Sun-splashed Alicante is a mecca for great food and wine. This 2-hour gourmet food walking tour offers a delicious introduction to all that is edible in this cobblestone street–laced Spanish town. With a professional guide, sample everything from salted fish, nougat, cured meat, olive oil, sweet biscuits and, of course, local wine, which has long been noted for its superior quality. And if that’s not enough, you'll also learn all about the history of the region from the professional guide.
The area around Alicante has been inhabited for more than 7,000 years. That’s a lot of time for the people of this region to perfect their food and drink — and that they have. This 2-hour walking tour comfortably traverses the narrow cobblestone lanes of this city of 333,000 people, revealing all that is delicious and unique.
Start by drinking some horchata, one of the oldest beverages in the world, drunk by the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Made with chufa or tiger nut, the drink was introduced to Spain during the Muslim presence on the peninsula from the 8th to the 13th centuries.
While strolling down the narrow streets of the city, learn about the history of the place from the local guide. There are many unique eats here. Try freshly backed coca de mollitas, a salty tart with a crumbled dough topping, and coca amb tonyina, a tuna-based pastry that is way more delicious than it sounds.
Other products to try include olive oil, cured meat, and salted fish, a dish that goes back to the ancient Roman occupation. You'll also sample Alicante's renowned wine. French monarch King Louis XIV apparently asked for some Alicante wine on his deathbed and Queen Elizabeth I was said to love wine from the area.
In the end, you’ll not only have an excellent primer on the food and drink of Alicante, you’ll have a belly full of high quality eats.
A great tour, our guide Carlos was a true local, well prepared and knowledgable about the area and customs. We had a great time with plenty to eat and drink. Well worth the trip!
Review by: eleniwilliams, October 2017
Excellent! Guide, food and itinerary of 'eating establishments' from the market stalls to the wine bar! All top class!
Review by: Emearg, July 2017
Enjoyed the food.
Review by: John M, June 2017
What a fun tour! Our samplings were SO educational e.g., the four different classes of Spanish ham and so fun, thinks to our wonderful guide, Henar Valor. She was friendly, knowledgeable, and intent on teaching us everything about the foods of her region. Her English was great! We sampled sausages at one stall in a covered market, cheeses at another, coca and nougat at a vendor cart, olive oil with fresh dipping bread in a retail store, and fresh fruits in the Mercado Central. She even took us into a fascinating museum that the locals love Museu de Fogueres. Not the best tour for wine-tasting just one wine shop with just one wine tasted, but everything else was tops!
Review by: FREDA M, May 2017
Late review._br/_ It was a great tour, visited Museu de Hogueras.Tasted tuna,jamon,fruit,wine oil,nougat.......a really well thought-out trip._br/_ Guide young and very enthusiastic._br/_ Strongly recommended.
Review by: Jo L, March 2017
A nice stroll with a very nice guide. He explained a lot and enriched our stay. We stopped several places for tasting, but to call it gourmet is maybe stretching it a bit. All in all a good inexpensive experience :
Review by: Dee C, March 2017
Henar our tour guide was amazing, very friendly and obviously loves her job. Enjoyed tasting the foods we would not have otherwise tried. Would have been nice to try some unusual fruit, rather than the everyday fruit like oranges, kiwi, pineapple etc. Although not a lot of walking it would be nice to sit down while trying the food as was very tired after the tour from all the standing. Glad the weather was not too hot 23 degrees, would be challenging if any warmer. A great tour and would not hesitate to recommend.
Review by: alannatieppolo, March 2017
We had an amazing time on this tour! It includes a bit of history about Alicante too which we really enjoyed. The food was also AMAZING and all the different shops and stand we so generous with the potions they let us try. DEFINITELY recommend it!
Review by: Kim M, February 2017
Fabulous! We had the best tour guide with excellent knowledge of the history, culture and food of Alicante. Everyone should go on this tour. Many tastings including ham, fish, nougat, wine, cake....
Review by: Clive P, January 2017
We went on this tour last Saturday morning, as we had the time spare before heading back to the airport for our flight home. We met the guide and her colleague at the far end of the Explanada - there was us two, the guide, her colleague and 3 other girls. Unfortunately, it was pouring with rain for most of the two hours, and our guide Henar didn't like to stop for too long to tell us more about the historic buildings along the route. It was great to see even just a little of the town, as well as tasting quite a few of the local specialities. One of our stops was in the Mercado, where we tasted some dried ham, some salt fish and some Spanish fruit. However - instead of the fruit we can get it all in the UK, it would have been nice to have sampled some of the local turron, which was not included in the tour we went on. We also found it rather difficult to understand Henar's English - in the end we just gave up on it, and just enjoyed the tour and tasting the local specialties. Everyone on our tour spoke English, so it would have been much better to have had someone who speaks English better than she did - she also spoke very quickly, so it made things difficult for us. However, having said all that, we really enjoyed the two-hour trip it went by really quickly and were really glad that we booked it up for that morning. Just a shame about the ghastly wet weather! Would definitely recommend this to people who are interested in tasting some of Alicante's foodie specialties! Mmm, I can still taste those little pastries we enjoyed at a little bakers' shop!
Review by: ANGELA d, December 2016
We went on this tour on 9th Dec it was superb, our guide was charming and interesting and took us to places we had never seen. The food sampling was very interesting . we visited the Museum and she gave us lots of information. also answered any questions we had about Alicante in general. Well worth the money .As there were only 4 in our group it made it a very personal experience. Keep up the good work.
Review by: Marian M, June 2016
Very good value. Not too much walking, a nice small group and a nice slow pace. Our guide spoke excllent English and was very helpful. We enjoyed sampling all the local dishes, and the wine although it was a bit early in the day to enjoy too much wine!_br/_ There was also a local festival taking place and our guide was happy to elaborate on the festivities and local events. Very good value for money and a lovely way to spend the morning.
Review by: patricia.malloy, February 2016
Guide was knowledgeable and really nice. It was great seeing parts of Alicante that we had not experienced before.
Review by: Trine-Lise S A, February 2016
Great Tour! Learned a lot about Alicante. Could have been more tapas and wine!!
Review by: John S, February 2016
Fantastic food and wine tour of the local area! Very knowledgeable tour guide and a fantastic way to spend 3 hours of your day!!
Review by: Michael F, January 2016
Excellent walking tour with great snacks at various bars/shops/market. With our guide Pilar and a family of 4 from Argentina our tour lasted nearly 3 hrs. We all learned about the history of Alicante and the various food and drink we were offered. Great value for money and a really pleasant way to spend a morning in this wonderful city. Highly recommended.
Review by: Guy P, December 2015
Very good - Cristina our tour guide was very knowledgable, helpful, engaging and made our tour very interesting - 10 out of 10
Review by: Ann H, December 2015
What a great tour! Our guide, Cristina, was brilliant. Took us all over the place trying different foods and telling us about Alicante. Loved the olive oils and fruits. Not quite so keen on the salty fish! Highly recommend this tour. Lasted about 3 hours and ended with a lovely large glass of red wine. Perfect.
Review by: barbara R, November 2015
Wonderful guide spoke perfect English we enjoyed the stops but enjoyed more the mountain of information given to us on Alicante. We have been to Alicante loads of times but never have we seen so much or learnt so many interesting facts. How they do it for the money we paid I have no idea. Go if you are thinking about it just go you won't regret it at all.
Review by: Joanne N, October 2015
This was completely fabulous. I would recommend it to all going to Alicante._br/_ The guide was very knowledgeable and funny, the pace was excellent and reflected the fact that we were on holiday - it was relaxed, entertaining and very enjoyable. The food variety was great and relaly pushed us to try new things. Totally brilliant - set this up for all cities!!_br/_ What a great way to see and experience Alicante!
Review by: Elizabeth H, September 2015
We were a group of four ladies in Alicante for a weekend trip looking for something different to do. We were not disappointed Cristina our tour guide was lovely and very knowledgable about the history of Alicante. We walked through the old town visited the cathedral and a very unusual museum. We tasted dried salted fish, hams, cheese, sausage, black pudding and for the sweet tooth almond cake, nougat and of course a little wine. We would highly recommend the tour it was worth every penny.
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