Food

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer Amman is worth two or three days, more if you use it as a base for Jerash and the Dead Sea. The Jordan Tourism Board lists foreign-visitor entry at 3 Jordanian dinars for the Citadel, 2 for the Roman Theatre and 10 for Jerash, and all three are included in the Jordan Pass (70 to 80 dinars), which also covers Petra and waives the tourist visa fee if bought before arrival with a stay of at least two nights. Stay in Jabal Amman around Rainbow Street, or downtown in Al-Balad, to walk to the sights, cafés and knafeh shops. From Queen Alia International Airport, the Sariyah Airport Express bus costs around 3.4 dinars to the Seventh Circle and the North Bus Station. March to May and September to November are the most comfortable months; winter is cool and wet, with January averaging 12°C by day, around 11 rain days and occasional snow on the hills. Amman is a city of hills, white stone and Roman ruins in the middle of everyday traffic, and it is where almost every trip to Jordan starts. The decisions that shape your stay: which ticket to buy, which hill to sleep on, and which day trips to fit around the city. Fees, fares and timetables below were checked on 10 October 2026. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer Lyon is worth it for a two or three day city break built around food, Renaissance streets and, from 5 to 8 December 2026, the Fête des Lumières, when the City of Lyon lights up the whole centre for free (more than 2 million visitors came in 2025). From Paris, the fastest TGV takes 1 hour 42 minutes, with fares from around 16 euros on SNCF Connect. Flying in, the Rhônexpress tram reaches Part-Dieu from Lyon-Saint Exupéry airport in under 30 minutes for 16.30 euros online. Stay on the Presqu’île between Bellecour and Terreaux to walk to Vieux Lyon, the rivers and most light shows; Vieux Lyon is prettier but smaller. Spend the days in the traboules, up at Fourvière by funicular and at Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse, where 55 traders sell cheese, charcuterie and pastries. December is cold and grey: Météo-France averages a high of 7.7°C and a low of 2°C. Lyon is France’s food capital and one of its most underrated cities: two rivers, a Roman hill, a Renaissance old town threaded with secret passageways, and a historic centre listed by UNESCO in 1998. It is also the easiest big French city to reach without flying, under two hours from Paris by TGV. The choices that matter are when to go, where to sleep, and how to eat well. Dates, fares and fees below were checked on 9 October 2026. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer Lima is Peru’s coastal gateway, and most trips spend one to two days here before flying on to Cusco, with an extra day for Pachacamac or a Paracas detour. Hotels run from around 28 to 40 dollars a night in the Historic Centre or Barranco up to around 157 to 169 dollars in Miraflores, San Isidro or Barranco’s upscale tier, a live Booking.com sample checked 2026-08-06. Stay in Miraflores or San Isidro for a mid-range base near the coast, Barranco for arts and nightlife-free evenings, or the Historic Centre for budget and the catacombs. A shared shuttle from the new Jorge Chavez terminal into Miraflores runs around 6 dollars per person, since the terminal has no walk-in access; budget 45 to 70 minutes for the transfer. The Metropolitano BRT and Metro Line 1 cover the tourist core, with Uber and Cabify filling the gaps. As of August 2026, Lima sits in its garua winter: low cloud, minimal rain, cool and humid, running roughly June through October. Lima Travel Guide: Get the First Night Right and the Rest Follows Most Peru trips treat Lima as a layover between the airport and Cusco. That’s the mistake: this Lima travel guide treats it as a base worth a day or two on its own, cheap catacombs, real ceviche, and a coastline the Andes doesn’t have. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer Penang’s UNESCO heritage core in George Town is best visited outside the wettest September to November stretch, with June to August the comparatively drier window on this west-coast island. Base yourself inside the walkable heritage zone around Lorong Pasar, Lebuh Armenian and Jalan Penang, where a budget room runs around 30 to 41 dollars a night and mid-range options run around 64 to 81 dollars in September 2026 shoulder-season pricing, or choose Tanjung Tokong or Gurney Drive for a beach-adjacent, mall-side base. Ride the free CAT shuttle’s 19 stops to cover the heritage zone, with Grab and Rapid Penang buses handling the rest of the island. Budget three to four days for the street art, clan jetties, hawker food, and a half-day trip up Penang Hill and to the Kek Lok Si temple, both easy add-ons from George Town. That combination of walkable old streets and cheap, frequent transit is what makes Penang such an easy island to explore without a car. Penang Is Malaysia’s Food Capital First, a Beach Second Pace yourself at the hawker stalls: Penang is Malaysia’s food capital, not an afterthought island you pass through, and filling up on a big lunch means missing the stalls worth queueing for come evening. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer The biggest France etiquette mistake is skipping the greeting: say “Bonjour, Madame” or “Bonjour, Monsieur” before asking for anything in a shop, café, pharmacy or hotel, and “Au revoir” on the way out, because launching straight into a request reads as rude. The second is over-tipping, since a 15% service charge (“service compris”) is legally built into French restaurant and café bills, so locals just round up a euro or two. Dinner in France is unhurried and waiters will not bring the bill unasked, so say “L’addition, s’il vous plaît” when you are ready. Many small, family-run restaurants and boutiques close for part of July and August while owners take their own holiday, and many businesses pause around 12:00-14:00 for lunch. La bise, two light cheek kisses, is for friends and family, while a “Bonjour” and a handshake cover first meetings. ETIAS is not required to enter France in 2026, and the 90/180-day Schengen visa-free rule still applies. The Greeting That Decides How the Rest of the Visit Goes Walk into a small boulangerie, point at a pastry case and ask for a croissant without a greeting first, and the response is often silence, then a pointed “Bonjour” from behind the counter. Say it back, and the whole transaction turns warm in about two seconds flat. Skipping straight to the ask reads less like efficiency and more like the person serving you doesn’t deserve a hello. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer The etiquette mistakes tourists make most in Portugal are quiet ones: tipping American-style percentages, rushing a meal built for lingering, talking or using flash during Fado, and treating Porto’s riverside as a quick checklist stop. Tipping is never obligatory: locals round up at cafés, 5-10% at a sit-down restaurant is generous, and the Algarve runs closer to 10%, but skip small copper coins. Lunch starts around 1pm and is often the bigger meal, while dinner service typically opens around 7:30-8pm, and the bill only arrives when you ask for it. Café culture is a daily ritual, so order a bica and a pastel de nata and linger at the counter, which is often cheaper than table service. At a Fado house, go silent once the fadista starts, applaud after each song, and expect shows around 8-9pm, with dinner served between sets. Greet shops with bom dia and use obrigado or obrigada. ETIAS is not required in 2026, and the 90/180-day Schengen rule still applies. Rushing a Coffee Is the Tell A visitor who orders a bica (Portugal’s espresso), drinks it in under two minutes at the counter and leaves misses what’s actually happening around them: everyone else at that same counter is still there ten minutes later, cup long empty, just talking. The coffee isn’t really the point. It’s the excuse to stand still for a while, and that one small shift, from rushing to lingering, explains most of the etiquette mistakes visitors make in Portugal. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer The biggest Spain etiquette mistakes are about timing and tipping, not manners: dinner (cena) rarely starts before 9pm, and kitchens are often closed from around 4:30pm to 8:30pm, so a 6pm table finds a shuttered kitchen or a tourist-strip menu. Lunch (comida), typically 2-4pm, is the main meal in Spain, and a menú del día averages around €14 nationally, roughly €12-18 in Madrid or Barcelona. Tipping is light: locals round up or leave a euro or two, and 5-10% at nicer restaurants is generous, never obligatory. Small independent shops outside central Madrid and Barcelona still keep siesta-style hours, closing roughly 1-2pm to 4-5pm. Tapas is a food culture, so order small plates and move between two or three spots, or head to markets like Mercado de Triana in Seville. Book Seville hotels early for Semana Santa (March 29 to April 5, 2026) and Feria de Abril (April 21-26). ETIAS is not required in 2026, and the 90/180-day visa-free rule still applies. The 6pm Reservation Nobody Would Confirm Visitors who try to book a 6:30pm dinner in Seville are often turned away outright: kitchens simply aren’t open yet, and 9pm is the realistic start. That’s the thing about Spain’s rhythm. It isn’t a quirk to route around, it’s the reason the evenings feel so good once visitors stop fighting it. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer The Italy etiquette mistakes tourists make most are ordering a cappuccino after lunch or dinner, asking for cheese on seafood pasta, over-tipping, wearing shorts or bare shoulders into churches and eating at the tourist-trap restaurants beside major sights. None of these is offensive, but getting them right means better food, lower bills and blending in. Cappuccino is a breakfast drink taken before about 11am; after a meal Italians order a quick espresso, and a counter espresso is often just €1–1.50 standing at the counter, more at a table. Many restaurants add a coperto cover charge of €1–3 per person for bread and the table setting, so locals simply round up instead of tipping 15–20%. Churches such as St Peter’s Basilica and the Duomo in Florence enforce a dress code, so cover shoulders and knees or carry a light scarf. Dinner is late: restaurants open around 7:30pm and locals eat 8–9:30pm. Carry some cash for markets, cover charges and small cafés, and validate paper regional train tickets. The Mistake That Marks You as a Tourist in Three Seconds Order a cappuccino after a big lunch in Rome and the waiter won’t blink: it simply arrives, often with a small, knowing smile, because a milky coffee after a meal is the single clearest “I’m a tourist” signal in Italy. Nobody minds. But that little smile is the whole point of this guide: Italian etiquette is rarely about offence and almost always about knowing the local rhythm (the coffee, the mealtimes, the cover charge) well enough to eat better and pay less. ...

Disclosure: We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no extra cost to you. How we earn This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. About & Affiliate Disclosure ✅ Quick Answer The best time to visit Italy is late May, June or September, when the sun is warm, the sea is swimmable and flights and hotels sit well below the July-August crush. September is the best month: the Tyrrhenian sea sits around 24 C, warmer than in July, and an Amalfi room that runs 320 euros a night in August can drop to around 190 euros in the last week of September. July and August are the months to avoid, with Rome and Florence at 30-34 C, packed sights and peak rates, and many family-run city shops closing around Ferragosto on 15 August. The cheapest window is November to March outside the holidays, with flights and hotels often 30-40% below summer, and a central Rome hotel that runs 200 euros in May can drop to 100-120 euros in January. In the south (Sicily, Naples, the Amalfi Coast) the beach season runs from late May into October, while the Dolomites and Alps are best for winter skiing. The Best Time to Visit Italy, in One Sentence The best time to visit Italy, if you want the easy win, is late May, June, or September: warm sun, a swimmable sea, and flights and hotels well below the July-August crush. An Amalfi room that runs 320 euros a night in the second week of August can drop to around 190 euros for the same room in the last week of September, with a sea that’s often warmer in September than it was in August and far shorter queues on the Positano terraces. ...