Culinary Adventures: Savoring Local Flavors in Boston, NYC, Amish Country, & Philadelphia

Experience a full day of food and history starting with a Boston food tour of the North End! We’ve indulged in the city’s seafood scene – now it’s time to explore the best of Boston’s baked goods. This charming neighborhood is known for its Italian eateries featuring freshly baked artisanal breads and old-school establishments serving up sizzling slices of pizza that’ll have your taste buds singing. This small slice of Italy also has some of Boston’s best coffee shops where we can enjoy a lovely latte or cappuccino and really wake up all your senses. Afterwards, your local tour guide will lead you on a walk along Boston’s Freedom Trail, a stretch of sites that recount the events leading up to and during the American Revolution. Along the way, you’ll see Boston Common, America’s oldest public park; the Old State House and the infamous site of the Boston Massacre; and Faneuil Hall, which has long served as a meeting place for Bostonians. After our Boston sightseeing tour, you’ll ride over to Harvard University for a stroll around the campus. Here, we’ll pass through Harvard Square, stroll under the leafy canopy of Harvard Yard, and walk past some stunning architecture from the Victorian Gothic Memorial Hall to the university’s renowned Natural History Museum. Afterwards, your guide will have plenty of post-tour dinner recommendations in and around Cambridge.

Meals included – Breakfast | Lunch
Drive time – 2 hours

Our East Coast adventure will next take us to New York City, where we’ll have a couple of days to experience the highlights of the city that truly never sleeps. But first, food! Before we hit the city streets, we’ll make a stop in the quaint New England harbortown of New Haven, home to Yale University. Here, we’ll have time for a pizza lunch to fuel up for our first day in NYC. New Haven-style is made in a coal-fired oven and is distinct in its thin, often oblong crust, characteristic charring, chewy texture, and limited use of melting cheeses, often called the best pizza in the USA. After checking into our hotel, you’ll enjoy a stroll with your guide up on New York’s High Line, a former elevated railroad line that survived total demolition to become one of the city’s most popular destinations and a place for New Yorkers to escape and enjoy a sliver of nature above the busy streets. We’ll enjoy its curated gardens, wildspaces, and overlooks before we step inside historic Chelsea Market, not only a bustling food hall and shopping mall, but also the original home of a factory responsible for inventing one of our favorite sandwich cookies, the Oreo! With all the tantalizing food vendors in the market, you’ll be ready for another food tour, this time in New York City’s Lower East Side. Here, we’ll stop at stores run by generations of immigrants who have kept their culinary traditions alive in this unique neighborhood. Enjoy everything from knishes and pickles to bialys and babka! 

Meals included – Breakfast | Pizza Lunch | Dinner
Drive time – 4 hours

Get ready for a full day of sightseeing in New York City, with a chance to not only experience it on foot but also by subway, a true New York experience in itself! But first, of course: food! We’ll start out our day right with a breakfast food tour in the trendy DUMBO neighborhood, where industrial warehouses have been transformed into boutique shops, restaurants, and cafes. We’ll need to walk off some of those calories and no trip to New York is complete without a leisurely walk over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Your guide will share stories of the bridge’s impressive construction as you take in the amazing views of Manhattan. We’ll then head over to the west side of the city, here you can enjoy some freetime to shop, or catch the Staten Island Ferry, which will take us passed another top NYC attraction, the Statue of Liberty! On land, you can take a stroll down Wall Street or pay a visit to the Charging Bull of the Financial District, visit the touching tribute memorial to the victims of 911, or explore the hidden gems of Central Park. The best way to end your NYC experience? An evening visit to Times Square with an optional dinner at a high-rise in Koreatown!

Meals included – Breakfast
Drive time – 1 hour (Public Transportation)

Today, we’ll be trading skyscrapers and nightlights for scenic pastures and nature out in Amish Country. After a drive out to the heart of Pennsylvania, we’ll stop to enjoy lunch with an Amish family on a farm, and then ride through the countryside to visit roadside stands and shops to find the best baked goods, ice cream, and more! If you really want to experience the local traditional cuisine of the Pennsylvania Dutch, you might want to try the cornmeal mush known as scrapple or grab a jar of locally made apple butter for the road. As we continue to roll past Pennsylvania’s rolling hills, meandering streams, and endless stretches of corn and wheat fields, your guide will share the history of the Amish and Mennonite people who inhabit this area and some of the cultural practices they’re known – or oftentimes mistaken – for. Or maybe you’ll want to catch some z’s to be ready for our Day 5 destination, Philadelphia! We’ll arrive late afternoon in the City of Brotherly Love, with time to check into your hotel. First on our check-off list for food here: the best classic Philly Cheesesteak! We’ll take you to the best joint in town and teach you how to order like a true local. Afterwards, you’re welcome to keep exploring the city or head back to the hotel to charge up for another day of city sightseeing.

Meals included – Breakfast | Lunch with an Amish Family | Philly cheesesteak dinner
Drive time – 4 hours

Today, we’ll be setting out on a full city tour that includes the top historic attractions in Philadelphia. Visit the very location where both the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were signed at Independence Hall, pass by the homes of notable Philly residents like Betsy Ross and Benjamin Franklin, and get up close to the very symbol of American freedom, the Liberty Bell. With its cobblestone streets, preserved brick row houses, and stately colonial architecture, you’ll feel transported right back to the days of the American Revolution. After we’ve had our fill of U.S. history, we’ll head across town to the famous food hall, Reading Terminal Market, where you’ll experience a maze of food stalls serving up everything from cream-filled cannolis to freshly made hand-rolled doughnuts. Once you’ve worked up an appetite, we’ll head to the historic 9th Street Italian Market for a variety of food tastings. The generations-owned shops that line this hundred-year market offer up everything imaginable, like famous Philly tomato pie, artisanal cheeses from all over the world, and much, much more. Trust us, you won’t go hungry here! After a day of sightseeing, food tastings, and American history, we’ll end our multi-day trip with a farewell dinner in downtown Philadelphia.

Meals included – Breakfast | Lunch at the Italian Market | Farewell dinner
Drive time – 4 hours

Today, our East Coast food journey sadly comes to an end. Your tour guide will greet you on your final day for a tour wrap-up and to answer any questions you might have or recommendations you might like for your extended post-tour stay or maybe even for a future tour – hopefully with us! Without a doubt, though, you’ll have a week’s worth of memorable experiences and an authentic taste of the best foods that Boston, New York, and Philly each has to offer. Maybe you’ll be itching to return to explore more of the New England coast and eat up its savory seafoods and Sicilian specialties or perhaps you were taken in by the bright lights of New York City, where you can easily spend a full week experiencing its upscale restaurants, food trucks, Broadway and off-Broadway shows, and world-renowned museums. And you’re of course welcome to stick around and enjoy more of Philadelphia, a city truly rich in history and neighborhoods each offering their own unique culinary traditions. For those who are ready to head home, shuttles to Philadelphia International Airport are available following checkout. We’ll look forward to seeing you on your next multi-destination, multi-day trip with us!