A new culinary trail puts you at the center of French gastronomy

11.08.2023 - 13:57 / lonelyplanet.com

Travelers can now get their fill of French favorites via 459 (and counting!) different culinary experiences along the country’s new Vallée de la Gastronomie food trail. (No marathon required.) It’s a food and wine lover’s road trip dream come true – and summer and fall offer up some of the trail’s best experiences. 

In France, food and wine are key parts of cultural identity. The unique terroirs, agricultural traditions and tastes from each region and department weave together to create a culinary fabric that is undeniably French. This importance even led to the addition of the French gastronomic meal to Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 2010. Last year, the designation was even awarded to the French baguette. 

Exceptional wine varieties, escargots in bubbling butter, herbaceous aperitifs, seemingly infinite styles of cheese, delicate pastries, spicy mustards, aromatic black truffles and (yes) chewy, crusty baguettes: consider these merely the amuse-bouches on a long list of quintessential French specialties available on this culinary trail, which stretches from Dijon through Lyon to Marseille. 

Rolled out locally in 2020 and internationally in 2022, the 459 vetted activities along the Vallée de la Gastronomie are designed to allow expert gourmets and casual epicures to design their dream food-and-wine road trip. Travelers can book experiences as they see fit: perhaps just a meal or two at a Michelin-starred restaurant to enhance an already planned trip, or else a purpose-built journey with multiple stops along the 385-mile trail. Activities range from winery visits with grand cru tastings, indulging in the menu at an all-chocolate restaurant and stomach-busting food tours through France’s gastronomic capital of Lyon, to off-the-beaten-plate experiences like Périgord truffle hunting, crafting your own mustard in Dijon or creating a bottle of your own vintage blend from regional Côtes du Rhône, chardonnay or Burgundy varietals. 

Travelers can incorporate as many elements from the trail into their itinerary as they desire and make their way through the Burgundy, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence regions of eastern France at their own pace. Although the trail’s main artery connects cities along the A7 highway, participating hosts for the Vallée de la Gastronomie are sprinkled throughout the surrounding countryside, giving travelers delicious detours and behind-the-scenes looks into the smaller communities and producers behind some of France’s most epic food and wine products. 

Personalized itineraries can be built out on the Vallée de la Gastronomie website, where travelers can search and filter experiences, then contact participating hosts to book. It’s a completely customizable