Top Culinary Destinations to Explore This Summer

Ranking high among its many benefits, travel creates opportunities to stumble across new tastes and flavors, expanding our palates with novel sensations. For some travelers, in fact, food is the central focus of a journey. These tourists will seek out destinations where their taste buds will be tantalized by the plethora of dishes on offer.

Even if you aren’t one of these gourmand die-hards, heading to a place where the food really stands out will enhance your vacation while allowing you to learn about different cultures. Summer, in particular, can be a great time sample new cuisines thanks to seasonal ingredients and enjoyable weather. So, with that in mind, we have identified 2025’s top food destinations for experiencing this year’s travel and dining trends and buzzing culinary scenes during the warmer season.

Think of Italy, and the usual suspects likely come to mind. You might picture the canals of Venice, ancient buildings in Rome, the galleries of Florence, or the rolling hills of Tuscany. Amidst these travel titans, Alassio may be an unfamiliar spot — it sits on the Ligurian Sea, between Monte Carlo and Genoa — but to miss it would be a real shame. After all, Airbnb’s 2025 summer travel trend report highlighted it as one of the top ten foodie destinations to look out for.

What makes Alassio stand out from the wealth of underrated Italian foodie cities? For starters, it has fabulous beaches ideal for a summertime vacay, with soft strands of sand strung all along the shore and backed by mountains. Further, travelers that look forward to meal times above all else will find much to appease their appetites.

The region has its own olive oil, DOP Riviera Ligure, known for its smooth, rich, soft taste. It features in much of the food cooked in Alassio, from its abundance of seafood to meat and vegetable plates. You’ll also have the opportunity to sample plenty of fresh produce, such as local squashes, asparagus, artichokes, and tomatoes. Wild herbs found throughout Alassio, including rosemary, sage, marjoram, infuse the dishes with even more sumptuous scents and flavors.

One of the reasons why so many people love Thai food is that it manages to hit so many notes. Thai dishes regularly combine multiple tastes — sweet, spicy, savory, salty, and sour — all at once. Visitors can enjoy that fabulous combination in many spots across the capital of Thailand. A great reason to go this summer is that out of the Top 20 restaurants in Asia in 2025, as determined by the brand 50 Best Restaurants, four are in Bangkok.

A good place to start is Gaggan, the top-ranked restaurant in Asia (it was also honored as the fourth-best restaurant in the world in 2019). Though its cuisine focuses on Indian dishes, it contains accents from Thailand, France, and Japan. For more traditional Thai, Nusara fits the bill. Its menu takes inspiration from royal kitchens in the 1800s. But food lovers won’t have to devote their time in Bangkok to fine dining. Affordable and adventurous street food is a way of life there. Some of the roadside hotspots include Yaowarat, the city’s de facto Chinatown, Victory Monument, and Charoen Krung Road.

Another Airbnb pick as a trending food destination in 2025, Belo Horizonte is a city ringed by mountains located northwest of Rio de Janeiro. Travelers don’t come to this landlocked town for beaches, or to swim in seductive seas, but they do arrive in droves for the food. In fact, the city is incredibly forward-thinking when it comes to ensuring locals are well fed. Certain restaurants are subsidized so that residents can eat well, and food trucks bring healthy dishes to disadvantaged neighborhoods. Produce is also maintained at low prices so that more people can afford to buy wholesome ingredients.

Minas Gerais, the state where Belo Horizonte is located, is the major dairy producer in the country, and local cheeses are proudly displayed at the city’s Mercado Central. A number of items should be on the hit list of all foodies. Pão de queijo, which translates to cheese bread, is a delicious, hearty snack mixing cheese and cassava flour. For something even more filling, try mocotó, a stew made with cow’s feet and beans.

A city on South Korea’s southeast coast, Busan has long attracted travelers for its beaches and seafood. It’s a lively place, home to the Busan International Film Festival, held when summer bleeds into fall, and the largest port in the country. The city is also well-known for its street food. Some bites to try include scallion pancakes, pig’s trotters with jellyfish (a regional specialty), grilled fish, and ssiat hotteok, fried rounds of dough filled with seeds and nuts. For some of the best street food on offer, head to the Nampo-dong area, specifically the food alley near Gukje Market.

Busan also shines when it comes to fine dining. It made its debut in the Michelin Guide in 2024, so summer 2025 is a great time to visit. The weather is warm, the beaches inviting, and the monsoon rains begin to wane as the season hits full stride. Thanks to its location on the coast, Busan has successfully incorporated other ingredients and tastes into its dining scene. For example, the restaurant Mori serves Japanese dishes created from local, seasonal fruits, vegetables, and seafood.

A highlight for foodies is the annual World Culinary Awards, a process where restaurants are nominated by people in the industry or diners. Of the best restaurants in Africa in 2024, many of the awards went to Cape Town. Unsurprisingly, Cape Town has transformed into a foodie capital complimented by its stunning location stretching out between the South Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain. Even better, it has a Mediterranean climate that stays mild even in the winter year, allowing much to grow in the area.

Seasonal dining during the U.S. summer, winter in Cape Town, means visitors will be able to enjoy oranges, naartjies (a fruit similar to a mandarin), and sweet potatoes. Food in the city incorporates many influences informed by its coastal location with a busy port, including Javanese Malaysian, Indian, Dutch, English, and local groups like the Khoi and San. As a result, visitors can look forward to dishes such as bobotie (a meat and bread offering with Malay and Indian influences) and koeksister (fried dough braids with cinnamon).

If you live in the Midwest, getting to the Danish capital just got a whole lot easier. Starting in May 2025, Delta launched a direct, non-stop flight between Minneapolis and Copenhagen. That means quicker flights for Midwesterners to the city that houses Noma, a restaurant that regularly garners the top spot on lists of the world’s best places to eat. Noma’s current iteration will reportedly come to an end at some point in 2025, potentially making its summer vegetable season the last opportunity for diners to experience the New Nordic menu before it transforms into a test kitchen.

Copenhagen is a hotbed of culinary wonder, and in the summer, it is an especially delightful destination. Temperatures peak in the mid-60s to low-70s each day, and nights are cool and crisp. Even better, the Copenhagen Cooking festival makes food the central focus for 10 days in August. Visitors can enjoy chef demonstrations, live cooking stations, and plenty of tantalizing dishes during its run.

The inimitable Taste of Chicago celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2025. It takes place each month throughout the summer, but the main event, the festival that is the culmination of the food bonanza, runs in Grant Park in early September. Visitors will be able to eat to their hearts’ content, ordering grub from some of the city’s most well-known restaurants, food trucks, and fair regulars. It goes beyond a food festival though, with live music, group dance lessons, and lots more. 

Chicago is a city with various global influences, and this diversity is represented in the summer food scene. The Windy City celebrates Mole de Mayo in May, Lincoln Park Greek Fest in June, and the Summer Fair in Chinatown. Supporting the customer-facing side of the dining industry, the food trade will hold A Taste of the States: Chicago in May 2026, a huge fair for the food business. As a detour while in Chicago, visitors can check out some of the filming locations of the smash hit “The Bear,” a show that celebrates the ups and downs of the city’s culinary offerings.

Many people have heard of Shanghai, but nearby Jiangsu? Probably not. This coastal province in China inhabits an important space in the country’s cuisine, contributing one of the main strands in the pantheon of Chinese food. Some may also know Jiangsu’s method of food preparation as Su cuisine, a system of cooking that relies heavily on steaming and stewing to bring out the flavors of the ingredients. A number of dishes have gained some renown across the country, including squirrel mandarin fish, Jinling roast duck, and steamed crab meat lion’s head.

Slow cooking is a hallmark of Jiangsu cuisine, and dishes tend to lean a little sweet in their overall flavor profile. However, it is not monolithic, with slight variations within its four regions. In early 2025, Michelin earmarked Jiangsu as a place worthy of the attention of food lovers. In particular, Jiangnan Wok, in the city of Nanjing, received plaudits for its modern interpretation of its regional strand of Jiangsu food. Dingshan·Jiangyan in Suzhou also wows for its upscale classics, such as Suzhou claypot rice with braised pork.

This city in South America is remarkable for being the highest capital in the world, almost 12,000 feet above sea level. La Paz has also risen to new heights for its buzzy culinary scene, especially the street food. Dishes such as anticucho, or grilled cow hearts often served with potatoes, have delighted diners all over the city (though the dish originated in neighboring Peru). Even well-heeled restaurants are getting in on the love of street food, incorporating its tastes into their menus.

At La Rufina, which landed on the 50 Best Discovery list, Bolivian ingredients fill the menu, and the anticucho comes with many different types of chilli. The tour operator Aracari, which specializes in trips around the countries of South America, puts La Paz firmly at the top of its list of places to visit in 2025, thanks largely to its culinary prowess. It points to stalwart restaurants like Ancestral and Phayawi, as well as the Arami, whose chef, Marsia Taha Mohamed, was named the top female chef in Latin America in 2024.

The Upper Peninsula touches three of the Great Lakes, and has some unique foods like thimbleberries and pasties in store for visitors. Some of these have been around for centuries, growing wildly and harvested by local Native Americans that lived there before the Europeans arrived. Thimbleberry was a staple for the Ojibwe and Menominee, for instance, in addition to meat that they could fish, hunt, or trap. Other dishes reflect the bands of immigration in this part of the country. Pasties descended from British miners that made pies of dough filled with meat and starch, a handy and filling meal that traveled well and could be reheated without falling apart. 

Cudighi became a local staple thanks to Italians that moved to the region, and the sausage continues to be an Upper Peninsula favorite. There is even locally-tapped maple syrup available around the area. During summer, the weather is ideal, even if the mosquitoes can be fierce, and roadside stands and markets pop up all over. To find the best selection of local specialties, head to Marquette, the largest town on the peninsula, and home to a lively dining scene.

Summer in the U.S. might be winter in Australia, but even then, Noosa is a wonderful destination. Located on the Queensland coast, north of Brisbane, this region has fabulous winter weather, with days in the high 60s and cool nights. August, for instance, is one of the driest months of the year, and crowds in Noosa thin out during the Australian winter. The centerpiece of the region is the town of Noosa Heads, with the main drag of Hastings Street home to popular restaurants, cafes, and bars. 

But the town is developing beyond this commercial drag, with areas like Noosa Junction and Noosaville ramping up the scene with Asian and Latin food and new breweries and distilleries. Noosa Heads also hosts a great food event: the Noosa Eat & Drink Festival. Held in the early winter (or early summer for the U.S.), the four-day bonanza features restaurant specials, drinks on the beach at sunset, eating pop-ups, and much more.

A simple association should be enough to convince travelers of Osaka’s culinary imprint on Japanese society. One of the largest cities in the country, it is sometimes called the “Nation’s Kitchen” or “Japan’s Kitchen,” and has a dining scene of some stature. What’s more, this is a great summer to visit Osaka because it will host the World Expo 2025 running from April to October with the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”

Osaka has a few claims to food fame among the wider global audience, including the invention of instant noodles and sushi served on conveyor belts. But all over the city, tasty nibbles that are a little more varied await. Nikusui is a type of meat soup, and diners will find it at joints throughout Osaka. For some real fun, head over to Dotonbori, an area equally famous for its food as it neon signs. This is where to get classics such as takoyaki (fried dough and octopus), okonomiyaki (savory pancakes), and kushikatsu (skewered meat and vegetables).

The second-largest city in the Netherlands also impresses gourmands with its range of foods. Airbnb remarked on this point, adding Rotterdam as one of its destinations in the 2025 summer travel trend report. While Dutch staples such as poffertjes (mini pancakes), stamppot (a kind of vegetable stew), and erwtensoep (split pea soup) might be found easily enough, it’s the addition of other global dishes that make Rotterdam such a fascinating culinary destination.

Wander around the city and you will find places that serve food from Cape Verde, a string of islands in the Atlantic Ocean near Africa. Additionally, Syrian meats and pastries are a staple across Rotterdam. Elsewhere, tourists can find Moroccan dishes, Chinese noodle soups, and plates of food from Suriname, a former Dutch colony.

This South Asian country is a land of spectacle and variety, from picturesque islands that belong on your bucket list, to a pink city with luxe resorts. Shillong might not come with instant name recognition for many travelers, but the Eastern India city has its own unique food, known as Khasi cuisine. Street foods like aloo muri (puffed rice with potatoes and onions) and Shillong Kwai (betel leaf served with areca nut and lime) prompted Airbnb to add the city to its lineup of summer 2025 travel trend destinations with great food.

Visitors that want to gorge themselves on the street food in Shillong should check out the streets around Laitumkhrah and Police Bazaar. There, they will find vendors selling momos (dumplings with various fillings), noodles, and rice served with meats and chutneys. For something a little different, try tungrymbai, a Khasi classic made with vegetables and fermented fish.

There are many spots around the globe where the food can really touch your soul. To find the best places to visit in the summer of 2025, we used a variety of sources. Sites like Airbnb and the Michelin Guide helped us uncover dining trends and hotspots. We also consulted tour operators like Aracari that specialize in specific regions and the organization 50 Best to identify places where the food scene is truly special. We strived to get a good spread of locations across multiple continents so that travelers could find somewhere worth seeking out no matter the part of the world they want to visit. Pleasant seasonal weather and events also factored in.