Ever heard of gastronomic tourism?

Travel far to eat better.

Monuments are something from the past – not only in the literal meaning, but also from a touristic point of view. A new way of travel that has been growing in the past few years is not necessarily related with the beauty of the places or that incredibly emblematic building. Now, the trend is to search for a destination with the tastiest and, if possible, more eccentric dishes.

Highly spread by chefs and food critics like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern, this kind of trip is characterized by the search for unique experiences and pleasures brought by delicacies typical of certain regions.

In fact, food tourism already existed, but changed its name. Until 2012, it was known as culinary tourism, but soon turned out that people no longer went to remote places looking to know how to make certain dishes, but to try them and post the experience in blogs, on social networks or simply personal photo albums.

In the list of the most popular countries for the foodies (lovers of this kind of experience) seems to rule this principle: the more exotic the better. Here’s the top 10, from the first to the last, according to the site thetoptens.com: Italy (pizzas and pasta), Mexico (guacamoles, chilli and tortillas), India (very famous curry), China (cuisine is so rich and diverse, grounded on vegetables and exotic sauces), Japan (sushi, what else?), France (the classical European tradition), United States (is there better fast food in the whole planet?), Thailand (the only place where you find healthy and spicy food) , England (because it is a huge mistake to think that they only eat fish and chips) and Spain (there is nothing that beats the Mediterranean flavors). In the honorable mentions we can find Turkey, Greece, Indonesia and the Philippines, among others.