Culinary Walks

Let’s be honest: for most of us, city travel is really about eating. Sure, we make plans to visit the monuments and important museums, but those are merely placeholders. The day is really designed around where to have breakfast, lunch and dinner (and a drink or dessert at some point), with some other attractions thrown in along the way. We’ll make some effort to go see a certain historical site, but we’ll leave no stone unturned when it comes to tracking down a hidden bakery or out-of-the-way restaurant we’ve been told about.

But this kind of travel is not just about mindless gluttony. In an age of globalization, mass migration and ever faster, cheaper and easier modes of transport, cities are now the most significant and accessible repositories of authentic local culture, particularly in culinary terms. Eating locally and authentically has become the easiest and most satisfying way to get a sense of a place’s real culture and traditions. It also happens to be the tastiest way to do this.

When it comes to exploring a city’s authentic dining scene, while the stomach should ideally serve as the best compass, the truth of the matter is that it’s hard to find your way without good local advice. That’s where Culinary Backstreets’ Culinary Walks come in. In order to help you explore the world’s gastro-capitals and get off these cities’ eaten path, CB is offering (with selected partners) guided culinary walks in some of the cities we cover, starting with Istanbul, Shanghai and Athens.

Our culinary walks are designed to lead visitors on an eating binge through a city’s lesser-seen historic side streets and authentic markets, taking in countless hard-to-find culinary gems and, in between bites, a select number of untouristed monuments.

For more information about our Istanbul walks, visit here.

For more about our walks in Shanghai, visit here.

For more about our Athens walks, visit here.