🍴Food & drink

Best Countries for Food Lovers in 2026

By WanderTourScore EditorialPublished 22 March 2026Last updated 22 March 2026

We ranked 25 countries for food-focused travel using a food-specific model that keeps dining-scene breadth at the center, adds a culinary-prestige layer from distinguished restaurants and gastronomy-city recognitions, and then uses culture, safety, and development as lighter support signals. It is designed to surface destinations that work especially well for real-world food trips.

#	Country	Culinary Fit	🍴 Food & Cuisine	🏛️ Culture & Heritage	🛡️ Safety
1	🇯🇵JapanEastern Asia	82	84	80	87
2	🇳🇱NetherlandsWestern Europe	81	82	64	78
3	🇬🇧United KingdomNorthern Europe	81	73	87	71
4	🇫🇷FranceWestern Europe	81	77	97	64
5	🇮🇹ItalySouthern Europe	81	78	100	77
6	🇪🇸SpainSouthern Europe	80	75	95	76
7	🇨🇭SwitzerlandWestern Europe	78	77	64	83
8	🇧🇪BelgiumWestern Europe	77	75	69	73
9	🇩🇪GermanyWestern Europe	74	68	98	74
10	🇨🇳ChinaEastern Asia	71	47	100	73
11	🇸🇪SwedenNorthern Europe	70	69	67	71
12	🇵🇹PortugalSouthern Europe	70	68	70	79
13	🇺🇸United StatesNorth America	69	61	80	38
14	🇩🇰DenmarkNorthern Europe	67	62	62	78
15	🇦🇹AustriaCentral Europe	67	68	62	78
16	🇳🇴NorwayNorthern Europe	64	69	53	77
17	🇰🇷South KoreaEastern Asia	64	65	70	79
18	🇲🇽MexicoNorth America	64	57	87	24
19	🇦🇺AustraliaAustralia and New Zealand	63	52	75	77
20	🇧🇷BrazilSouth America	63	61	79	26
21	🇹🇷TurkeyWestern Asia	61	62	76	41
22	🇨🇿CzechiaCentral Europe	61	57	70	79
23	🇬🇷GreeceSouthern Europe	60	58	74	73
24	🇮🇪IrelandNorthern Europe	59	63	27	76
25	🇭🇷CroatiaSoutheast Europe	59	59	58	78

Methodology

This guide uses a food-specific travel model. The foundation is our core food score built from OpenStreetMap restaurant density and cuisine diversity plus open prestige signals from Wikidata and UNESCO-backed gastronomy city recognitions. It then adds a separate culinary-prestige layer that averages distinguished restaurant depth and gastronomy-city recognition, with culture, safety, and development as lighter support signals. The result favors destinations that pair broad everyday eating with culinary reputation and easier trip planning. Countries with a Level 3+ US State Department travel advisory are excluded. Learn more about our methodology on the About page.

Data current as of May 2026 and may change. Rankings are generated algorithmically from publicly available datasets and are not a substitute for independent research. Do not rely solely on this information when making travel decisions. Always verify conditions with official government sources. Terms of Use · About our data