12 foodies share the European holiday destinations you need to know about

Montenegro – Alissa Timoshkina, chef, food writer, historian and campaigner

"Thanks to my parents relocating to Montenegro about 10 years ago, it's become another home. I've been at least 20 times now. One time, as we were driving around, we accidentally wandered into this little eco-hotel called Klinci Village in an olive grove on top of a mountain overlooking the sea. There's a little restaurant there, catering to maybe five or six tables. You can just show up there anytime, and they make a dobrodošli welcome platter laden with simple bread, local olive oil from the grove, olives, charcuterie, cheese and honey. It's a lovely little platter and you sit in a little terrace overlooking gorgeous views of the olive grove, the mountains and sea. That's literally my heaven."

Check out our guide to Balkans cuisine for Balkan recipe inspiration.

Antwerp – Gurd Loyal, olive columnist and trends expert

"Belgium is becoming extremely cool, and what I love about Antwerp is that it is a city that champions plant-based and seafood cooking in a way that I've not really seen. It has these extraordinary restaurants, both from a fine dining perspective but also from a street food perspective, that are championing the Belgian coast. I never think of Belgium as having a coast, but it absolutely does. It sounds strange, but I always think of Belgium as being landlocked. It's absolutely not, and there are some incredible culinary creatives there who are doing all sorts of things. What's interesting about Belgium is that it's kind of at the crossroads of Europe, literally, in that it has a real Scandinavian energy, but also a French-Italian energy because it's in the middle of everywhere. You've got these incredible new chefs who are basically remixing French-Italian flavours into a kind of Nordic sensibility. It's a really exciting place and it's a beautiful city."

Georgia – Helen Graves, author food writer and live fire expert

"One place that really, really blew my mind is Georgia. I went there probably 10 years ago, and I still think about it all the time. The food is just spectacular, because it's this combination of Middle Eastern vibes, but also it's got Turkey next to it and then it's got Russia, and it's got all these influences that makes the cuisine completely unique. It's got dumplings and salads and all the things that you find in other cuisines, but they're just done in such a different way, and they have these herbs and produce that grows there that you just don't find anywhere else. So, I still go on about it all the time.

There are a few Georgian restaurants that have sprung up in the UK, but I feel like it should be having more of a moment. There’s a really good place in Peckham I went to recently. It's a Georgian wine bar called 80-20 Wines, owned by a lady who used to be an ambassador for Georgia. She imports all these incredible Georgian wines. If you live anywhere that has a Georgian restaurant, please go there and check it out.

See our round-up of the best Georgian wine as well as 10 things we love about Georgian food.

Puglia – Anna Shepherd, food author

"I rather eccentrically planned a trip to Puglia in Italy around a taralli festival. Taralli are little savoury biscuits that look like tiny little doughnuts, and they tend to be filled with fennel seeds. The dough itself is made with lots of olive oil and white wine, which is why they have that really short, crunchy character. Turns out the festival was by invitation only, so we didn't get to go. But, I did have some incredible meals there.

We went to Gallipoli, which is an old port town, obviously more known for the battle. But it's this amazing, vibrant little island just on the coast. You could go to the fish market and all the fish sellers have their wares displayed, and you can eat your fish raw, cooked or grilled. We were sort of peer-pressured into trying some raw things, which I normally would steer away from, but we had raw sea urchin, just straight out of the sea.

We also had many delicious vegetables on the trip, things like cima di rapa, which is grown there. Cima di rapa looks a bit like a more tender purple sprouting broccoli, but I think it's technically a turnip top. They also have amazing varieties of chicory, which are served raw and cooked. I've never eaten so well in my life. It was an amazing trip."

See our round-up of 10 things we love about Puglian cuisine.

Porto – Sabrina Ghayour, food writer

"I love Portugal. Lisbon is beautiful and it's got loads of food, but I think everybody knows that. But Porto – in the opposite end of the country in the north – is very different, a little bit colder, but it’s fantastic. I love the lay of the land there. I love the food there. They've got some wicked, crazy food traditions there, including what can only be described as a beast of a sandwich called a francesinha. I still fail to know exactly what it is, but it's like every meat known to man plus fish in this huge, cheese-topped, tomato-soaked bread. It sounds minging; I'm making it sound really bad, but it's pretty epic. I really like Porto, and I love how cheap and cheerful Portugal is compared to so many other European countries. Also, there is no shortage of natas, for those custard tart junkies."

Find out where locals eat and drink in Porto.

Edinburgh – Erika Haigh, sake sommelier

"In terms of that surprising factor, I hope I don't offend any Scottish people. But a few years ago, when I first moved to the UK, I went to Edinburgh. I thought it was going to be haggis and fish and chips, because I really was new to the UK and I had no idea. But I went to Edinburgh and I just remember being surprised, because now there are famous restaurants like The Little Chartroom, which I went to on that trip.

So many places had this kind of farm-to-table concept, which again now is so common anywhere you go. But this was a few years ago. This wasn't something that every restaurant had emphasised, at least in London. But I found that in Edinburgh and the places we went to, there was an emphasis on this. I just remember every meal being really delicious, and it wasn't something I was expecting."

For more recommendations see our round-up of the best restaurants in Edinburgh.

Nuremberg – Letitia Clark, chef and author

"I'm going to choose Nuremberg in Germany. I worked with a German chef and he persuaded me to go to the Christmas market there. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but we just had the best time – you sort of wander around these little Christmassy stalls and they have amazing Christmas baubles. Then there's lebkuchen, this little chocolatey ginger biscuit, and all these very traditional German foods, which I knew nothing about, I was completely ignorant about. But, we ate these amazing potato rosti that they serve with apple sauce.

Then, there's the glühwein, a spiced hot wine. We also went to this little restaurant slightly out of the city, where we ate roast goose with dumplings. It was honestly one of the nicest things I've ever eaten in my life. The gravy was incredible and the goose was really tender, and it had these really fluffy, delicious dumplings with it. And sauerkraut with everything, of course."

Sicily – Milly Kenny-Ryder, food and travel writer and photographer

"It's not that revelatory, but I love Sicily. I loved finding out and experiencing the granita and brioche for breakfast, which I've never had anywhere else in the world, and yet it's so much part of the culture there.

This year, I am hoping to go to Sardinia and I'm also going to Turin, which I recently found out is the home of vermouth, which I had no idea about, and Athens as well.

I do try to do research, and I have lists on my phone and folders of places that caught my eye over the years that I can always go back to. But, also my general layout of a weekend trip is there'll be one speciality coffee shop that I will pinpoint, that I will go to first thing on the Saturday morning, and provided I like it, which I normally do, I'll ask the owners or the people making the coffee where they like to go.

It's really worked for me, because they're normally locals. They've got similar tastes to me. Then I go from there, and each place that I go to, I gather their recommendations."

Check out 10 things we love about Sicilian food.

Amsterdam – Jess and Jo Edun, owners of The Flygerians

"Amsterdam is absolutely sensational. We've got friends there and there's so much beautiful food there as well. I think in terms of the beautiful, traditional food that Amsterdam has to offer, there's loads of that there. But there are also great restaurants that are from Nigeria as well. They've also got Thai restaurants that are brilliant there, too. It's easy to go to for a quick weekend break. We also love Berlin. It's another home-from-home in terms of its culture, diversity and social inclusion, where you'll find Caribbean, African, Nigerian and Gambian food in the food markets."

Discover the best restaurants in Amsterdam and Berlin.

Lisbon – Aishling Moore, Irish chef and author

"Lisbon would probably be my go-to place. Lots of canned fish and great restaurants and little cafés. I think it's the perfect kind of summer, spring, early autumn place to go because it has city and it’s close to the water.

There's a restaurant there called Prado, and we ordered everything on the menu five times. It was one of the best meals I've ever had. You know when you're just sharing loads of food and the service was great, but the food was just really ingredient-driven, with not a lot done to it, just really good products from local growers and producers. That makes the best food, so I loved it. It was a casual restaurant with beautiful decor, right in the centre. And then, we went out and went for a party afterwards."

Find out where the locals eat and drink in our Lisbon foodie guide.

Athens – Ali Dunworth, writer, journalist and events curator

"I've been a long-time fan of going to Greece. I used to go every summer when I was younger, to the islands, and we would arrive in Athens but get out of there as quickly as possible. It was just in and out. Last year, I went to Athens and thought, this is really cool. As a foodie city, it's incredible. It's like Berlin, but nicer and warmer.

If you're going for your souvlaki or gyros, it'll cost around three euros, and you're getting a cold can of beer with that. There's one place called Kosta that everybody queues for; you have to queue for around 40 minutes, but it's so worth it. The owner has a tomato sauce that he makes that’s different to other places, but that's worth queuing for. We went to a place called Wine and Brine; we had pasta and they have an amazing wine selection – Greek wine, I absolutely love.

I went to another place in Athens called Pharaoh. I love to eat the classic Greek dishes, but here it's like the grandmother is cooking, but with a modern twist. I love Greek people. People who work in Greece and hospitality are always really sound."

Read our guide to the best restaurants in Athens for more recommendations.

Ticino – Kate Hall, food author

"I had to think back a little bit for this one, because my travels are pretty limited. I went with a friend a few years ago to Ticino in the south of Switzerland, the Italian part of Switzerland. I can still taste the tomatoes in the caprese salad. I remember sitting and having this meal and thinking ‘this is what it's supposed to taste like’. I was a hideously fussy eater as a child, so my palate was very limited. Going to somewhere where it was just so beautifully ripened and so perfectly served, I was like, oh, this is what it's about, I get it now."

Krakow – Ren Behan, author and food writer

"I would always say Krakow. That's my go-to for a foodie break. I've had some great trips there, especially in the winter for the Christmas markets. Easter is also really nice. They have a pierogi festival as well in Krakow, which is amazing. Lots of bakeries and great food markets to explore."