For amateur foodies, adventure travel is about seeing the world in mouthfuls. And when there’s promise of gastro tours, then they happily succumb to epicurean delights on offer.

Be it a marathon bar crawl in Munich or rubbing shoulders with the chocolate makers of New York, gastro tours are all about exploring cultures in different countries through your favourite ‘exercise’ — eating. But you must book your own accommodation during the tours.

Here’s looking at some of the most delectable fun-and-food tours around the world.

Burger Pilgrimage

Burger King (www.burgerking. co.uk) has put together a burger trail with the help of famed food historian, Caroline Yeadham. It traces the origins of the hamburger to the Welsh castles in Britain, Italy and even America. Some of the cities on the itinerary include Rome, Cairo, Valencia (Spain), the Welsh Border Castles (UK), Versailles (France), Oklahoma (USA) and Novgorod (Russia).

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The ‘pilgrimage’ spans 16 cities in eight countries and three continents over 35 days. Book yourself a seat with STA Travel at www.statravel. co.uk. The package cost of £3,400 (Rs 2.35 lakh) per person and covers airfare and trainfare over the month-long trip.

New York Chocolate Tour

The world of Willy Wonka is on offer when you book yourself on the New York Chocolate Tour (www. sweetwalks.com). Three tours of two hours each are on offer. The Luxury Chocolate Tour takes you to famous chocolate boutiques in Manhattan. For experimental chocolates (made with spices, herbs and more), go for the New Cuisine Chocolate Tour through stylish SoHo and the Bowery Lane Chocolate Tour, conducted in the lower east side of Manhattan.

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The Luxury Chocolate Tour and the New Cuisine Chocolate Tour are priced at $70 (Rs 3,177) for two hours per person, while The Bowery Lane Tour for two hours costs $50 (Rs 2,235). Buy the tickets for these tours on www.sweetwalks. com. Customised private tours and gift vouchers are also on offer.

Niagara Icewine Festival

The 16th annual Niagara Icewine Festival in Canada is underway and is on for the next three weeks. Icewine is a rare kind of wine made from frozen grapes that are picked on the coldest winter nights. You can also take tours to wineries.

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Passes for the Icewine Festival in Niagara are available on www.icewinefestival.com and you can buy the $30 (Rs 1,341) per person pass for the dates between January 15 and 30.

The Crawl

If you want to go to Munich, you could do The Crawl — the famous beer tour that lasts about five hours takes you to some of the most famous beer gardens, beer halls and breweries. The Crawl (www.thecrawl.eu) runs on all seven days of the week and you can always go to the After-Crawl-Party once the tour is over.

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The Euro Youth Hotel (www.euro-youth-hotel.de) in Munich sells tickets for 15 euros (Rs 895) per person. It includes a professional guided tour, unlimited beer or wine for the first hour, three free shots, free transport and beer tasting.

Truffling Tours

A festival to celebrate white truffles will be held in Alba, Italy between October 8 and November 13 this year, along with the world’s largest truffle auction. You can also enjoy truffle hunting in Alba, which is fascinating as truffle hunters or trifolau head out at night along with their dogs.

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Tartufi & Co. (www.langhe.net) customises trips to the festival. You can go hunting for truffles at 25 euros (Rs 1,490) per person in a group of maximum five people.