The thriving urban foodways of cosmopolitan Athens and the deeply traditional culinary life on the island of Tinos provide for a striking and delicious contrast, one that’s even better experienced during certain seasonal moments, when everything is amplified in celebration of the Eastern Mediterranean’s culinary bounty.

For millennia, Istanbul has been the connection point for a vast web of places with distinct cultural identities, landscapes, and, of course, cuisines. These disparate influences form the great mosaic that is modern-day Istanbul cuisine, which is so much more than simply “Turkish food.”

The freshest buffalo mozzarella. Tomatoes grown on steep terraces overlooking the Bay of Naples. The world’s best noodles from “the city of pasta.” These are the building blocks of the world-famous cuisine of Campania, the southern Italian region that includes Naples, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast and Mount Vesuvius. On this exclusive-to-Milk-Street eight-day culinary tour, we get a perspective on Naples and Campania that few visitors ever do. We begin with a crash course in Neapolitan food led by Culinary Backstreets tour leader and Naples native Chiara Garofalo.

On this week-long seafood pilgrimage, we’ll delve deep into the world of barnacle hunters, oyster fisherman, lobster trap builders, razor clam-diggers, and net menders, along with the local chefs who are harnessing the incredible offerings of their coast, transforming Galician cuisine into something new and exciting. Though our focus will be seafood and the traditional artisans along this coast, we’ll be exploring all facets of Galician identity—history, folklore, architecture, music, language, and religion—and gaining a deeper understanding of its unbreakable bond with the sea.

Milk Street on the Road: Thessaloniki & the Pelion Peninsula Welcome to Thessaloniki! After checking into our hotel in the historic heart of the city, we’ll make our way to a delightful private supper club for welcome.

On this 6-day Pasta Pilgrimage in Rome and Puglia, you’ll retrace the steps Dan Pashman took while researching his new cookbook, eating at many of the same places where he ate and with many of the same people – including Dan himself!

Considering its small size, Catalonia has had a profound impact on the food world. From this bountiful territory nestled between Spain and France have come an almost hard-to-fathom number of culinary traditions and innovations, groundbreaking chefs, and iconic dishes – both new and old – that are celebrated the world over.

Emilia-Romagna, in Northern Italy, is the land of Parmigiano Reggiano, Mortadella di Bologna, Aceto Balsamico, Prosciutto di Modena, Sangiovese, Lambrusco, Barbera and Albana wines, medieval hill towns and breathtaking scenery.

Beyond the bustle of touristy central Venice is a series of small islands dotting the Venetian lagoon. This is where Venice’s wine is made, vegetables are grown, fish is caught and bread is baked.

Harvest Time in the Cradle of Wine On this mouthwatering week-long culinary trip, we’ll explore the birthplace of wine: Georgia. Expect a one-of-a-kind, multi-day trip filled with wine tastings, cooking workshops, harvest activities, and more.

A Journey Into the Heart & Soul of Mexican Cooking We like to think of Oaxaca as the heartland of Mexican cooking. All those things that seems so classically and elementally Mexican – corn, chiles, moles, mezcal – can be traced back to the fertile area that surrounds this historic city.

Immerse yourself on this multi-day trip in the complex cultural identity of Mexico City, where pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary influences collide.

Day of the Dead: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure Mexico City has a complex and fascinating cultural identity, a place where pre-Hispanic, Colonial, and contemporary influences collide in a riot of street food, bustling markets, Cathedrals built atop Aztec ruins against the backdrop of a megacity thriving with regional migrants as well as a stylish modern set.

Milk Street on the Road: Trás-os-Montes, Portugal Farm to table is the way of life in Portugal’s Trás-os-Montes region. The locals raise animals, smoke their own meats, cultivate large vegetable gardens, grow grapes for wine, and tend to impressive flower gardens.

On this weeklong exploration of pizza's birthplace, Scott Wiener will lead us on a quest to understand all the working parts of traditional Neapolitan pizza while chasing the subject's more ethereal elements. We'll tuck into perfect pizza of all shapes and sizes – fried, baked, crowned, folded up like a wallet – and learn pizza-making techniques directly from the cadre of pizzaioli who have dedicated their lives to this tradition.

Be it urban or rural, there’s something wild, exuberant and utterly delicious about Basque Country, a small but mighty region that straddles the northwest border of Spain and France. Besides the area’s unique language and culture, the Basque Country’s cooking stands apart, with recipes and dishes – both old and new – that are famous the world over (Basque cheesecake, anyone?).

Nestled between Europe’s most volatile volcano, Mount Vesuvius, and the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean, Naples is a city of vivid beauty and intense street life, where a rich and deeply layered history is matched only by the local – and now world-famous – cuisine. This is a city of multitudes, and one which will stimulate all your senses.

Our trip begins in Osaka, a historic port and one of Japan’s largest cities, but also a place known for its laid back and fun vibe – and, above all, its love for eating and insatiable appetite for umami-laden flavors.

Milk Street on the Road: Penang Fragrant with lemongrass, galangal, ginger, coconut and spices, the food of Malaysia’s Penang tells a story of geography, trade, class and time. From the intricately prepared dishes of the Nyonya Peranakan culture to the vibrant hawker stall scene to the farms and fisheries of the rural lands, Penang is a rich classroom for the culinary traveler.

Milk Street on the Road: Baking Intensive in the Cotswolds & London We meet in the Cotswolds, a pre-Roman agricultural region famous for sheep farming, golden-stone architecture and beautiful landscapes. There we’ll immerse ourselves in regenerative wheat farming at a nonprofit farm education center and mill flour at an 8th-generation mill.

By the grace of geography, Istanbul sits astride one of the planet’s most monumental crossroads, bridging Europe and Asia and connecting diverse cultures — and their cuisines — since before the time of the Byzantines.

Rich mole, fresh fruit paletas, warm corn tortillas: these are the flavors of Oaxaca. In this weeklong trip available only to the Milk Street and Culinary Backstreets audiences, you’ll get a perspective on Oaxaca that casual tourists never get to see.

Milk Street on the Road: Mexico City Follow in Christopher Kimball’s footsteps during a weeklong immersion into the culinary traditions of Mexico City. This trip brings together the best of Milk Street’s and Culinary Backstreets’ networks and offers guests a one-of-a-kind introduction to a vibrant metropolis where pre- and post-colonial foods and culture collide and combine.

Lisbon is one of the world’s greatest food cities, and on this multi-day culinary trip you’ll experience the very best of it. Visit markets and farms, meet fishermen and bakers, learn to make Portuguese specialties, enjoy exclusive performances and eat and drink glorious delicacies, all while getting the chance to explore one of Europe’s most beautiful cities.