Unique Dining Experiences on Holiday of a Lifetime Tours

Wining, dining, and trying out new and different cuisines are excellent aspects of travel, but even better when they are special, unique, and carefully selected, as you will find on one of our Holiday of a Lifetime tours.

We all love to eat out, especially while on vacation. Enjoyable dining is a very important component of Goway’s Holiday of a Lifetime tour. This group travel experience offers something unique and memorable in the dining options it features – adding a little “spice” to any itinerary.

Let’s check out some examples of unique dining experiences on Goway’s Holiday of a Lifetime tours.

Downunder

When you consider our Waltzing Matilda tour to Australia and New Zealand, (or our Best of Australia and Best of New Zealand), you might think dining would be very similar to that in North America. Well, yes and no. The cuisine isn’t generally too different but the venues used in this case certainly are.

In Australia, there is a visit to the Sydney Opera House to enjoy a tasting platter lunch. As well, you can enjoy dinner aboard a cruise which sails around beautiful Sydney Harbour. In both cases, the views of the harbour and the city skyline are spectacular.

On a visit to the Blue Mountains, start your day with morning tea at the Teapot Museum (very appropriate, don’t you think?). Then in Cairns, get involved with Aboriginal culture, having dinner while enjoying indigenous entertainment at a cultural centre, and lunch in a nearby rainforest. There is nothing nicer than dining outside. A special dinner under a starlit sky prepared by an Aboriginal master chef takes place in the shadow of that iconic landmark, Ayers Rock. Now this particular dining experience, called “The Sounds of Silence” (silent except for pleasant conversation and the clinking of wine glasses), is white tablecloth-style service.

If the optional luxury train journey is taken between Alice Springs and Adelaide, then luxurious meals will be served as you travel through the vast scenic Australian Outback. While visiting the wine region of the Barossa  Valley near Adelaide, there is lunch at a winery (with wine of course) in the historic village of Hahndorf. And to say farewell to Australia, what could be more unique than dinner on a moving historic tramcar through the streets of Melbourne.

Continuing on to New Zealand, there is dinner at the Skyline Restaurant in Queenstown – reached by gondola. You will experience panoramic views of the city and surrounding area while dining. In Rotorua, there is a Hangi Feast, Maori-style. This is where the food is prepared using heated rocks buried in a pit oven. To sum up, you can see that this small group tour includes many unique venues and several unusual dining pleasures.

Suggested Itineraries:
20-Day Waltzing Matilda – Holiday of a Lifetime
13-Day Best of Australia – Holiday of a Lifetime
8-Day Best of New Zealand – Holiday of a Lifetime

Asia

Perhaps more exotic cuisine can be tried on Goway’s Splendours of China and Splendours of India. Now naturally, Chinese and Indian food are involved. But again that uniqueness factor is included, plus both cuisines are absolutely authentic. Sometimes during the tour, a change from the one type of food is desired and this is easily remedied. In China, the style of dining is done with round tables catering to at least 6 people per table so that everyone can choose from a whole bunch of varied dishes according to taste. In India, most dinners and some lunches are buffet-style with a great selection of dishes. Oh, and by the way, the first meal of the day in both China and India is a full American breakfast.

The uniqueness in China starts with experiencing a traditional Peking duck dinner – in Beijing, of course. This includes a choice of every part of the duck plus a soup made of duck. Believe me, it’s all delicious. In Lhasa, Tibet, you get the chance to try something prepared a little differently for dinner – local Tibetan dishes. One of my favourite kinds of meals is a Hot Pot, and this is part of the dining schedule in Chengdu. This is where you sit in front of a pot of near boiling water and drop into it whatever is available on the table. This will include meat, fish, chicken, and a variety of vegetables. As the meal progresses, the more you drop in, the more delicious the flavour becomes.   One of my all time favourite hotels is the venue for a farewell dinner, western-style. The Peace Hotel, located on the Shanghai waterfront, has been around since the 1920s when it was the only place celebrities would stay. This art deco-style establishment has been totally renovated. The views of Shanghai from the dining room are breathtaking.

In India, there is a Rajasthani dinner in arguably the country’s most beautiful city, Udaipur – definitely Indian cuisine with a difference. In Varanasi, the holiest city for Hindus, you will have a kebab dinner. Special dining will take place in Mumbai with a “Welcome to India” dinner, and in Delhi with a “Farewell to India” dinner, both expertly prepared.

Africa

When you travel on Goway’s Magic of Africa exclusive small group tour, the same could be said about the style of food as for Waltzing Matilda. The food is different and yet not so different. However, the choice of venues is what makes the dining on this tour special. Starting in Cape Town, South Africa, dinner is at the award-winning Azure Restaurant, located in the luxury hotel that is used for this tour. The views over the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront will add to your dining pleasure. Again in Cape Town, while enjoying a day exploring the Cape Peninsula, a 5-course lunch is taken at the Foodbarn Restaurant in Noordhoek, where chef, Franck Dangereux, is famous for his delicious and decadent “fine-dining” style cuisine. While in Cape Town, you will also enjoy dinner at a well-known supper club which features a cultural show. Enjoy a picnic in the Winelands plus dinner at the Gold Restaurant in Franschhoek, which is based on regional South African dishes. Onwards to Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls, lunch is served at the Lookout Café, which offers spectacular views of the Falls. In case you’re wondering about the cuisine while on safari in Kruger and Chobe, my memories of dining at different safari lodges are that it is nothing short of perfection – the food, the ambience, and the sound of nearby wild animals all combine to add to your dining pleasure. To top this off, an alfresco bush dinner in Kruger is an unforgettable outdoor experience.

Our “ultimate journey of a lifetime,” Cape to Cairo, offers varied and interesting dining as you would expect from an exclusive and deluxe group tour that covers 8 different countries in Africa, each with its individual style of cuisine. Travelling throughout South Africa and all the way to Tanzania, you will be spoilt by the mouth-watering gourmet cuisine aboard the luxury Rovos Rail private trains. The unique ambience of the charming Victorian atmosphere of the dining cars adds something special, not to mention, an excellent choice of fine South African wines is included. To quote Rovos Rail, “there’s an accent on fresh local ingredients and traditional dishes such as game are a speciality.” ‘Nuff said.

As mentioned for Magic of Africa, dining at game lodges is a very special experience to be enjoyed in South Africa, Rwanda, and Tanzania. In Ethiopia, there is a lunch at the Ben Ababa Restaurant in Lalibela, where you can try out typical Ethiopian cuisine, or, if unsure about this, have Western cuisine. Finally, a farewell dinner is arranged at the Mena House Hotel in Cairo. Here you will be dining in style in Egypt, under the shadow of the Great Pyramid which feels so close, you can almost touch it.

South America

In South America, Goway offers two Holiday of a Lifetime tours – the Cradle of the Incas and Samba, Tango and Waterfalls, or a combination of the two, entitled Signature South America. As you might expect, the first tour features Peruvian cuisine and the second, a contrast between Brazilian fare and Argentinean cuisine.

Starting with Peru, a wonderful dining experience arrives on the first full night in Lima at a sophisticated restaurant offering contemporary Peruvian dishes, while overlooking the illuminated ruins of a special archaeological site. These go well with a Pisco Sour!

Have you ever prepared your meal and then eaten it. Of course, it happens every day. But how about attending a cooking class in Cusco while under the supervision of master chefs, and then enjoying the meal you just cooked? Think it might taste better? Even if you are an expert cook, you will have fun and learn something. There’s lunch at a ranch in the Sacred Valley and another one at a lodge right under the shadow of that amazing Inca site, Machu Picchu. The last meal in Peru is dinner at the Larco Museum in Lima, the country’s most prestigious museum. This restaurant is not your usual museum cafeteria, it’s gourmet-style!

Moving onwards to Brazil, your culinary activities start off with a bang at the Cipriani Restaurant in Rio de Janeiro, under the supervision of a well-known local chef. This might surprise you but the cuisine here is a combination of Brazilian and Northern Italian. There is a lunch taken in the grounds of the Quitandinha Palace at a lakefront restaurant in Petropolis, just outside Rio. Heading next to the awe-inspiring Iguassu Falls, dining is not forgotten at the expense of the natural beauty here. You will enjoy a South American cultural show with buffet-style Brazilian fare at the Rafain Churrascaria. By the way, Churrascaria is a place where meat is cooked barbeque style. Finally, in sophisticated Buenos Aires in Argentina, enjoy a high-class Tango show, together with a sumptuous Argentinean dinner. Bearing in mind the quality of Argentinean wines, you get to try a selection on a “wine crawl” around the city – hors d’oeuvres included.

So there you have it – a wide variety of cuisines and venues for your dining pleasure. I hope you will agree that dining on Goway Holiday of a Lifetime tours will be extremely enjoyable and prove to be an important (forgive the pun) ingredient!