3.5-Hour Walking Food Tour

Granada still serves a free tapa with every drink, and this 3.5-hour guided walk turns that habit into a full dinner across a run of old-town bars. The guide places the order at each stop and the plates keep coming. From $81 per person, rated 4.9 across 590 reviews.

Overview

Spain Food Sherpas runs this 3.5-hour walking tour through Granada, tying family-run businesses, tapas bars, restaurants and foodie hotspots together with enough included food and drink to count as a full meal. An English-speaking foodie guide leads the route, covering the Sephardic, Berber, Nasrid and Roman influences behind the city's cooking, and the way ham is cured in Alpujarra mountain villages and dried with fresh Sierra Nevada air.

Tastings cover Serrano ham from Granada and Iberian ham from Andalusia, plus Tinto de Verano and wines produced in the local region, poured in settings that include one of the oldest taverns in the city. The route also takes in the Chikito restaurant, where local recipes are sampled in a dining room that hosted local artists, writers and poets in the early 1900s. Groups are capped at 10 participants.

It suits travellers who want the story behind the plate. Reviewers praise guides who connect Granada's past to its food, and one recommends taking it early in a stay to learn the area, its traditions and its foods. The meeting point is C. Acera del Casino in the Centro district, and with no hotel pickup you simply arrive on foot.

What's Included

Itinerary

1. Meet your guideThe tour sets off from C. Acera del Casino, 7, in the Centro district. Pickup and drop-off are not included, so everyone arrives at the address on their own.
2. Food history primerYour English-speaking guide introduces the Sephardic, Berber, Nasrid and Roman influences behind Granada's cuisine and explains how traditional foods are produced across the province.
3. Ham tastingsYou taste Serrano ham from Granada and Iberian ham from Andalusia while hearing how legs are cured in Alpujarra mountain villages and dried with fresh Sierra Nevada air. On Saturday evenings the Iberian ham tasting is not included.
4. Old tavern drinksThe route calls at one of the oldest taverns in Granada, where tastings include Tinto de Verano and wines produced in the local Granada region.
5. Tapas bars and shopsBetween stops the group visits family-run businesses, tapas bars, restaurants and foodie hotspots, sampling traditional dishes along the way.
6. Tasting at ChikitoLocal recipes are sampled at the Chikito restaurant. The dining room hosted gatherings of local artists, writers and poets in the early 1900s.

What To Expect From The Tour

A few practical points are worth sorting before you book, from appetite to dietary needs.

• Come hungry. The included food and drinks are described as sufficient for a full lunch or dinner. Traveller feedback on this tour applauds the generous dishes and good wines, so it helps to arrive with an appetite.
• Pace and walking. This tour moves between stops on foot. Multiple reviewers described a relaxed pace, eating at a comfortable speed and walking between venues without feeling rushed.
• Group size. The listing caps the group at 10 participants with an English-speaking food guide. Reviewers repeatedly describe the guides as knowledgeable and friendly, with a strong grip on the food, wine and history of the region.
• Dietary requirements. Indicate any specific dietary requirements when booking, as the listing advises. Cured ham and wine sit at the centre of the tastings, so restrictions in those areas matter.
• Extra costs. Additional drinks beyond the included tastings are paid for separately. On Saturday evenings the Iberian ham tasting is not included either.
• After the tour. Two reviewers mentioned follow-up material sent by their guide once the tour wrapped up. One covered everything the group ate and drank, while the other pointed to further restaurants and bars.

Common issues. There is no hotel pickup or drop-off, so you make your own way to C. Acera del Casino. Additional drinks are not covered, and the Iberian ham tasting is excluded on Saturday evenings. Some travellers found the portions generous to a fault, saying smaller servings would have let them sample more variety. Dietary requirements must be flagged at the time of booking, and cancellations need to be made at least 24 hours in advance for a full refund.

Common Questions