The Best-Rated Food Tours In Paris, According To Reviews
Eating is an integral part of truly getting to know Paris. When most people think about the top foodie destinations on the planet, the City of Lights is almost always somewhere on the list. Between the croissants, escargot, bœuf bourguignon, and macarons, there are just so many delicious foods to try on a trip to the French capital.
For any visitor unfamiliar with the cuisine, it can be tough to figure out which delicacies to try and the best places to find them — especially considering that certain iconic Paris dining experiences can actually be a tourist trap. Paris is a fairly large metropolis by European standards, and there are literally thousands of restaurants operating within its borders. That's why joining a food tour in Paris should be an essential activity on your itinerary.
Leave it to the professionals who know all the hidden gems and the locals who have been eating French food their whole lives to introduce you to the city's culinary scene. You're bound to find incredible eats, learn a lot about Paris, and save yourself a lot of time searching for the good spots. You'll also avoid becoming a target of the most common tourist scams in Paris when you're being escorted by a local guide. If you're planning a trip, check out the following best-rated food tours in Paris, compiled by evaluating traveler's reviews about their experiences with the companies.
Montmartre, Notre Dame, or Le Marais Walking Food Tour by Secret Food Tours Paris
Secret Food Tours is an esteemed international company recommended by tons of major publications, from The New York Times and Forbes to the Travel Channel and BBC GoodFood. The company operates in more than 70 cities across the world, and its experiences have accumulated over 37,000 glowing reviews from travelers over the years. In fact, people love them so much that it has actually been distinguished with a USA Today Best Reader's Choice Award and a 2024 Certificate of Excellence from Tripadvisor.
With all these impressive accolades, it's evident that Secret Food Tours would have some of the very best culinary excursions in Paris, offering several food tours throughout the city depending on what area you want to explore. On its food tour through the district of Montmartre, you'll be accompanied by an informative local guide to the best shops and try samples of French cheeses, pastries, crepes, macarons, and a secret treat at the very end. Participants can also upgrade the tour to include three drink pairings with each of the snacks.
Secret Food Tours offers food tours around other popular Parisian neighborhoods like Le Marais, Saint Germain, and Notre Dame. Each provides travelers with an inside look at the area and a different menu. For instance, the Notre Dame tour includes Viennoiserie and quiche. Whichever tour option you choose, Secret Food Tours provides a solid introduction to the neighborhood and its best eateries.
Montmartre Hill French Gourmet Walking Food Tour By Original Food Tours Paris
Original Food Tours is another tourism company that aims to show visitors the culinary artistry of Paris' Montmartre neighborhood. Its Montmartre Hill Gourmet Walking Food Tour gives you a taste of the area's charm and brings visitors to some of its most famous sites, including the Church of Sacré Cœur, the Moulin Rouge, and Place Du Tertre. Along the way, you will make between seven to 10 stops to indulge your taste buds with pastries, cured meat, wine, cheese, and chocolate.
There will also be time at one of the top Paris-style cafes and a few surprise samples throughout the walking tour. Arguably, the best thing about this particular food tour in Paris is that it's a small-group experience. It only allows 12 people per group, so you'll be able to ask as many questions as you like and get a more personal vibe.
Hundreds of travelers have loved this Montmartre walking food tour, and many have even said it was a stand-out highlight of their trip. One Tripadvisor reviewer gushed, "This tour was wonderful! A highlight of our trip and we wish we would have done it earlier in our stay." If that's not enough to convince you of this tour's greatness, the Original Food Tours Montmartre Walking Food Tour even won the 2020 Tripadvisor Travelers Choice Best of the Best Award.
The Ultimate Paris Food Tour by Devour France Food Tours
If you only have a short time to taste as much French food as possible, opt for the Ultimate Paris Food Tour by Devour France. Over the span of three and a half hours, this comprehensive tour will take you around the Marais neighborhood to try more than 11 samplings from eight different establishments. You'll even have the opportunity to sip on two glasses of French wine.
This food tour through Paris gives visitors a deeper look at the grub that made this place famous. You'll try croissants freshly made by the hands of a local Parisian baker and eat samples of their bread as you learn about its important influence on the city's culture. Then, you'll taste authentic French macarons and chocolates from a renowned shop before visiting a 400-year-old market and family-owned pastry shops in the Jewish Quarter. That's only the beginning, too.
Devour France is super accommodating and often alters the tour's itinerary for vegetarians, pescatarians, people who don't drink alcohol, and individuals who are pregnant. Former participants have said their knowledgeable guides and insights about Paris truly completed the tour for them. One Tripadvisor user said, "Arturo was an incredible guide, very knowledgeable about the history of the city, history of the food we had and knew each individual shop owners and backstories." Additionally, Devour is a hugely credible company with a decade of experience and 150,000 attendees over the years.
Eating Paris: Montmartre Food & Wine Tour by Eating Europe
You might be catching onto the fact that Montmartre is a culinary hub of the city, and the Eating Paris Food and Wine Tour will get you acquainted with the iconic neighborhood. The three-hour tour starts in the morning or afternoon with croissant or pain au chocolate from a top-rated bakery called Le Grenier a Pain. Followed by samples of French wine, apple cider, macarons, cheese, and much more. You'll even get the chance to savor choux à la crème made by a chef who has earned many Michelin stars.
It's little touches like these that made this tour memorable for previous participants. A reviewer on Viator exclaimed, "The host was very knowledgeable and friendly. We learned a lot about how to find a good bakery and butcher. Overall, a great experience for our family (we have 2 teenage children – they enjoyed it as well). Highly recommend it." The Montmartre Food and Wine Tour by Eating Paris also won the 2024 Tripadvisor Travelers Choice Best of the Best Award.
The tour brings you to a mix of low key, traditional family-run restaurants and famous, must-visit spots for tourists. Not only will Eating Paris provide you with a full belly of French cuisine, but it will also bring you up to some of the best views over the city with glimpses of the Eiffel Tower. At the end of your tour, you'll be given a PDF guide about eating in Paris.
Paris Prestige: Food Tour in Saint-Germain-des-Prés by Paris A Dream
Paris A Dream whisks tourists away for an adventure on foot through the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood to discover some of the best food in the city. You can choose an experience with 10 tastings or 7 tastings, and the tour is given in French, English, or Spanish by an experienced guide. The menu will include things like bread, jam, chocolates, pastries, and other types of confections, so it's an ideal Paris food tour for people with a sweet tooth. When the tour concludes, you'll be given an address book with top gastronomic destinations in Paris to continue your discovery of the city's food.
This is a very small tour with a maximum of six participants per group, and there is a fairly high chance of making some friends throughout the tour, which makes it an awesome activity for solo travelers in Paris. The thing that really makes this Paris A Dream food tour stand out is its guide's charming personality and knowledge. According to one review on Viator, "My daughter and I took the food tour with Fanny. Not only was it a food tour but a history lesson as well. She stopped at several old restaurants and local businesses; even though we weren't eating there, she explained the history ..."
The Original Chocolate Tasting Tour with Pastries and Macaron by Original Food Tours
The very first chocolatiers opened their doors in Paris in 1659, and the culinary craft is still going strong. That's exactly why chocolate is such a must-try specialty when you're visiting Paris, and the Chocolate Tasting Tour by Original Food Tours will fulfill your every chocolate-y desire. It should be on every chocolate lover's bucket list. This three-hour tour accompanies you to chocolate shops around the Saint Germain neighborhood, which are known for being some of the best in existence.
You'll munch on a lot of high-end chocolate, of course, but you'll also get to try macarons, pastries, caramels, tea, and more. Along the way, you'll get a full-blown lesson on chocolate making and the confection's history and importance in Paris by your connoisseur guide. Original Food Tours received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence in 2020, and they have lots of enthusiastic reviews. For example, one traveler on Viator raved, "This was definitely a highlight of the trip. Come hungry! It was really nice hearing about the history of the St. Germain area while also sampling so many wonderful treats. I believe we hit up 8 different spots so there was a ton of variety."
Paris By Mouth Tours
Paris By Mouth is the city's leading food tour provider. It has won a 2024 TripAdvisor Traveler's Choice Award and has held the title of the No. 1 rated food tour in Paris for over 10 years now. Similarly to how staying at an Airbnb without any reviews can be risky, joining a food tour barren of reviews is questionable. Out of all the tours on this list, this provider has the most reviews on TripAdvisor (3,719 total at the time of publishing), and almost all of them have an enthusiastic 5-star rating.
Paris By Mouth has been shouted out for its excellence by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Rick Steves. This provider has a variety of food tours across the city that can appeal to any type of traveler. For example, there is a French Cheese Tour with 10 tastings comprising wine and bread.
Alternatively, if you're new to Paris and still getting to know the area, you should opt for one of Paris By Mouth's five neighborhood food tours. These offer walking tours with food tastings at local eateries in East and West Saint-Germain, North Marais, South Marias, and the Left Bank. While each one is a little different, you'll be engaging in activities like eating award-winning chocolate, enjoying charcuterie spreads, and visiting the underground aging cellars of a cheese shop.
Latin Quarter Food Tour by Sidewalk Food Tours
Many people prefer to dine in the less tourist-filled parts of a big city, and Sidewalk Food Tours leans toward this desire with their Latin Quarter Food Tour. If you're looking for a jaunt that is going to bestow invaluable insider information about where the locals are eating, this is the one for you. This Paris food tour takes around three hours, bringing you to five amazing yet little-known places to eat and drink in the city.
This Latin Quarter culinary exploration hits all of Paris' big food groups in just a few hours. Even among veteran travelers, this particular Paris food tour stands out as one of the best. One Viator reviewer who religiously participates in food tours explained, "We do a food tour in every city we visit and this was by far one of the best! Our guide was very knowledgeable and fun. We learned lots, ate wonderful food, laughed and made friends with our group."
During the Latin Quarter exploration, you'll visit the bakery Le Fournil de Mouffetard to taste desserts and bread before visiting the Boucherie Jeannot butchery for cured meats and cheeses. Then, you'll partake in a seafood feast at a fish shop called Poissonnerie Mouffetard and get to know French cheeses at Fromagerie Beillevaire. To finish it all off, you'll indulge in a drop of wine followed by yummy crepes. The notion of hunger is pretty much impossible after this Sidewalk Food Tour.
Taste of Paris Food and Bike Tour by Bike About Tours
The Taste of Paris Food and Bike Tour allows travelers to peddle off all the extra calories they consume as they zoom around the streets. It's organized by a locally-run company called Bike About Tours, which has an outstanding 4.8 rating on Yelp. While you might be worried about the concept of tandem exercise with eating, former participants say that they had a blast during this activity. A Tripadvisor user shared, "We had so much fun on the food tour! We loved riding around town on the comfy bikes, learning French food history, and trying so many tasty and unique French foods!"
After meeting up with the guide in the heart of Paris, you'll have coffee at Le Peloton Café before setting off on secret back routes through the city. Along the ride, you'll cycle past the Seine River and the neighborhoods of Le Marais, La Bastille, Ile St. Louis, and Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Throughout the journey, there will be periodic intermissions at stores for food samples of things like paté, pastries, meat, and cheese. One of the coolest parts about this food tour is that you get to stop by two local markets, Maubert Market and Marché D'Aligre, for a deeper look at local life in Paris.
Paris Montmartre Food Tour By Do Eat Better
The Paris Montmartre Food Tour By Do Eat Better is one of the highest-ranked tours on Tripadvisor, with 99% of reviewers giving it a rating of 4 stars or better. One reviewer on Tripadvisor explained, "This tour provided a wonderful balance of delicious food and insightful cultural experiences. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to explore Montmartre through culinary delights." The tour providers boast that by the end of this experience, you will have eaten a full meal or more, so they're quite generous with the portions.
The excursion includes a minimum of four stops with tasty samples. However, the specific offerings change depending on what is available during the season you're visiting Paris. Rest assured that the menu is always designed to satisfy, though.
A potential menu on this Montmartre food tour could include food items like cream-filled pastries called chouquettes, bœuf bourguignon, a charcuterie with cured meats, French cheeses, and a luxurious crepe dessert. This tour even sends its participants home with a tiny meringue cake as a souvenir after the exploration. With each plate, your guide will share details on the dish's history and the way it's prepared and bust any myths about food in France you might've heard before.
Methodology
The Islands team compiled this list of the best-rated food tours in Paris through in-depth internet research. First, we read through a multitude of reviews and ratings for various food tours in Paris on websites like TripAdvisor and Viator. Once a general list of contenders for the best tour was established, we conducted further research on the tour provider's website.
We reviewed each provider's food tour itinerary and prices to determine the ones that offered the best value to travelers for their cost. Additionally, we determined which food tour had won awards or been recognized for excellence in any way. Based on all of these details, the Islands team ended up with a final list of the 10 best-rated food tours in Paris.