Our top foodie destinations in 2027

Today’s most exciting foodie cities are more than just locations where you’ll eat well. They’re places where the food is the destination and where eating your way around a city tells you more about its history, culture, and soul than any guidebook can. There’s no more intimate way to know a place than through what it eats. If discovering local cuisine has ever felt like reason enough to book a flight, read on now to discover the best cities for foodies around the world.

The world’s best cities for foodies: five classic icons you need to know about

These are the destinations that set the standard; the best cities for foodies where the range of extraordinary culinary options is nothing but exceptional.

Tokyo, Japan: precision, depth, and an unmatched food culture

The city has more Michelin stars than any other city on Earth, yet Tokyo’s best food experiences are often found in a 10-seat ramen shop, at a conveyor-belt sushi counter, or over a bowl of perfectly assembled donburi in a basement restaurant with no sign above the door. What makes Tokyo so compelling for foodies isn’t just the quality, it’s the dedication to the craft.

In Japan, cooking is a lifelong pursuit, and the result is a city where even the most humble bowl of noodles is made with extraordinary care. Explore the food halls (depachika) of the great department stores in Ginza or Shibuya and make time for the outer market at Tsukiji, where vendors have been selling the freshest seafood since dawn. Discover the izakayas of Shinjuku’s Memory Lane with its tiny, smoky grills serving yakitori and cold beer deep into the night.

Mexico City, Mexico: street food royalty and modern gastronomy

Some cities feed you well. Mexico City feeds you like your mother. Breakfast is an event: taqueros working their griddles before the city has fully woken, markets heaving with chilies, cacao, and ingredients that pre-date the Spanish conquest by centuries. By evening the cantinas take over — mezcal, botanas, noise, and the particular joy of a city that knows how to be alive.

Alongside all of that sits one of the world’s great fine dining scenes, where chefs are taking Mexico‘s deep culinary roots seriously in ways that are earning the city global recognition. La Merced market in the morning, Roma or Condesa at night. Repeat until your flight home.

Istanbul, Turkey: where East meets West on the plate

Istanbul’s cuisine reflects its location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with influences from both the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Breakfast alone, with its spread of cheeses, olives, tomatoes, eggs, honey, and simit is an event worth crossing continents for.

The street food scene in this part of Turkey is extraordinary: freshly caught mackerel sandwiches on the Galata Bridge, dürüm wraps in Karaköy, lahmacun fresh from a wood-fired oven. The Spice Bazaar remains one of the great sensory experiences of any food lover’s life. And the fine dining scene is developing a reputation, with 10 Michelin-starred restaurants and chefs like Mehmet Gürs at Mikla reinterpreting Anatolian ingredients.

Singapore: a small city with an outsized culinary identity

Home to the world’s most affordable Michelin-starred meal — Hawker Chan’s in Chinatown — this small island nation punches far above its weight as a foodie destination. Singapore is where Chinese, Malay, and Indian culinary traditions have spent generations cross-pollinating. A city where a $3 bowl of noodles and a $300 tasting menu can both be considered essential eating.

At the heart of it all are the hawker centers — over 100 open-air food halls where the city eats together, morning to night. So ingrained are they in Singapore’s identity that UNESCO added hawker culture to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020. Start at Maxwell Food Center or Lau Pa Sat, then work your way outward. You won’t go hungry.

San Sebastián, Spain: the highest density of Michelin stars on Earth

No city in the world has more Michelin stars per square meter than San Sebastián. This European coastal city in Spain has long been a pilgrimage destination for serious food lovers. Outstanding local produce and a fierce local pride in culinary excellence has produced restaurants of world-class standing, including the legendary Arzak and Mugaritz.

But San Sebastián is just as thrilling at ground level. Join the locals as they graze at the pintxos bars of the Old Town, the city’s beating gastronomic heart, where small, elaborately constructed morsels are lined up along the bar, washed down with txakoli white wine. This is a food culture that is social, joyful, and deeply rooted.

Read more: What to eat in Spain: a guide for foodies

Emerging destinations: the best cities for foodies in 2027

Every few years, a handful of cities break through and suddenly feel like the center of something. Their restaurants start appearing on best-of lists, their chefs start winning awards, and travelers start noticing. These are those cities.

Manila, Philippines: culinary heritage meets Michelin recognition

When Michelin named the Philippines one of its most exciting food destinations for 2026, it confirmed what locals already knew. The country has one of Asia’s most exciting and diverse food scenes. Filipino cuisine is having a genuine global moment, and Manila is the best place to experience it.

The city rewards curious eaters with its richly bold flavors — sour, salty, and sweet — Spanish colonial influences and use of vinegar, fermentation and pork. With over 40% of professional kitchens led by chefs under 38, Manila feels like a city cooking at full volume.

Colombo, Sri Lanka: flavors influenced by a colonial heritage and coastal position

A city with a Ministry of Crab? Yes, please! Okay, we’re being a little disingenuous; the Ministry of Crab is in fact a seafood restaurant and consistently ranks among Asia‘s 50 best restaurants. It reflects not just Sri Lanka’s obsession with crab but Colombo’s new fine dining credentials in a city renowned for its unmissable street food.

Sri Lanka’s cuisine developed from Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial influence, overlaid with ancient Sinhalese and Tamil traditions that come alive on the plate. Coconut, spice, curry leaves, and fresh seafood are the staples of a cuisine that is fragrant, fiery, and deeply satisfying.

Évora, Portugal: sample rich flavors in the 2027 European Capital of Culture

While most visitors flock to Lisbon and Porto, Évora has always been one of Portugal‘s best-kept secrets. Now Évora has been named European Capital of Culture for 2027 under the theme “Vagar”, meaning the art of slow living, and the secret is officially out.

If you need another reason to visit this UNESCO-listed medieval city, with over 20 centuries of history and a beautifully preserved historic center, then come and eat here. The Alentejo region is famous for its black pork, slow-fermented breads, aged cheeses, and bold wines. Chefs are now pairing serious technique with those same centuries-old ingredients, and the results are turning heads.

Read more: A foodie’s guide to top European destinations

Sofia, Bulgaria: an up-and-coming food scene steeped in tradition

Sofia doesn’t make it onto many gastronomic itineraries, but Bulgaria‘s capital is building one of Eastern Europe’s most compelling dining scenes, and is fast becoming one of the best cities for foodies. Fermented dairy, wood-grilled meats, and rakia, the fruit brandy that fuels everything, reimagined by chefs pairing those foundations with sharp modern technique and market-fresh seasonal produce. And with a full meal at a top central restaurant running well under €25, it’s one of the few cities where genuine culinary ambition hasn’t yet been priced out of reach.

Medellín, Colombia: exciting flavors on a budget

Colombia‘s Medellín has spent a decade rewriting its reputation and food is part of that story. The city’s cooking is rooted in the hearty Paisa tradition of the region: bandeja paisa, a mountainous plate of rice, beans, chicharrón, chorizo, egg, and plantain; cornmeal arepas fresh off the grill; and ajiaco, a thick, comforting potato and corn soup.

Today its chefs are creating ambitious, experimental tasting menus, Colombian biodiversity on the plate, and street ingredients treated with fine-dining seriousness. Two of the city’s best restaurants, Carmen and El Cielo, both serve tasting menus for under $150. And for those eating on a budget, the street food alone is worth the flight.

Ljubljana, Slovenia: farm-to-table traditions off the beaten track

Slovenia shares borders with Italy, Austria, Croatia, and the Adriatic coast, and its cuisine has absorbed the best of all of them. The cooking here is rooted in hyper-local produce, with restaurants sourcing from the farmers who sell each morning at Plečnik’s Central Market, one of the great food markets of Central Europe.

On Fridays from spring to fall, the ‘Open Kitchen’ takes over Pogačarjev Square with over 65 vendors and 280 dishes, from traditional Slovenian specialties to street food from across the globe. Ana Roš, whose restaurant Hiša Franko put Slovenia on the world’s fine dining map, has made the whole country think differently about what its food can be… and the world wants to try it.

Modica, Italy: a chocolate-fueled dream for sweet-toothed travelers

Modica is a hilltop town in southeastern Sicily with a chocolate tradition that predates anything you’d find in Belgium or Switzerland. Brought to the Italian island during Spanish rule, Modican chocolate is made cold, ground below 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) so the sugar never fully melts, leaving it grainy, earthy, and intensely flavored.

Wandering the town’s beautiful Baroque piazzas and staircases, you’ll smell chocolate in the air; visit in the fall during the annual ChocoModica festival and it practically flows down the streets. There’s even a chocolate museum featuring chocolate sculptures.

Read more: Gastronomic journeys: the best road trips for foodies

Make it happen

Follow your taste buds to the world’s best cities for foodies: get in touch with our on-the-ground experts in your chosen destination, and they’ll help you craft a gastronomic journey you’ll never forget.