Give the Gift of Culinary Travel

Since the best holiday gift is the gift of travel, why don't you plan a delicious food itinerary for yourself and your favorite partner in crime?

It's an easy gift to wrap: just print out your confirmations (be classy, use a Sharpie to blacken out prices), fold, secure with a ribbon and voilà.

A few ideas to get you started:

• Get Your Wine On: This is a winning trip to gift in so many ways.  Wine country is always beautiful, you sample wine along the way, you stock up your cellar and who knows -- you may even join a wine club to keep the holiday spirit rolling all year long. Check out the top five wine destinations in the United States.
• Reserve the Very Best: If your hard-to-shop-for someone is glued to the Food Network or to Bravo's food programming, plan a very special meal at one of the country's few restaurants that have been awarded with three Michelin stars. Bonus: you get to experience New York, Chicago or San Francisco.
• Head North: For an international culinary vacation that's still close at hand, consider out neighbors to the North, i.e. Canada. Take into account your intended giftee's preferences, and plan a trip to savor Montreal's microbrews, Halifax's seafood specialties, or Toronto's sake scene.
• Go for Smoke: You can build an entire vacation around barbecue, I promise you that. The easiest way is to reserve seats at BBQ University at the Broadmoor in Colorado, but a more budget friendly alternative would be to investigate North Carolina's deliciously divided barbecue joints.