It’s no secret that London is one of the most progressive cities when it comes to wining and dining. The capital is chock-a-block with innovative restaurants, old-school taverns dating back centuries, and tasty street food markets, and one of the best ways to explore it is by embarking on a tour with an expert local guide. Whether you’re looking to explore the vegan dining scene or just want to eat your way around the city, there’s bound to be a tour suited to your palate. Here’s our guide to the top London tours for food lovers.
Some of the booking links in this article are affiliated. This supports all of the free advice and help we provide every day, at no extra cost to you… so thank you!
Image Courtesy of Rebel
Get to know the vegan scene on this Plant Power Vegan Food Tour
Enjoy the culinary delights of Camden Town on the Plant Power Vegan Food Tour, where you’ll get to explore the vibrant neighbourhood whilst sampling delicious plant-based snacks from the borough’s top eateries. Eat your way through Camden and learn about the history of this diverse area of London, like how it was established as a working-class district but became a powerhouse for the punk and goth movement in the ‘70s. The tour is usually led by insider Ellie, who will take you to try all kinds of tasty treats, like a vegan milkshake from a local favourite Camden market stall and fried chicken you’ll swear is chicken.
Plant Power Vegan Food Tour | Camden Town
Image Courtesy of Eating Europe
Explore culture, creativity and the culinary delights of the East End
Explore the Land of the Cockney on this East End Food Tour, taking you through the diverse East End to try some of London’s most iconic dishes. This hip and historic neighbourhood has long been the city’s epicentre of culture and creativity, including vibrant street art and the Brick Lane dining scene. You’ll enjoy six tasting experiences, including the best city house on Brick Lane. Brick Lane is renowned for its curry houses, thanks to immigrants that began to settle here in the early 1970s, bringing the delicious dishes of their country with them. It’s also home to the legendary Beigel Bake, London’s most famous bagel spot that’s been around since the ‘70s; you’ll have the chance to skip the queues and try it for yourself.
East End Food Tour | Brick Lane
Image Courtesy of Viator
Eat all the cheese on The London Cheese Crawl
If you consider yourself a turophile (a lover of cheese), you’ll love this walking cheese tour, where you’ll get to sample London’s finest cheeses. It starts in Mayfair, where you’ll get to try blue cheese from a counter that’s been serving customers for more than 300 years and selling tonnes of Stilton every December. You’ll head to Covent Garden, tasting many different kinds of cheese along the way. Tuck into London’s tastiest toastie at Fortnum & Mason before stopping by Little Italy in Soho to enjoy some of the best baked Camembert in the city. There will even be an interactive cheese-related quiz to keep your brain ticking.
The Cheese Crawl | Mayfair
Satisfy your sweet tooth on this Mayfair Chocolate Tour
Next on our list of the Top London Tours for food lovers is Jennifer’s Mayfair Chocolate Ecstasy tour. You’ll embark on a sensory adventure, visiting famous chocolatiers, patisseries and candy stores in Mayfair, Piccadilly and Soho. You’ll sip on indulgent hot chocolate and eat decadent truffles and chocolates enjoyed by The Queen and Roald Dahl. The tour is run by chocolate expert and tour founder Jennifer Earle, who has been spreading her choccy knowledge for over 15 years. She has previously worked in new product development and buying for major food retailers and is a grand juror for the Academy of Chocolate Awards and the International Chocolate Awards. She’s also a chocolate specialist for the Great Taste Awards, so we think she’s definitely the best person to be taking you on a chocolate adventure around London.
Visit the capital’s best curry spots on an Indian food tour of London
London’s East End is brimming with a vibrant creative scene, street art, innovative restaurants, markets and stylish boutiques, but it’s primarily renowned for its Indian cuisine. Brick Lane has been nicknamed London’s Curry Mile thanks to its boom of curry restaurants in the 60s, 70s and 80s when the Bengali community started to grow. On this Indian food tour, you’ll explore buzzing bars and some of the best curry spots in the capital alongside a knowledgeable guide. Sample everything from fragrant curries and savoury snacks to Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani treats while learning about London’s cosmopolitan culinary culture. You’ll try ten dishes in your group, which is limited to 12 people, to keep the experience intimate.
London Indian Food Tasting Tour | Whitechapel Gallery
Delve deeper into Chinatown on a community-led walking tour
Chinatown is famed for its vibrant shops, restaurants, and consistently buzzing atmosphere. One of the best ways to explore it is on this community-led walking tour, which we showcase in our Chinatown YouTube video, which you can watch just below. Discover this bustling area and learn about the area’s history, delving deeper beyond the buildings and symbols and exploring below the surface of this intriguing part of the capital. Each tour is led for the benefit of the community, headed up by trained community volunteers, with a portion of the ticket sales going to charities in the local area.
Chinatown Stories: The Community-Led Walking Tour | Chinatown
Image Courtesy of Devour
Travel back in time on the ultimate food tour of Southwark and Borough Market
Take a giant leap back in time on this London food tour of Borough Market and Southwark. You’ll be taken on a culinary adventure through more than a thousand years of British cuisine, specifically in the borough that has consistently remained an epicentre for the capital’s food scene. Explore small family businesses that have been around for centuries, Insta-worthy dessert bars, and everything in between. You’ll see where local Londoners enjoy eating with seven food tastings and a drink at six small businesses. Feast on everything from award-winning fish and chips inside Borough Market’s oldest restaurant and sample port paired with cheese from a family-run producer. See a side of Southwark you wouldn’t usually see and discover how the food scene has evolved over the past 1,000 years.
Ultimate London Food Tour: Borough Market & Southwark | WA | Southwark
Explore the London pub scene on a food tour of London’s historic pubs
This list of the top London Tours for food lovers wouldn’t be authentically London without a tour of the pub scene with the chance to sample plenty of traditional lagers and ales. This food tour of London’s historic pubs will take you across five of the city’s local hot spots, from classic old boozers and traditional taverns to former hangouts of literary greats and some of the oldest pubs in the city. London’s pubs encapsulate a huge slice of the city’s fascinating history, and you’ll get to delve deeper into it on this tour, where you’ll explore London as if you were a local. Enjoy seven food tastings and five drinks at five different pubs in the City, and follow your expert guide as they describe the centuries of history between the walls of each place. Hear the gripping stories of each pub and visit the taverns that used to be home to the Crown Jewels. You’ll also have the opportunity to play a pub game that dates back to the 15th century. Cheers to that.
Tastes, Tales & Traditional Ales: Food Tour of London’s Historic Pubs | WA | City of London
Image Courtesy of Eating Europe
Discover the history of Soho by night on this twilight London food tour
Last on our rundown of top London tours for food lovers is centred around one of London’s most vibrant and storied districts. This walking tour of Soho, led by a local, will teach you all about the history and heritage of this bright and bustling neighbourhood while enjoying all of the culinary delights of the area. Visit rock ’n’ roll landmarks and hear stories about Soho’s troubled and often dark past. Retrace the footsteps of legendary musicians like Elton John and the Rolling Stones, all while enjoying tasty treats like Spanish tapas and authentic pie and mash from a local pub. You’ll chow down on award-winning tacos, eat Chinatown’s best dumplings and indulge in dessert from an underground dessert bar while immersing yourself in Soho’s eclectic nightlife scene.
Twilight Soho Food Tour | Soho
Be sure to tag us on Instagram (@LoveandLondon) if you do any of our London food tour recommendations. If you want some more ideas for tours to book and things to do in London, read these next…
Pin this…
