Europe’s Most Underrated Food Destinations 2025

The classic European food capitals — Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Copenhagen — deserve every superlative they receive. But some of the most exciting food experiences in Europe are happening in cities that rarely make the international food media’s radar. These are the places where food culture is still driven by locals rather than tourists, where prices are honest, and where a curious traveller can still make genuine discoveries. Here are eight European cities that serious food travellers are choosing in 2025.

Tbilisi, Georgia

Tbilisi consistently astonishes food travellers who arrive knowing little about Georgian cuisine and leave planning return trips. The food is unlike anything else in Europe — the walnut sauces, the sour plum condiments, the herb-filled dumplings, the boat-shaped cheese breads — and it is almost entirely unknown outside the Caucasus region. Georgians treat hospitality as a near-sacred obligation, which means eating well here is not just about the food but about the entire experience of welcome and generosity. Explore our full Tbilisi, Georgia food guide →

Thessaloniki, Greece

Ask any Greek food lover where to eat in Greece and the answer is rarely Athens. Thessaloniki, the country’s second city and its historic northern capital, is considered by many to have the finest food culture in the country. The city’s Ottoman and Byzantine heritage, its Sephardic Jewish culinary traditions, and its proximity to the agricultural abundance of Macedonia combine to produce a food scene of remarkable depth and variety. The bougatsa (cream-filled pastry), the soutzoukakia (spiced meatballs in tomato), and the extraordinary seafood all merit a dedicated trip. Explore our full Thessaloniki, Greece food guide →

Porto, Portugal

Porto is increasingly discovered by food travellers, but it still operates well below the international profile of Lisbon. The city’s food culture is intensely local — the tripas à moda do Porto (tripe stew) that gave the city’s inhabitants the nickname “tripeiros”, the francesinha (the spectacular layered sandwich in beer sauce), and the extraordinary wine culture of the Douro Valley immediately to the east all make Porto one of Europe’s most rewarding and distinctive food destinations. Explore our full Porto, Portugal food guide →

Valletta, Malta

Valletta, Europe’s smallest capital city, has a food culture that vastly exceeds its size. Maltese cuisine is a fascinating fusion of Italian, North African, Arab, and British influences — a reflection of the island’s extraordinary history as a crossroads of Mediterranean civilisations. The pastizzi (flaky pastry parcels filled with ricotta or mushy peas) sold from street kiosks are the city’s most beloved snack. The traditional fenek (rabbit) preparations and the fresh seafood from the Grand Harbour are essential eating. Explore our full Valletta, Malta food guide →

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city and the 2019 European Capital of Culture, has one of the most underappreciated food scenes in the Balkans. The city’s beautifully preserved Old Town is home to dozens of mehanas (traditional Bulgarian taverns) serving shopska salad, kavarma (clay pot stew), and banitsa (cheese-filled pastry) at prices that seem impossibly low by Western European standards. Plovdiv’s weekly farmers’ market and the restaurant strip along Kapana (the Trap) creative quarter offer excellent contemporary Bulgarian cooking. Explore our full Plovdiv, Bulgaria food guide →

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Ljubljana is perhaps Europe’s most underrated food capital outright. The Slovenian capital draws heavily on the excellent agricultural traditions of the country — the karst region’s cured meats, the coastal Adriatic seafood, the Alpine dairy products, and the extraordinary variety of wild mushrooms and foraged ingredients — and its chefs have developed a contemporary Slovenian cuisine that is confident, seasonal, and internationally underrecognised. The Central Market and the restaurant scene along the Ljubljanica River are the best places to start. Explore our full Ljubljana, Slovenia food guide →

Ghent, Belgium

Ghent has a strong claim to being Belgium’s best food city, which in a country that takes food with the utmost seriousness is no small achievement. The city’s waterzooi — a creamy chicken or fish stew invented here in the Middle Ages — is one of Belgium’s great dishes, and the contemporary restaurant scene around the Patershol district and along the Graslei is consistently excellent. Ghent is also Europe’s most vegetarian-friendly city after Berlin, having introduced Meat Free Thursdays as a civic initiative in 2009. Explore our full Ghent, Belgium food guide →

Kosice, Slovakia

Kosice, Slovakia’s second city and the Eastern European Cultural Capital of 2013, is almost entirely unknown to international food travellers and is the better for it. The city’s Old Town is immaculately preserved, the restaurant scene is excellent and extremely affordable, and the Slovak culinary traditions — bryndzové halušky (sheep’s cheese dumplings), kapustnica (sauerkraut soup), and the extraordinary range of Central European pastries — are served without self-consciousness or tourist pricing. Kosice is the kind of food discovery that makes travel worthwhile. Explore our full Kosice, Slovakia food guide →

The best food experiences in Europe are often found in the cities the guidebooks have not yet caught up with. All eight of these destinations reward the curious food traveller with authenticity, value, and the particular pleasure of eating somewhere that has not yet been optimised for international visitors. Explore all our city food guides to plan your next food adventure.