThe medieval medina, mosaic workshops, shoulder-season calm
Franschhoek, South AfricaCape Dutch wine estates and harvest tables in warm valley light
Freycinet, AustraliaWineglass Bay hikes and oyster farms in warm, dry Tasmanian summer
Galway, IrelandIreland's music-loving west coast city, best in warm festival summer
Genoa, ItalyPalazzi lanes and harborside pesto, mild bright Ligurian spring
Ghent, BelgiumBruges without the crowds: medieval towers over a canal-side old town
Girona, SpainCatalan old town of houses stacked over a river, an easy Barcelona escape
Gothenburg, SwedenSeafood-obsessed harbor city and archipelago ferries in summer
Guadalajara, MexicoMariachi plazas and tequila country, warm dry days each spring
Hoi An, VietnamLantern-lit old town and tailor shops, dry before autumn floods
Hong KongNeon harbour skyline and dim sum, green peaks and islands, dry autumn
Hood River, USAGorge windsurfing and orchard cider in bright river-valley summer
Istanbul, TurkeyBosphorus ferries, spice bazaars, and a mosque-domed skyline
Jaffna, Sri LankaTamil north of temples and crab curry, dry when the south rains
Jiufen, TaiwanLantern-lit teahouse alleys tumbling to the sea, misty mountain nights
Jose Ignacio, UruguayUruguay's chic beach village, buzzing in January high summer
Kanazawa, JapanSamurai quarters and Kenrokuen garden, gold leaf and autumn colour
Kashgar, ChinaSilk Road bazaar and Sunday livestock market on China's Uyghur frontier
Kuching, MalaysiaBorneo's easy city: riverfront laksa and proboscis monkeys nearby
Kyoto, JapanTemple gardens and geisha districts, blazing maples in November
Los Angeles, USAGetty views and taco trucks, warm clear World-Cup-year spring
Lyon, FranceFrance's food capital: bouchons, silk quarters and two riverbanks
Margaret River, AustraliaSurf breaks and cellar-door wineries, sunny southern-autumn harvest
Marrakech, MoroccoMedina souqs and riad courtyards in spring-bloom shoulder season
Melbourne, AustraliaLaneway cafes and street art, buzzing southern-autumn festivals
Memphis, USABeale Street blues and barbecue smoke, warm music-filled spring
Mendoza, ArgentinaMalbec vineyards under the Andes, grape harvest March to April
Mexico City, MexicoAztec ruins and world-class tacos, jacaranda-purple spring
Naxos, GreeceCyclades island of long sandy beaches and mountain villages
New Orleans, USACourtyard jazz and crawfish boils in warm, pre-summer spring
Oaxaca, MexicoDay of the Dead altars and mezcal country peak in late October
Okinawa, JapanWhite Ryukyu beaches and longevity cuisine, warm clear early summer
Ostuni, ItalyPuglia's white hill town, olive groves and Adriatic swims into October
Paris, FranceThe classics never tire: Seine light, cafe terraces, spring blossom
Penang, MalaysiaStreet-food capital of Southeast Asia in its driest months
Phuket, ThailandLimestone bays and beach clubs, calm sunny high-season swims
Portland, USAFood-cart rows and forest parks, rose-bloom early-summer days
Porto, PortugalPort-wine cellars and azulejo churches over a steep river gorge
Prince Edward County, CanadaSandbanks dunes and family wineries, warm Ontario harvest autumn
Prince Edward Island, CanadaRed-cliff coast and lobster suppers in soft island summer
Querétaro, MexicoColonial arches and wine-country valleys, warm dry-season harvest
Rome, ItalyLayered ancient capital, best in shoulder-season sun without August heat
Rovinj, CroatiaIstrian fishing port of truffles, olive oil, and coastal sunsets
San Sebastián, SpainBasque pintxos capital on a perfect shell-shaped surf bay
Sancerre, FranceHilltop Loire vineyards, harvest season tastings
Santa Fe, USAAdobe galleries and green-chile fall under high-desert light
Santiago de Compostela, SpainPilgrim city of rain-slicked granite and a vast Romanesque cathedral
São Paulo, BrazilSprawling art museums and Liberdade ramen, mild dry-winter days
Sarlat-la-Canéda, FranceMedieval Périgord: honey-stone lanes, foie gras and truffle markets
Sayulita, MexicoBoho Pacific surf town with gray whales offshore December to March
Seoul, South KoreaPalaces, hanok lanes and all-night food alleys, best in crisp autumn
Seville, SpainAndalusian heat, orange blossom and flamenco, magic in April feria
Shanghai, ChinaArt-deco Bund and neon skyline, garden teahouses, mild spring and autumn
Sighnaghi, GeorgiaWalled hill town over Kakheti vineyards, harvest wine in autumn
Singapore, SingaporeHawker feasts and Supertree gardens, driest in the early-year window
Sydney, AustraliaHarbour swims and coastal walks in warm, dry early-autumn light
Syracuse, ItalyBaroque Ortigia island: sea-lapped lanes and Greek ruins in Sicily
Tainan, TaiwanTaiwan's oldest city and its street-food soul, warm dry winter dining
Taipei, TaiwanNight-market feasts and hot-spring hills, mild dry autumn and spring
Takayama, JapanEdo-era merchant streets and sake breweries, spring and autumn festivals
Tbilisi, GeorgiaOld-town wine culture and supra feasts before summer heat
Ubud, IndonesiaBali's temple-and-terrace heart, greenest in the April-to-October dry
Umbria, ItalyTuscany's quieter neighbor: hill towns, truffles, no crowds
Utrecht, NetherlandsAmsterdam's mellow cousin: wharf cafes below the canals, no tour boats
Wachau Valley, AustriaDanube wine valley of terraced vineyards and abbeys, gold at harvest
Waiheke Island, New ZealandFerry-close vineyards and quiet beaches in peak summer
Wairarapa, New ZealandMartinborough pinot cellars and dark-sky nights, golden-vine autumn
Xi'an, ChinaTerracotta warriors and a walkable Ming wall, Muslim Quarter street food
Yerevan, ArmeniaPink-tufa boulevards, brandy cellars, and Ararat on the skyline
Yogyakarta, IndonesiaJava's soul: Borobudur sunrise and batik streets in the dry months