Food has quietly taken over as one of the most powerful reasons people decide where to travel. It is no longer a bonus – it is the whole point. According to the 2026 TravelBoom Leisure Travel Study, nearly 80% of travelers say food is either important or very important when selecting a destination. The numbers are striking: the culinary tourism market is projected to grow from $1.06 trillion in 2025 to $1.23 trillion in 2026 at a robust CAGR of 15.6%. So if you are pulling together an itinerary built around what ends up on your plate, 2026 offers a genuinely exciting mix of destinations worth booking – and a few very famous ones you might want to skip.
The Undeniable Draw of Culinary Travel in 2026
In 2026, the world’s most exciting trips begin at the table. From MICHELIN-selected restaurants and hotels to emerging culinary scenes, destinations both well-loved and off-the-beaten path are shaping how and why we travel now. The shift goes deeper than Instagram aesthetics or trendy reservations. In a survey of 750 U.S. travelers, an overwhelming 92.1% of respondents say a city’s food scene influences where they choose to go, making it one of the most powerful drivers of tourism today. That is a near-universal consensus that would have seemed extraordinary even a decade ago.
Culinary travel has become the fastest-growing segment in luxury tourism, with travelers prioritizing food as a gateway to culture and heritage. According to the World Food Travel Association, culinary tourism is “the act of traveling for a taste of place in order to get a sense of place.” Meanwhile, the appetite for casual and local experiences is rising fast. In 2026, American travelers are gravitating toward food experiences that feel immediate, accessible, and woven into everyday city life, increasingly excited by street food, markets, and casual walk-in spots that allow them to eat well without disrupting the rhythm of exploration.
London and the American South: The Confirmed Hot Spots
London is the world’s number one food destination for 2026, edging out Dubai, Rome, Hong Kong, and Paris, according to Tripadvisor’s Best of the Best Destinations, which drew on millions of reviews from its global community. In the United States, the American South is having a serious moment. The MICHELIN Guide American South 2025 includes one Two-Star, 18 One-Stars, 50 Bib Gourmands and 159 selected restaurants across Alabama, Atlanta, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Across the American South, a new culinary clarity is taking hold, with chefs elevating regional staples with restraint.
One standout story is New Orleans, where Emeril’s, the only Two-Star restaurant in the region, is led by a chef who is now the youngest in MICHELIN history to helm a restaurant with Two Stars. On the other side of the Atlantic, Boston was named the best U.S. city to visit for foodies by Condé Nast Traveller, with the magazine noting that the Massachusetts capital has “pulled off the reinvention of the century” and its food scene “is increasingly transforming into something sleeker and unmissable.” These are not hype destinations – these are places where real culinary infrastructure is catching up to the buzz.
Crete, Medellín, and the Underdogs Worth the Flight
Crete is the first European entry on Condé Nast Traveller’s top food destinations list, and this sunny Greek island is one of three European Regions of Gastronomy for 2026, as decided by an independent board of experts from across the continent. Crete stands out for its focus on olive oil, vegetables, herbs, cheese, and seasonal, regional cooking – the kind of food that does not need a Michelin star to justify a plane ticket. Meanwhile, in South America, Medellín is no longer just an urban comeback story.
Tourism in Medellín reached a historic milestone last year with more than 1.2 million foreign tourists, according to figures reported by local outlet El Colombiano. That number represents an 11.7% increase compared to 2024, confirming that the city is no longer an emerging destination but a consolidated one on the global tourism map. Medellín’s food scene is having a serious moment. What used to be a city known mostly for bandeja paisa and clubby rooftop bars has evolved into one of Latin America’s most exciting culinary destinations, with chefs doing experimental tasting menus in forest canopies and street food legends slinging ajiaco for just a few dollars.
Saudi Arabia, Jiangsu, and the Surprise Contenders
Saudi Arabia is one of the most surprising destinations for 2026 thanks to its budding food scene, and the newly launched MICHELIN Guide signals a culinary coming-of-age. Saudi Arabia’s new MICHELIN Guide reframes the kingdom as a dining destination to watch. In major cities Riyadh and Jeddah, chefs reinterpret rice dishes, grilled meats, and Red Sea seafood within ambitious new cultural districts. The scene is mostly local but has an international side picking up pace, with Japanese, Chinese, Lebanese, and French cuisines taking off. It is the kind of destination that genuinely surprises, which is increasingly what serious food travelers are looking for.
The province of Jiangsu, north of Shanghai, has a dynamic food scene that China-bound travelers need to bookmark in 2026. One of China’s most refined dining destinations, it steps into focus – and it’s still very affordable. Jiangsu’s MICHELIN Guide spotlights one of China’s most elegant regional food traditions – freshwater fish, subtle seasoning, and classical technique. In the cities of Suzhou and Nanjing, garden culture is paired with deeply serious kitchens. For anyone who has grown a little tired of the megacity circuit, this is the kind of nuanced, regionally rooted experience that lingers long after the flight home.
The Overrated Stops: Famous but Frustrating
Not every place deserves the hype it receives from foodie travel lists – and a few destinations are running on reputation alone. Venice is a prime example. While it does make the MICHELIN list and has some genuinely excellent spots, a handful of local chefs are reworking lagoon cuisine with restraint and confidence, but spots like these are few and far between, hiding among an inevitable slew of tourist traps. The romantic image of the floating city is often shattered by the reality of excessive tourism, with narrow alleyways becoming impassable when multiple cruise ships dock on the same day, and restaurants in the main tourist zones frequently serving overpriced food of questionable quality.
Paris, long considered a food traveler’s holy grail, is facing its own credibility problem. Rome remains the top foodie wish-list city, while Paris is increasingly described as “overrated” by survey respondents, according to the 2026 Europe Food Travel Survey. Paris has long been considered one of the most romantic cities in the world, but millions of visitors each year make it one of the most overcrowded destinations, with long lines at popular attractions and pricey hotels often leaving tourists wishing they had picked a different place. If the goal is exceptional food without the exhaustion, Lyon or Bordeaux offer a sharper, quieter version of the French experience.
What Smart Foodie Travelers Are Doing Differently in 2026
The most savvy food travelers in 2026 are deliberately bypassing the obvious in favor of places with real culinary depth. Food-focused travel in 2026 is about authenticity, regional identity, and eating like locals – wherever you go. That might mean heading to Wrocław in Poland, where the city is quickly becoming one of Central Europe’s most interesting places to eat, with a strong sense of culinary identity rooted in Polish comfort food, though many of those traditions are now being freshly revisited. Or it might mean Patan, Nepal, where the city feels refreshingly untouched by food trends, offering a more intimate way to experience Nepali cuisine rooted in ritual and community rather than restaurant hype.
A recent trend report from Airbnb revealed that travelers are “swapping culinary capitals for more local, affordable foodie destinations,” with noted settings including Chiclana de la Frontera, Spain for seafood; Shillong, India for traditional Khasi cuisine; Arakawa City, Japan for ramen, gyoza, and family-run kissaten coffee shops; and Belo Horizonte, Brazil for Minas Gerais cuisine. The broader data reinforces this shift. While Italy, France, and Spain continue to dominate wish lists, growing enthusiasm for countries like Greece and Portugal suggests that travelers are increasingly motivated by regional depth, casual dining cultures, and everyday local food experiences. The best food trips in 2026 are not always to the loudest cities – they are to the places that still cook like they mean it.
