A good route to a great holiday is to follow your gut and seek the flavours you love. Half of the fun of travel is in the planning; half the fun of wining and dining is in the anticipation. Put those two together and you have some very delicious holiday dreaming, whether for one-stop escapism or food-trail adventures for new experiences, inspiration and even hands-on skills.
Here in Ireland that trail might bring you road-tripping through Co Cork, stopping for lunch at the English Market’s ageless Farmgate Café or a fin-to-gill feast at Goldie, before a night in Kinsale for some wine bar action. Or you might catch a pop-up in June at Black’s Brewery by chef Caitlin Ruth, whose food truck fare borrows from Mexican street food and Stateside barbecue truck meccas like Nashville, Tennessee.
Swing west next to Clonakilty’s family-run Dunmore House Hotel for the freshest home-grown food and the best sea views, and book into The Keep at Skibbereen’s Woodcock Smokery for one of Ireland’s fish-smoker supremo Sally Barnes’ smoking masterclasses, coastal foraging workshops and guest chef lunches. Or swing east for some Michelin-level spoiling at Castlemartyr Resort, home to chef Vincent Crepel’s Terre restaurant with its two Michelin stars, refined tasting menu and unique tea pairings.
Castlemartyr was among 72 Irish and UK properties to secure one of 2024′s brand new Michelin keys (equivalent to stars for restaurants, but for outstanding hotels); 37 others secured two keys and just 14 were named three-key hotels, including Ireland’s Ballyfin Demesne and Adare Manor.
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You could use the new three-key status as an excuse to visit some stone-cold classics across the water, including Claridge’s, The Savoy and The Connaught in London. It doesn’t get more classic than Oxfordshire’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, A Belmond Hotel. Four decades ago French chef-patron Raymond Blanc brought joie de vivre to this 15th-century manor house, where today a two-acre kitchen garden supplies seasonal produce for exquisite plates of art.
To balance this genteel escapism, hit up London’s buzzing food market scene; don’t miss Borough Market, of course, and nearby Maltby Street Market and Spa Terminus, but the East End’s Broadway Market, Greenwich Market’s food stalls, Victoria Park’s Sunday market and Southbank Centre Food Market all offer gateways to different aspects of London life and culture.
Two other lists that serve excellent inspiration are The World’s 50 Best Restaurants – currently headed up by Disfrutar in Barcelona, but with cities like Lima in Peru and Mexico City holding their own against Bangkok, Tokyo and Paris as top gastronomic destinations – and its more under-the-radar twin, The World’s 50 Best Vineyards. Each vineyard listed has a world-class visitor experience, some with a serious wow factor.
Topping last year’s list was Rioja Alavesa’s Marques de Riscal City of Wine, complete with cellar tours, Michelin-starred restaurant and Caudalie vinotherapy spa. At its heart sits the Frank Gehry-designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, with its titanium flights of fancy offset by the medieval village backdrop of Elciego. You’ll need luck and patience to get a booking at this world-renowned hotel but the cellars are well worth a visit in their own right. Besides, Rioja’s wine tourism is well developed enough to plan a whole trip around – with unmissable tapas trails around Calle del Laurel in the region’s capital of Logroño.
Unforgettable cellar experiences are also a given at Porto, with its twin town of Vila Nova de Gaia just over the river packed full of fascinating warehouse-sized port cellars, and Reims in Champagne, a city built over a 250km underground network of crayères. These ancient chalk cellars, buried 40 metres deep, were recognised in the 18th century by Maison Ruinart and neighbouring champagne houses as offering the perfect conditions for ageing their finest cuvées, and are now protected as Unesco world heritage sites and open to cellar visitors.
If getting into the open air is your preferred recipe for an appetite, consider a hands-on immersion in ancient food practices.
Take your pick from truffle hunting in Piemonte, olive harvesting in Puglia or foraging in Finland, where leading forager and chef Sami Tallberg has partnered with luxury boutique hotel Billnäs Gård, just an hour from Helsinki. Their seasonal calendar includes ice-fishing in February, wild herb foraging in May and mushroom hunting in September.
Closer to home, Max Jones of Up There The Last – another west Cork hub of experiential food immersions – is building on last year’s food tradition workshops and immersive beach feasts. (Think diving for spider crab, raking for cockles, hot-smoking fresh fish in a barrel in the sand.) In 2025 he will lead two trips to Italy’s Alps, one to follow the transhumance or seasonal drive of cattle into the upland pastures, and the other a weeklong certificated alpine retreat delving into traditions including natural cheese and charcuterie making.
The beauty of following your favourite foods is that they could take you anywhere. Slovenia’s Ljubljana, Georgia’s Tbilisi, Japan’s Fukuoka and Sri Lanka’s Colombo are all trending foodie destinations for 2025. Follow your nose for a delicious deep dive into local gastronomic cultures.