A taste of travel: Europe's finest gourmet breaks

LILLE, FRANCE
Once France’s textile centre, Lille has undergone a big renewal, recognised in the fact that it is one of Europe’s Cities of Culture 2004. For fans of art deco, there are magnificent examples here, and, handily for food-lovers, several of the buildings happen to be restaurants.
One is A l’Huîtrière (3 Rue des Chats-Bossus, 00 33-3 20 55 43 41; about £55), where you reach the dining room by walking through the display of enormous lobsters, crabs and all manner of marine life in the fish shop. The surroundings are as inspiring as the food — wood panelling, hugely tall windows and glorious stained glass and tiling.
There is excellent (and cheaper — about £25) seafood at Café aux Moules (34 Rue de Béthune, 3 20 57 12 46), another art-deco classic, reputed to sell more mussels than any other restaurant in France. For pudding here, try petit quinquin (rhubarb tart and tarte flamande with vanilla cream and chicory ice cream).
You should also seek out Maison Coilliot (14 Rue de Fleurus), Lille’s only complete art- nouveau building, designed by Hector Guimard, who gave the Paris Métro its ornate arches.
Shop at Le Pain de Nos Ancêtres (26 Rue des Bouchers, 3 20 54 02 14) for traditional-recipe breads cooked in century-old wood-fired ovens. Lille is also home to the original Paul bakery (12 Rue de Paris, 3 20 55 03 60).
For local cheeses, try Philippe Olivier (3 Rue du Curé St-Etienne, 3 20 74 96 99) and Les Bons Pâturages (54 Rue Basse, 3 20 55 60 28). For deeply luxurious chocolates and cakes, head to the wonderfully old-fashioned Pâtisserie Meert (25/27 Rue Esquermoise, 3 20 57 07 44).
The package: Eurodestination (0870 744 2211, http://www.eurodestination.com/) has two nights from £321pp, including accommodation at the city’s best hotel, the Carlton, a voucher for dinner at A l’Huîtrière, and first-class return travel on Eurostar from London Waterloo.

SANLUCAR LA MAYOR, SPAIN
Ferran Adria makes a point of getting off the beaten track. His famous El Bulli restaurant is tucked away in comparative isolation outside the small town of Roses on the Costa Brava. His second venture, though, is still more obscure: the superb La Alqueria is based in Sanlucar la Mayor, an Andalusian village outside Seville notable for well, nothing much. No matter: the restaurant is based in the Hacienda Benazuza (00 34-955 703 344), a wonderful hotel that is a worthwhile destination in itself — a beautifully converted 10th-century Moorish farmhouse, with orange groves, a pool and tennis courts.
Under the aegis of Adria’s protégé, Rafa Morales, La Alqueria serves the most recent recipes from El Bulli, so expect to find culinary contrivances such as langoustine in green-tea foam sprinkled with green-tea powder; powdered foie gras; and “spaghetti” made of pure parmesan.
Between meals: take a taxi into Seville and fortify yourself with sherry at Bar Giralda (Calle Mateos Gago 1, 954 227 435), in a former Moorish bathhouse, before a visit to the world’s largest cathedral.
The package: Kirker Holidays (020 7231 3333, http://www.kirkerholidays.com/) has three days at Hacienda Benazuza from £798pp, B&B, including return flights from Heathrow or Gatwick to Seville. Regional departures from Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Aberdeen and Bristol from £70pp extra, with SN Brussels via Brussels.


STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN
This watery city (a European City of Culture in 1998) is built on 14 islands, and the very best views of it are from the Gondolen restaurant (Stadsgarden 6, 00 46-8 641 7090; £28), which looks out to the harbour, the old Gamla Stan area and the Baltic. There’s a chic, deco-ish wood-panelled bar and classic Swedish dishes such as reindeer tenderloin with creamy cabbage-and-potato terrine.
For “Euro-Latin-influenced” Swedish food, go to the minimalist Bon Lloc (Regeringsgaten 111, 8 660 6060; £26), which has earned a Michelin star for dishes such as pig’s trotters with cabbage-wrapped foie gras and lamb à la toscana with spinach and white beans. For more sustaining dishes, such as biff Rydberg (beef with fried potatoes, egg and horseradish), try Tranan (Karlbergsvagen 14, 8 300765; £15), a fashionable ex-workmen’s caff with live music.
Between meals: there’s abundant nightlife, but the coolest watering hole must be the Icebar at the Nordic Sea hotel (Vasaplan). Created by the folks from the Icehotel at Jukkasjarvi, the bar is -5C all year round, and all fittings, including the glasses, are carved from frozen water (woolly gloves and boots supplied).
The package: until January 8, Travelscene (0870 777 9987, http://www.travelscene.co.uk/) offers four nights for the price of three at the Nordic Sea. The £347pp price includes B&B at the hotel and return flights on SAS or BA from Heathrow (direct flights from Birmingham for £30 extra; Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Teesside from £100 with KLM via Amsterdam).

TURIN, ITALY
The Piedmontese capital isn’t all factories full of Fiats. Away from the industrial quarters, it’s a magnificently baroque city of arcaded streets and elegant squares. Turin’s oldest restaurant, the Ristorante del Cambio (Piazza Carignano 2, 011 543760), which opened in 1757, is suitably formal: liveried waiters will serve you traditional Piedmontese dishes, such as beef braised in Barolo wine or artichokes stewed with bone marrow and truffles, in magnificent surroundings decorated with stucco, enormous gilded mirrors and crystal chandeliers (dinner about £50 for four courses).
If you have the stamina, you could also try the city’s most glamorous restaurant, Villa Somis (Strada Val Pattonera 138, 011 661 4626, http://www.villasomis.com/): a wedding- cake of a building on the city’s outskirts, it is currently closed, but will reopen in spring.
Between meals: the market, near the Roman forum in the pretty, colonnaded city centre, is one of Italy’s best. Wander past stalls heaped with local cheeses, grissini sellers (the breadsticks were invented here and are worlds away from those plastic-wrapped restaurant numbers), and traders in ducks, geese and fish (and, in season, wild mushrooms and truffles).
Turin has more cafes than any other Italian city: drink bicerin, a chocolate-coffee combo, in Al Bicerin (Piazza della Consolata 5, 011 436 9325); eat ice cream at Fiorio (Via Po 8, 011 817 3225), known as “the cafe of aristocrats”; or try Turin’s famous hazelnut chocolates (the city is the home of Ferrero Rocher) at Stratta (Piazza San Carlo 191, 011 54 7920).
Don’t miss the National Cinema Museum (Via Montebello 20, 011 812 5658), whose spire is taller than that of Salisbury Cathedral.
The package: Magic of Italy (0870 166 0363, http://www.magictravelgroup.co.uk/) has two nights at Le Meridien Lingotto, a now-fashionable former Fiat factory with warehouse-type rooms, from £330pp including return flights from Heathrow or Gatwick to Turin (regional connections from Dublin, Glasgow, Newcastle and Plymouth from £65).


ST-REMY-DE-PROVENCE, FRANCE
This leafy market town was the birthplace of Nostradamus and also hosted Van Gogh (at the Monastère St-Paul-de-Mausole asylum, shortly before his death). Increasingly chic, it is now one of the south of France’s gourmet hot spots.
Proof that chocolate needn’t make you fat is Joel Durand, one of the world’s greatest, slimmest chocolatiers. His shop (3 Boulevard Victor Hugo, 00 33-4 90 92 38 25) produces chocs flavoured with Earl Grey tea, almonds and black olives, plus seasonal specials such as dark chocolate with ginger (from January to June), or with fresh basil (March to November).
There is plenty of other food shopping, including biscuits cooked by a food historian to old Roman, Renaissance and Arlésien recipes at Le Petit Duc (7 Boulevard Victor Hugo, 4 90 92 08 31); crystallised fruit at Lilamand Confiseur (5 Avenue Albert Schweitzer, 4 90 92 11 08); and the famous Vallée des Baux olives (so good they have their own appellation d’origine contrôlée) from the sumptuous Wednesday market.
For traditional Provençal food with a contemporary twist, try La Maison Jaune (15 Rue Carnot, 4 90 92 56 14), named after Van Gogh’s painting. Its £34 tasting menu includes rabbit confit with caramelised red peppers and fromage blanc, and kumquat confit with basil jelly and grapefruit sorbet.
Between meals: Van Gogh fans should take the road a mile out of town to visit the 18th- century Monastère St-Paul-de-Mausole (4 90 92 77 00). Just keep following the same road to lose yourself in the scenery that inspired him.
The package: Voyages Ilena (020 7924 4440, http://www.voyagesilena.co.uk/) has three nights at Le Mas des Figues, a pretty, seven-bedroom country hotel, surrounded by gardens and olive groves, just 4km outside St-Rémy, from £299 per person, B&B, based on two sharing, including return flights from Gatwick to Marseilles and car hire.

PARIS, FRANCE
Le Cinq, the restaurant at the sumptuous George V hotel (31 Avenue George V, 00 33-1 49 52 70 00), won its third Michelin star in February — putting paid to the rumours that Paris was losing its gastronomic edge. Signature dishes include roasted and smoked lobster with chestnuts, and roast pigeon with dates, lemon and cumin sauce. There is a four-course light tasting menu (£85), but treat yourself to the eight-course gourmet menu (£141) — the sommelier will suggest a wine for each course. For postprandial perfection, book a night at the hotel, which is close to all the best window-shopping and to the Champs Elysées.
Between meals: next day, recover your appetite on a guided gourmet walking tour of Paris, taking in markets, the Poilâne bakery, wine shops and a cookery demonstration. Gourmet on Tour (020 7396 5550, http://www.gourmetontour.com/) has one-day tours from £205pp.
The package: a two-night break in January at the Four Seasons Hotel George V with Paris Travel Service (0870 191 7280, http://www.paristravel.co.uk/) costs from £569pp, B&B, with return first-class travel on Eurostar from Waterloo.

SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN
This belle époque Basque seaside resort is deceptive: known for its great town beach (packed in summer), it forgets to shout about the number of Michelin-starred restaurants in and around its perimeter. For culinary chemistry reminiscent of Ferran Adria, head for his great friend Juan Mari Arzak’s Restaurante Arzak (Alto de Miracruz 21, 00 34- 943 278 465). Try the sautéed squid, shaped into a tulip and served with an “air” of green peppercorn, chased down by a chocolate hamburger, complete with a “bun” of dried fruit and almond “chips” (about £70 per head including wine). Akelarre (Paseo del Padre Orcolaga 56, Igueldo, 943 212 052), just outside the city centre, has great views of the Atlantic, lobster salad dressed with apple cream, and pig’s trotters with a light yoghurt mousse (about £95, including wine). There is similarly ground- breaking food at Martin Berasategui (Calle Loidi 4, Lasarte, 943 366 471), which compensates for its slightly tasteless decor with its clam risotto with wafer-thin slices of octopus (about £90 with wine).
San Sebastian’s chefs have formed a sort of round table, where they meet and discuss ideas to ensure the town remains the Basque culinary capital.
Between meals: no trip here would be complete without a visit to the Guggenheim (94 435 9080) in Bilbao, about an hour away on the A8 motorway (and en route to Bilbao airport). Just look for Jeff Koons’s enormous floral dog in front of the shiny building.
The package: Mundicolor (020 7828 6021, http://www.mundicolor.co.uk/) has two nights, B&B, at the four-star Amara Plaza hotel for £296pp, including flights from Heathrow and car hire. Regional connections from Glasgow, Jersey, Manchester and others from £58pp extra.

LYONS, FRANCE
There are so many Michelin-starred restaurants in Lyons that you can dine here for a week without visiting the same one twice. Top of the list is Paul Bocuse (40 Rue de la Plage, Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, 00 33- 4 72 42 90 90), where dining on starters such as truffle soup and main courses like sea bass en croute with lobster mousse will set you back about £70. If that doesn’t sound indulgent enough for you, opt for the menu gourmand (£104).
Léon de Lyon (1 Rue Pléney, 4 72 10 11 12) is a master of cholesterol. Cream, butter and foie gras feature strongly on the menu, and a signature dish is suckling pig with foie gras and truffle salad (£65). More foie gras, this time in ravioli with port and truffle sauce, is served at Pierre Orsi (3 Place Kléber, 4 78 89 57 68, about £100 with wine). For more down-to-earth fare, try one of the many bouchons, such as Bouchon Chez Mounier (3 Rue des Marronniers, 4 78 37 79 26). It serves traditional lyonnais salad and pike quenelles (about £30).
Between meals: with all this eating to be done, walking off dinner is a must, and there is plenty to see — particularly in Vieux-Lyon, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Try wandering through the traboules, the little passageways linking the inner courtyards of Gothic and Renaissance houses. Food and wine shopping? In a town with such exacting gastronomic standards, you can’t go wrong.
The package: three nights in January at the central, four-star Boscolo Grand Hotel, beside the Rhône, costs from £280pp B&B, based on two sharing, with Thomson City Breaks (0870 606 1476, http://www.thomsoncities.co.uk/). Five nights for the price of four (must include a Saturday) costs £324. Prices include return flights from Heathrow to Lyons (supplements for Birmingham, £66; Manchester, £86; Edinbugh, £111).