The Best Food Tours and Cooking Classes in Portugal

Portugal is one of Europe’s great food destinations, and a food tour is one of the best ways to find the dishes, tascas and pastry shops that you’d never find alone. Here are the best food tours and cooking classes in Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve and Madeira.

Quick answer: book a food tour in Lisbon (petiscos, ginjinha, pastel de nata and tinned fish) and one in Porto (francesinha, bifana and port). Do them early in your trip so you know what to order for the rest of it. A cooking class is great on a rainy day.

Lisbon

Most Lisbon food tours walk through Alfama, Mouraria or the Baixa and Chiado, with stops for cured ham, cheese, tinned fish, ginjinha, wine and custard tarts. See Lisbon food tours. Prefer to cook? See Lisbon cooking classes, including pastel de nata workshops. More: Lisbon food markets.

Porto

Porto’s tours focus on hearty northern food: bifanas, francesinhas, cheese, sardines and a port tasting. See Porto food tours or this food and wine tour. You can also take a cooking class. More: what to eat in Porto.

The Algarve

Seafood, cataplana, regional sweets and local wine. See the Lagos food tour. More: the best Algarve beach restaurants.

Madeira

Espetada, bolo do caco, poncha and the Mercado dos Lavradores. See Funchal food tours.

What you’ll taste

• Pastel de nata: see the best in Lisbon.
• Bacalhau: see the bacalhau guide.
• Tinned fish: see Portuguese tinned fish.
• Cheese: see Portuguese cheese.
• Ginjinha: see the ginjinha guide.

Tips

• Come hungry: most tours replace a full meal.
• Dietary needs: tell the operator when booking. See Portugal for vegetarians.
• Small groups fit better into tiny tascas.

More: what to eat in Portugal and wine tours in Portugal.

Some links in this guide are affiliate links (GetYourGuide, Booking.com, Discover Cars). If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep our groups and this site free.