A foodie hotspot isn’t just one where the food is top-notch: it’s also where there’s a phenomenal choice of food. Foodie cities have both a huge number of high-quality establishments and a tonne of them in general, making them perfect for gorging out on nosh. That’s the idea, anyway.
But which cities in Europe are the continent’s foodie capitals? Well, to find out, a study by luggage storage firm Bounce has looked at factors including the number of eateries per 100,000 people, the number of Michelin-starred restaurants and the ratio of restaurants to fast food joints. It also looked at social media-related stuff, too, analysing ‘foodie’ interactions on TikTok and Instagram.
Top of Bounce’s study came Paris. Surprise, surprise. Thanks to having a whopping 910 eateries per 100,000 residents but also for having tonnes of ‘food’ interaction on TikTok and Instagram, the French capital was the study’s clear winner.
Next up in the list was Madrid, which had the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants of any city in the list, followed by Barcelona, which, like Paris, boasted a large number of eateries.
Elsewhere on the list, Lisbon boasted both the highest number of eateries per 100,000 people and the fewest proportion of fast food outlets, while London was crowned the city with the most ‘photogenic’ food – meaning that it was posted about the most on social media.
Here are the top ten foodie capitals for 2023, according to Bounce.
- Paris, France
- Madrid, Spain
- Barcelona, Spain
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- London, UK
- Berlin, Germany
- Vienna, Austria
- Munich, Germany
- Rome, Italy
None of which are too surprising, TBH. After all, the continent’s biggest and most visited cities are also likely to be those with the most restaurants and ‘foodie’ interactions, and therefore the most likely to score highest in this kind of study.
You can read Bounce’s full study here – and for some different takes, check out these other ‘food capital’ rankings by TripAdvisor and Condé Nast Traveller.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for the latest travel news and the best stuff happening across the world.