Cooking with Locals: the Best Hands-on Culinary Tours around the Globe

Can you imagine not only being able to dine on fresh regional dishes while travelling, but to also learn how to prepare them yourself? Many of the guides on ToursByLocals love to cook, and enjoy sharing their culinary know-how with travellers. It’s a great (and delicious) way to immerse yourself in the local culture, by participating in the social rituals that go into the preparing and sharing of a meal.

Below we highlight a few of the culturally-immersive cooking tours offered by ToursByLocals guides around the world. As with all tours on our platform, these are private experiences – just you, your travel companions, and your guide/chef. Have fun learning to make a classic dish, and then challenge yourself to recreate it with friends back at home.

Local Cooking Classes with ToursByLocals

Tuscan Cooking Class

Massimo lives “under the Tuscan sun”, and was born in Peccioli, a country village in Italy, and home to some of the world’s most mouth-watering cuisine. Head with him to his small family-run olive farm, where the resident “Mamma” can teach you how to make traditional Tuscan dishes. Then sit down and enjoy your family-style meal with a selection of local wines.

Learn more: Tuscany Cooking Class.

Santorini Cooking Class

Santorini is legendary for its whitewashed villages and celadon sky. But if you really want to get under the skin of this volcanic island, take a local cooking class with guide Amani. After walking through some of Santorini’s volcanic vineyards, you can sample traditional Greek aperitifs such as Raki and Ouzo, and learn how to cook like a Greek under the guidance of a local chef at a traditional restaurant.

Learn more: Cook like a Greek with Amani.

Catalan Cooking Class

Not far outside of Girona and Figueres lies a little Catalan village called Capmany, home to accomplished local chef, Yves. Yves is a guide whose passion for cooking outweighs all else; his tours focus exclusively on helping guests to prepare and enjoy the fresh local ingredients and regional cuisine of the Catalan region of Spain. On this tour, you’ll get to visit a local farm to harvest fresh off the vine vegetables for your meal, then return to Yves’ 14th century village home to cook at his outdoor kitchen. Sounds absolutely idyllic!

Learn more: Farm to table in Spain’s Costa Brava.

Tokyo Cooking Class

With your guide Sachiko at your side, you can browse the stalls at Tsukiji Outer Fish Market, a long-standing establishment in Tokyo. You’re guaranteed to see items you’ve never encountered at home! Your guide will teach you about what you’re looking at, then you’ll get to see the ingredients come to life as you take a cooking class given by a licensed sushi master, the professional chef of a famous sushi restaurant in Tsukiji.

Learn more: Prepare traditional Japanese sushi with Sachiko.

Mexico City Cooking Class

Get an in-depth look at a traditional neighbourhood, while also getting a hands-on introduction to authentic Mexican cooking on this cultural tour with enthusiastic chef and foodie. Jacqueline's cooking class will introduce you to a well-known local chef, and help you dive into both Mexican food and culture, after a visit to a local museum and market.

Learn more: Cook in Mexico City with Jacqueline.

Montreal Global Fusion Cooking Class

Spend time learning some professional cooking techniques with a Michelin-star chef! Together with your host Robert, you will create four courses inspired by Montreal's global food cultures, learning professional techniques, flavour development, and how to plate a dish.

Learn more: Montreal's global food cultures cooking class with Robert.

Balinese Cooking Class

Balinese meals rely on a unique mixture of Indonesian spices to achieve their unique flavours. On this tour with your local guide Agung, you’ll get a chance few tourists do: to go inside a traditional Balinese family compound and spend time cooking with the family who have lived there for generations. Go inside a traditional Balinese kitchen and learn how to grind, mix and prepare the herbs and spices that create the texture and flavour unique to Balinese dishes.

Learn more: Family cooking class in Bali, Indonesia.

Not travelling internationally right now? ToursByLocals offers virtual cooking classes too! You can learn to make Italian meatballs, Portuguese pastries, and so much more in an hour long private online cooking class with a guide in their own kitchen halfway across the world.