Let your taste buds lead the way with a culinary exploration of Britain.

Britain’s culinary scene is exploding, with tasty treasures that reach throughout the country and offer their own insight into the culture, history, and tradition of the fascinating destination. A trip here for foodies can have them experiencing a culinary revolution from London to the Lake District to the Scottish Highlands. They can indulge in fine dining, enjoy a banquet in a medieval castle, savor sweet delicacies, and sip spirits in a distillery. And with 34 tours and limitless private driver options throughout Britain, CIE Tours understands that nothing brings travel to life like enjoying scrumptious regional specialties.

Travelers appetites will be fully satisfied when it comes to the quality and diversity of the food when heading out to dine on their own during a CIE Tours private driver or self- drive experience, or during their pre-night stay before they start any of their CIE Tours adventures. London is the start for many CIE Tours and among the choices the CIE Tours individual drivers—locals themselves—recommend for dinner in Great Britain’s capital is The Northall. The restaurant offers traditional British fare made from products from artisan growers and breeders. Try the not-to-be-missed Romney March Lamb ‘En Croute’ or Dover Sole.

Fine food paired with an incredible location and music enhances any meal. The Cardiff Castle Banquet mixes Welsh hospitality, Welsh food, and traditional and contemporary songs in both English and Welsh in a stone-walled 15th-century setting. CIE Tours offers the Cardiff Castle Banquet as part of a number of its tours including the Heart of Wales & England.

Lovers of sweets can find their happy place in the cozy Lake District town of Grasmere at the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop, the former home of Victorian cook Sarah Nelson. She created her uniquely spicy-sweet treat that was a cross between a cookie and a cake in 1854. Nearly 170 years later, her gingerbread enjoys a worldwide following and is still baked fresh every day to her original secret recipe. CIE Tours offers a private tour of the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop before it opens to the public for the day on the Taste of England and Best of Northern England tours.

Another popular stop on the Best of Northern England tour is the Lakes Distillery in Cumbria, considered one of England’s finest areas of natural beauty. The master distillers at Lakes Distillery Whisky are artists themselves, and age their whisky for extended periods of time in custom wood casks made in Seville, Spain. The results are a depth and roundness that makes this whisky unique.

With a history stretching back as far as the 11th century, Scottish whisky – also known as Scotch – is a key component of Scottish identity. And, no, this spelling is not a typo. The Scots spell it whisky and the Irish and Americans spell it whiskey, with an extra 'e'.
 
This difference comes from the translation of the word from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic forms.

Some 16 miles south of Inverness lies Tomatin Distillery, named a “Distiller of the Year” in the annual Icons of Whisky Awards. A visit here offers insight into the unique legacy of Tomatin, which started in 1897. Finish your visit by immersing yourself in a “nosing” and tasting of various whiskies with Tomatin’s expert guides. Tomatin Distillery is a stop on CIE Tours’ Scottish Supreme itinerary, a tour which is a CIE Exclusive for the 2020 season.