Arriving in a new city can be a little overwhelming, especially when traveling with kids. Should you hit the touristy spots? Lean into the history of a location? No matter how much research you do in advance, it can take a lot of work to get your bearings, especially when you add in jet lag after a long day of travel.
I’ve taken my three kids all over the world, and our favorite way to experience a new city is with a food tour. When I started booking these, I was looking for something active, and the food bribery seemed like a good motivator. It’s often hard to find activities that all three of my kids will enjoy, and food tours appeared to be the ticket. Bonus: I enjoy them too!
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Experiencing a city’s food culture is a great way to learn its traditions and customs. But on our own, we tend to gravitate towards familiar foods instead of trying something new. Not to mention the language barrier means we miss a lot on menus. That’s where a food tour really shines. It’s a great way to have a local guide show you the ropes and explain the foods you’re trying. Here are some of the reasons I love taking my kids on food tours.
You’ll get to visit under-the-radar spots and skip the line at popular spots
A typical food tour starts with meeting your tour guide and roaming a new city’s streets. You can expect to try well-known foods, like crêpes in Paris and po’ boys in New Orleans, as well as as-yet-unknown-to-you creations like wild boar salami and powdered sugar-topped dunes blanches.
I appreciate how seamless these tours are. The tour guide pre-arranges our arrival with the business, so the food is ready as soon as we arrive. This is great for families because kids aren’t particularly good at waiting in line, even with the promise of something tasty. On a donut tour in Seattle, there was a long line when we arrived at Daily Dozen Doughnut Company in Pike Place Market. Our tour guide went right to the front and got us our donuts without waiting more than a few minutes. We enjoyed them on the go while we explored the nearby Gum Wall (a disgusting kid favorite).
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While eating, the tour guide will share interesting facts about the business you are visiting and its place in the city’s food scene. In New Orleans, a visit to Coronet had us tasting gumbo and learning about the difference between Cajun and Creole cuisines. A stop at a bakery in Bordeaux led to a discussion about the region’s wine influence and how it led to the creation of the canalés the city is famous for. This incorporated learning works well for kids and adults alike.
Kids are more likely to try new foods on tours
I’ve found that when I take these food tours with my kids, they are much more likely to try foods that they typically would turn their noses up at. Is it peer pressure? The need to impress our helpful guide? Whatever the reason, I’m always excited when they willingly try unique foods like escargot and blood sausage. I was especially impressed when my 8-year-old declared, “This smells like truffles!” when we sampled cheese in Paris. And he was right!
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Someone else does all the planning
As the family travel planner, I usually book the excursions, choose the hotel, and make the restaurant reservations. Food tours allow me to leave the planning and organization to someone else. We just show up and follow our guide to taco stands, meat markets, and beignet bakeries.
When we were in Portland, Oregon, last summer, I knew I wanted to visit some of the food truck pods that the city is known for. As I started planning where we’d go, I realized they were spread throughout the city, and we hadn’t rented a car. The solution: a biking food tour.
We met up with our biking tour guide and got fitted for bikes and helmets before we set off to our first stop, a coffee shop. Here, we sipped on iced ube lattes and learned about the city’s strong biking culture and the many safety elements we’d see when biking through the city. We stopped at a lovely rose garden to discuss Portland’s designation as the “City of Roses,” and then headed to our first food truck pod for breakfast burritos.
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I was surprised when my teens asked our guide about Portland’s urban sprawl and gentrification, but this further supported my love for all food tours as they engage kids’ curiosity and offer access to locals who can provide information on a city that I cannot.
Food tours offer a bit of local history along the way
If your family is really into history, you can find a history tour in most new cities you visit. But I like food tours because they offer tidbits of history sprinkled throughout the tour as part of the whole experience.
On a Paris food tour, we stopped for a short break to fill our water bottles at one of the city’s Wallace fountains. Even though we’d been in the city for a few days, none of us realized that there was a freshwater source on many street corners. Our guide told us that Sir Richard Wallace gifted these ornate cast iron drinking fountains to the city as philanthropy when fresh drinking water wasn’t readily available. They still flow today!
Tour guides are amazing sources for recommendations beyond the tour
The guides on food tours really want you to have a fantastic experience in their city, which goes beyond what they offer on the tour itself. In Lisbon, our tour guide assisted us in getting a reservation for a fado music performance with dinner for the next day. Our Paris tour guide gave us his number and sent a list of recommended restaurants via WhatsApp. It’s very helpful to have these connections in a new city, should you need it.
Tips for taking a food tour:
- Book your tour early in your trip so you can take advantage of your guide’s recommendations for the remainder of your stay.
- Wear comfortable walking shoes, and bring water and sunscreen.
- Come hungry! You’ll be trying lots of different foods along the way and you don’t want to hit your limit too early.
- Be open to trying new things.
- Tip your guide for a job well done.
