Some of our best travel memories are built around a meal: the crunch of a fresh banh mi, a plate of pintxos passed down the bar, the first bite of a warm croissant. If food is how you and your partner explore a place, your honeymoon should be planned around it.
The destinations below put food at the centre of the trip. Further down, we cover the part most guides skip: how Australian couples actually pay for a food-led honeymoon without blowing the wedding budget.
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo holds more Michelin stars than any other city on earth, but the real joy is at street level. Food-loving couples can take a sushi class with a professional chef, learn to pick fresh fish and pair it with properly seasoned rice, then wander the stalls around the old Tsukiji outer market for grilled skewers and tamagoyaki.
Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi runs on street food, from fragrant bowls of pho to the addictive crunch of banh mi. Recipes here are handed down through generations and cooked the same way they have been for decades. Join a pho tasting walk, pull up a plastic stool at a busy corner vendor, or book a table at one of the city's smarter restaurants for a slower night.
Paris, France
Paris pairs romance with serious eating. Patisseries, boulangeries and wine bars sit on almost every corner, and there is a new find around each one. Book a wine and cheese tasting with a sommelier who can teach you how to match the two, or spend a morning learning to fold and bake your own croissants.
San Sebastian, Spain
San Sebastian, in Spain's Basque Country, has one of the highest concentrations of Michelin-starred restaurants anywhere. Skip the white tablecloths for a night and do a pintxos crawl instead, moving bar to bar and eating small plates with a glass of txakoli. A Basque cooking class rounds out the trip.
Athens, Greece
Athens serves tangy cheeses, slow-baked moussaka and food shaped by ancient tradition. Tour an olive orchard and taste oils pressed from trees that are older than most cities, then eat your way through the central market and a few family-run tavernas.
How to pay for a food-led honeymoon without the stress
A trip like this is not cheap, and it usually falls due right after a wedding. This is where a honeymoon fund earns its keep. Instead of adding physical gifts you do not have room for, you can list experiences on your registry, a tasting tour, a night in a special restaurant, a cooking class, and let guests contribute towards them.
Plenty of Australian couples already live together and would rather be shouted a memorable meal than given another appliance. Our guide to purchasing travel and honeymoon gifts covers how to set experiences up, and if you want help wording the request, our wishing well and honeymoon fund wording gives you lines you can copy straight into your invitations. Many couples run the honeymoon fund inside a wedding wishing well, which keeps the cash request gracious.
If your guest list leans towards group gifts, several people can chip in on one big experience through a group gift rather than everyone buying something small. And if you are still deciding what belongs on the list at all, our guide to a wedding cash fund shows how to combine items, cash and experiences in the one place.
Add your dream trip to your registry
EasyRegistry lets you build a wedding registry that mixes any item from any store with honeymoon contributions and a wishing well. Add the tasting tour in Tokyo or the cooking class in San Sebastian, share one link, and make it easy for family and friends to give you a honeymoon you will be talking about for years. Start yours at EasyRegistry.