Take a Culinary Tour, or Explore on Your Own?

In honor of next weekend's holiday -- Independence Day -- I'm mulling over the pros and cons of taking an organized culinary tour in a destination, versus wandering and nibbling on your own.

I'm just back from my second trip to Shanghai, and this time I took a wonderful culinary tour with Luxury Concierge Shanghai, arranged by the Langham Yangtze Boutique hotel, where I stayed. On my first trip, I just checked things out on my own.

As a traveler, I'm personally much more inclined to set off on my own, even with a language barrier. (The only Chinese words I know are "hello", "thank you" and "cat". ) The advantage of independence is being able to follow your own instincts, and also the chance for those serendipitous discoveries that often become enduring memories. The disadvantage is that your instincts might lead you into nothing much in particular, and you can easily overlook something wonderful. For independent culinary travel, the key is really advance research.

I've really come around to the benefit of an organized culinary tour, though. (I've just added new tour operator profiles, one for Hungary, and one for Israel.) On a good one, you'll get the advantage of local, insider knowledge, and a sense of comfort and familiarity with the local cuisine.

To my mind, the best way to travel is to combine both approaches. Take a culinary tour and reserve time to explore on your own thereafter. Serendipity plus knowledge are a potent combination! What do you think?

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Photo: Alison Stein Wellner}