New research analysed nearly 500,000 ratings across more than 17,000 cities globally, with Italy claiming all three top positions.
Chloe Dobinson Digital Production Editor and Vita Molyneux Travel reporter
11:39, 19 Dec 2025
This city won the top spot(Image: FilippoBacci via Getty Images)
When it comes to culinary delights, people often dream of indulging in pasta in Italy, savouring sushi in Japan or relishing tacos in Mexico. Indeed, for many holidaymakers, their trips seem to revolve around the local cuisine.
Now, a study by TasteAtlas has revealed the top destinations for foodies worldwide. The team analysed nearly half a million ratings from 17,073 cities listed on its database.
Interestingly, many of the top-rated locations are conveniently located not too far from the UK, with the majority of the top 10 situated in Europe.
Naples clinched the coveted top spot, thanks to its status as the birthplace of pizza, lasagna and macaroni. However, this picturesque city wasn’t the only Italian destination to make the cut, reports the Express.
Milan bagged second place, owing to its signature dishes such as risotto and panettone. And let’s not forget that Milan is also the home of Campari, perfect for those looking to wash down their meals with a refreshing tipple.
Italy dominated the top three, with Bologna securing third place. The city is renowned for its spaghetti bolognese, ragu and tortellini.
Despite the heavy Italian presence, other popular cities like Paris, Vienna and Mumbai also made it into the top 10.
However, the UK didn’t manage to secure a spot in the top 30, alongside other notable absences including Hong Kong, Barcelona, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, and Amsterdam.
EU delays Mercosur trade deal until January amid farmer protests and opposition from France and Italy.
The European Union has delayed a massive free-trade deal with South American countries amid protests by EU farmers and as last-minute opposition by France and Italy threatened to derail the agreement.
European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho confirmed on Thursday that the signing of the trade pact between the EU and South American bloc Mercosur will be postponed until January, further delaying a deal that had taken some 25 years to negotiate.
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Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was expected to travel to Brazil on Saturday to sign the deal, but needed the backing of a broad majority of EU members to do so.
The Associated Press news agency reported that an agreement to delay was reached between von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – who spoke at an EU summit on Thursday – on the condition that Italy would vote in favour of the agreement in January.
French President Emmanuel Macron had also pushed back against the deal as he arrived for Thursday’s summit in Brussels, calling for further concessions and more discussions in January.
Macron said he has been in discussions with Italian, Polish, Belgian, Austrian and Irish colleagues, among others, about delaying the signing.
“Farmers already face an enormous amount of challenges,″ the French leader said.
The trade pact with Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay would be the EU’s largest in terms of tariff cuts.
But critics of the deal, notably France and Italy, fear an influx of cheap commodities that could hurt European farmers, while Germany, Spain and Nordic countries say it will boost exports hit by United States tariffs and reduce reliance on China by securing access to key minerals.
Brazil’s President Lula says Italy’s PM Meloni asked for ‘patience’
The EU-Mercosur agreement would create the world’s biggest free-trade area and help the 27-nation European bloc to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America at a time of global trade tensions.
Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said Germany, Spain and the Nordic countries were “all lobbying hard in favour of this deal”. But ranged against them were the French and Italian governments because of concerns in their powerful farming sectors.
“Their worry being that their products, such as poultry and beef, could be undercut by far cheaper imports from the Mercosur countries,” Kane said.
“So no signing in December. The suggestion being maybe there will be a signing in mid-January,” he added.
“But there must now be a question about what might happen between now and mid-January, given the powerful forces ranged against each other in this debate,” he added.
Farmers wear gas masks at the Place du Luxembourg near the European Parliament, during a farmers’ protest on December 18, 2025 [Nicolas Tucat/AFP]
Mercosur nations were notified of the move, a European Commission spokeswoman said, and while initially reacting with a now-or-never ultimatum to its EU partners, Brazil opened the door on Thursday to delaying the deal’s signature to allow time to win over the holdouts.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Italy’s Meloni had asked him for “patience” and had indicated that Italy would eventually be ready for the agreement.
The decision to delay also came hours after farmers in tractors blocked roads and set off fireworks in Brussels to protest the deal, prompting police to respond with tear gas and water cannon.
Protesting farmers – some travelling to the Belgian capital from as far away as Spain and Poland – brought potatoes and eggs to throw and waged a furious back-and-forth with police while demonstrators burned tyres and a faux wooden coffin bearing the word “agriculture”.
The European Parliament evacuated some staff due to damage caused by protesters.
It is suggested the rules could be going ahead as soon as January 7.
However, Rome‘s city council said they were considering the new fee but that there was no confirmation it would be going ahead next month.
The new rule has divided people with some backing it in the hopes to reduce crowds.
One person said on social media: “Good idea. I tried walking through the area last November and could barely move, so many people.”
However, most said it would “ruin the charm” of the fountain.
Others said: “Nothing like taking away from the beautiful view of the fountain.”
Another agreed: “More companies making money!”
A third said: “How does one completely ruin and destroy the beauty of historical Italian architecture and monuments? Stick an ugly turnstile entrance and barriers in front of it.”
Most people visit it to throw a coin in, with legend saying one coin to return to Rome, two for love and three for marriage.
Last week’s announcement that Italian cuisine has been added to Unesco’s intangible cultural heritage list came as no surprise to anyone familiar with that country’s obsession with food. Unesco called Italy’s cooking a “communal activity” in which “people of all ages and genders participate, exchanging recipes, suggestions and stories”.
It might have added people of all walks of life, too, because in Italy being a foodie is not the “preserve” of the chattering classes. I’ve heard building workers in a low-cost trattoria gravely discussing what starter and wine best complement a certain lunch dish, and a shabbily dressed nonna at Turin’s Porto Palazzo market enthusing over a variety of carrot available only at her favourite stall.
And in this land where the salami will change from one valley to the next, many people take an endearing pride in foods from their region, village, even family. So, in no particular order, here is a selection of local delights from the Alps to Sicily.
Star baker, Verona
Panettone is now a British fixture alongside mince pies, but in fair Verona, the Christmas confection is pandoro, a soft, leavened cake made in a star-shaped tin, without the dried fruit that many dislike. It usually has a dusting of icing sugar to resemble the nearby alpine peaks. Pandoro, however, is a factory version of the older, round offella – made with sourdough matured for days, it has a denser crumb and comes topped with almonds. Try it at Antica Offelleria Verona, which uses a “mother” that is more than a century old.
Prosperity pulses, Umbria
The patchwork fields of Castelluccio di Norcia, where flowering lentils are grown. Photograph: Andrea Federici/Alamy
Christmas foods vary around Italy, but on New Year’s Eve lentils are a must. With their round, flat shape, they’re supposed to resemble coins and mean a wealthy year. The best lentils in Italy (some say the world) are the small, tender and quick-cooking ones from the high Castelluccio plain in southern Umbria, near Italy’s pork capital, Norcia. Castelluccio village and Norcia are still struggling after the 2016 earthquake, and make tourists very welcome. Conjure prosperity with a sausage and lentil dinner at Granaro del Monte, close to Norcia’s basilica, which finally reopened just over a month ago.
Dairy delight, Puglia
Fresh burrata cheese heads. Photograph: Vladimir Gerasimov/Alamy
For years it has been rare to open a menu anywhere and not find a starter involving burrata. But while this soft cheese feels luxurious, it originated in hard, thrifty lives near the ancient city of Andria in Puglia. Snowed in and unable to get their milk to market in the early 1900s, the Bianchino brothers were apparently casting around for a way to use it up. They mixed cream with scraps left from making mozzarella and stuffed them in a casing made of the same stretched-curd cheese – never imagining the wobbly pouches would later grace tables from Stockholm to Sydney. Today, Andria is known for the freshest burrata and cow’s milk mozzarella, and many Puglians, such as my friend Savio, won’t eat these cheeses anywhere else in Italy, as they’re best enjoyed within 24 hours. Buy at Caseificio Olanda, with its “milk museum”, on the outskirts of Andria.
Bread of heaven, Sardinia
Crispy pane carasau topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and poached egg. Photograph: Ivan Canavera/Alamy
Looking like an oversized poppadum, pane carasau is a crispy flatbread also called carta musica (manuscript paper). Double cooked so that it keeps, it was carried by shepherds spending months in high summer pastures and is one of Europe’s oldest breads: traces were found in 3,000-year-old nuraghe (stone tower) excavations. It is also delicious. Shards of pane carasau sprinkled with olive oil and sea salt are as moreish with drinks as any kettle chip – and much better for you. In Fonni, the highest town in Sardinia, the Sunalle bakery has made pane carasau for as long as anyone can remember. Panefratteria in Cagliari tops the flatbreads with tomato sauce, pecorino cheese and a poached egg.
Onions that won’t make you cry, Calabria
Tropea sweet red onions at a local market. Photograph: Dan Rentea/Alamy
Also dating back millennia, sweet red onions grown around the seaside town of Tropea were probably brought to Italy by the Phoenicians. But Calabria has made the cipolla rossa its own, claiming you can eat them raw like an apple. Their sweetness comes not from a high sugar content but a natural lack of pungent pyruvic acid. Fresh onions are available from May through summer at the Saturday market in Tropea. When you tire of them in salads and sandwiches, stew them with olive oil, salt and a few chilli flakes to make cipollata calabrese – for cucina povera (poverty cooking) that feels anything but.
Fish in a barrel, Lombardy
Missoltini at Tremezzina, Lake Como. Photograph: Alamy
From cheese and charcuterie to pickles, many delicacies arise from humans’ need to preserve food. So it was with missoltini, a freshwater answer to anchovies produced on the shores of Lake Como. Agoni, a kind of shad, are cleaned, salted, hung to dry for 10 days then packed in a barrel with bay leaves. They are traditionally eaten grilled with polenta, which modern palates may find rather strong and salty. I love them as an umami nugget in pasta or risotto recipes, or topping crisp crostini with honey and vinegar. Fishmonger and restaurant Da Ceko in Lecco does an excellent pumpkin salad with raisins and missoltini.
Italy’s silence on the Mercosur trade pact is deafening – and potentially decisive. Rome could become the kingmaker between supporters of the deal and countries seeking to block it.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to fly to Brazil on December 20 to sign off the agreement. France, facing farmer anger over fears of unfair competition from Latin America, opposes the deal and wants to postpone the EU member states vote scheduled this week to allow the signature.
The trade pact with Mercosur countries – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay – aims to create a free-trade area for 700 million people across the Atlantic. Its adoption requires a qualified majority of EU member states. A blocking minority of four countries representing 35% of the EU population could derail ratification.
By the numbers, Italy’s stance is pivotal. France, Hungary, Poland and Austria oppose the deal. Ireland and the Netherlands, despite past opposition, have not officially declared their position. Belgium will abstain.
That leaves Italy in the spotlight. A diplomat told Euronews the country is feeling expose but that may not be a bad position to be in if it plays its cards rights to get concessions.
Coldiretti remains firmly opposed to the agreement
Rome’s agriculture minister had previously demanded guarantees for farmers.
Since then, the Commission has proposed a safeguard to monitor potential EU market disruptions from Mercosur imports. The measure, backed by member states, will be voted on Tuesday by EU lawmakers at plenary session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Italy’s largest farmers’ association, Coldiretti, remains firmly opposed.
“It’s going to take too long to activate this safeguard clause if the EU market is hit by a surge of Mercosur’s imports,” a Coldiretti representative told Euronews.
On the other side, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni faces a delicate balancing act between farmers and Confindustria, the industry lobby, while Italy remains the EU’s second-largest exporter to Mercosur countries.
This was also made clear by Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida a few days ago in Brussels. “Many industrial sectors and parts of the agricultural sector, such as the wine and cheese producers, would have a clear and tangible benefit [from the deal]. Others could be penalized,”he said.
This is why Italy has not taken a clear stance up to now. “Since 2024, we tried to protect everybody”, Lollobrigida argued, while remaining ambiguous on the country’s position.
Supporters of the deal are wooing Meloni, seeing her as the path to get the agreement done and open new markets amid global trade obstacles, including nationalist policies in the US and China.
“As long as the Commission president is preparing to go to Brazil to the Mercosur summit, we need to do what’s necessary for that to happen,” an EU senior diplomat from a pro-deal country said.
Yet uncertainty lingers. No one wants to schedule a vote that might fail, and Italy’s prolonged silence is rattling backers, sources told Euronews.
One diplomat familiar with the matter speaking to Euronews conceded “it’s hard, looks difficult”.
Jet2 has partnered with Eurocamp to offer package holidays to European holiday parks in France, Italy and Croatia, allowing families to easily book their flights, accommodation, and car hire in one
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Holidaymakers can stay in two or three bedroom mobile homes(Image: Eurocamp)
Jet2 has unveiled a partnership with Eurocamp, a leading European holiday park provider, allowing travellers to book package holidays with accommodation in select parks across France, Croatia, and Italy for summer 2026.
Those booking through Jet2 can opt for a variety of mobile homes for their stay, bundled into a convenient package alongside a Jet2 flight. These package holidays come with bed linen, flights with 22kg checked baggage and a 10kg hand luggage allowance, ATOL protection, and the assistance of a Eurocamp representative throughout the stay.
A standout feature of Jet2’s Eurocamp packages is the inclusion of car hire at your destination, eliminating the need for coach transfers and providing an easy means to explore during your holiday. The price of your package holiday typically includes basic car hire, but you can choose to upgrade at checkout if you wish, and there are a few different providers to choose from.
Eurocamp accommodations are tailored for families, offering a selection of self-contained units from the Classic range of mobile homes to upgraded properties boasting private terraces and garden furniture, reports the Express.
Options include two- and three-bedroom mobile homes, ensuring parents have ample space and privacy when travelling with children. Amenities include well-equipped kitchens, BBQs, WiFi, and air conditioning, depending on the chosen package.
For those seeking a touch of luxury, the highest grades of accommodation offer extras such as hotel-quality mattresses and hot tubs, guaranteeing a truly relaxing getaway.
Since Eurocamp accommodations come equipped with kitchen facilities, they can prove more budget-friendly than hotel stays. Nevertheless, if you fancy dining out, most parks feature on-site restaurants, takeaways, and other options for dining close to your mobile home.
There’s a wide selection of Eurocamps available, many boasting direct beach access or proximity to lakes and stunning mountain views. So, regardless of your chosen location, there’s typically loads to discover in the surrounding area.
Jet2 will be providing park packages across several French regions including the Dordogne and Provence areas, Lake Garda and Sardinia in Italy, plus Croatia’s Istrian Coast and Dalmatia Coast – all favourite spots for family getaways.
Within each park, you’ll discover numerous daytime activities, featuring energetic kids’ clubs and evening entertainment ranging from live performances to mini-discos. Eurocamp sites also boast swimming pools, with some having multiple pools, whilst larger parks may include waterslides and additional exciting outdoor amenities.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, commented: “The launch gives customers the opportunity to enjoy unforgettable outdoor holidays across Europe with Jet2holidays, including all the benefits of booking an award-winning package holiday with the UK’s largest tour operator.
“We know just how popular Eurocamp is, and we are very confident that its appeal, together with the perks of a Jet2holidays package, will mean that this new proposition is a huge success.”
A UNESCO panel backed Italy’s bid, recognising Italian cuisine as a social ritual that binds families, communities.
Italian cuisine, long cherished for its deep regional traditions, has been officially recognised by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage” – a designation the country hopes will elevate its global prestige and draw more visitors.
“We are the first in the world to receive this recognition, which honours who we are and our identity,” Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement on Instagram on Wednesday.
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“For us Italians, cuisine is not just food, not just a collection of recipes. It is much more, it is culture, tradition, work, and wealth,” Meloni said.
The vote by a cultural panel of UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – meeting in New Delhi capped a process Italy launched in 2023, with the government portraying the country’s culinary tradition as a social ritual that binds families and communities.
🔴 BREAKING
New inscription on the #IntangibleHeritage List: Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity, #Italy🇮🇹.
— UNESCO 🏛️ #Education #Sciences #Culture 🇺🇳 (@UNESCO) December 10, 2025
‘Cooking is a gesture of love’
UNESCO did not single out any famous dishes or regional specialities. Instead, the citation focused on how much Italians value the everyday rituals around food: the big Sunday lunch, the tradition of nonnas teaching kids how to fold tortellini just right, and simply sitting down together to enjoy a meal.
“Cooking is a gesture of love; it’s how we share who we are and how we look after each other,” said Pier Luigi Petrillo, part of Italy’s UNESCO campaign and a professor at Rome’s La Sapienza University.
In its announcement, UNESCO described Italian cuisine as a “cultural and social blend of culinary traditions”.
“Beyond cooking, practitioners view the element as a way of caring for oneself and others, expressing love and rediscovering one’s cultural roots. It gives communities an outlet to share their history and describe the world around them,” it added.
The UNESCO listing could deliver further economic benefits to a country already renowned for its cooking and where the agri-food supply chain accounts for about 15 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP).
It could also bring some relief to traditional family-run restaurants, long the backbone of Italian dining, which are facing a harsh economic climate in a market increasingly polarised between premium and budget options.
The Colosseum is illuminated during a special light installation, after Italy won a place on UNESCO’s cultural heritage list [Remo Casilli/Reuters]
Honouring cultural expressions
Italy is not the first country to see its cuisine honoured as a cultural expression.
In 2010, UNESCO inscribed the “gastronomic meal of the French” on its intangible heritage list, calling out France’s tradition of marking life’s important moments around the table.
Other food traditions have been added in recent years, too, including the cider culture of Spain’s Asturian region, Senegal’s Ceebu Jen dish, and the traditional cheese-making of Minas Gerais in Brazil.
UNESCO reviews new candidates for its intangible-heritage lists every year under three categories: a representative list; a list for practices considered in “urgent” need of safeguarding; and a register of effective safeguarding practices.
At this year’s meeting in New Delhi, the committee evaluated 53 proposals for the representative list, which already includes 788 entries. Other nominees included Swiss yodelling, the handloom weaving technique used to make Bangladesh’s Tangail sarees, and Chile’s family circuses.
A woman spoons ‘spaghetti alla Carbonara’ during a cooking competition [Andrew Medichini/AP Photo]
The Santa Maria di Missione chapel in Villafranca Piemonte, northern Italy, stands at the end of a long cornfield. Behind it, the mountains rise gently, their outlines caressed by the sun. The colours of autumn frame the 15th-century frescoes that embellish the structure’s interior, painted by Italian artist Aimone Duce, of the Lombard school. The chapel is the municipality’s oldest religious building, serving about 4,000 inhabitants, and stands on the site of a pre-existing building dating back to 1037.
Inside the small chapel, my footsteps echo softly against the walls, breaking the stillness of the surrounding countryside. The sharp scent of plaster mingles with the earthy smell of the fields outside, carried in on the wind along with the sweetness of wheat. Light filters through the narrow windows, catching the vivid hues of a fresco that depicts the seven deadly sins – a theme often revisited in medieval iconography.
My eye is drawn to the back wall, where the Deposition (Christ being taken down from the cross) unfolds above the altar and, higher up, the Annunciation appears in delicate contrast. Together, the frescoes meditate on human nature, its vices, frailty and moral struggle. For this reason, the chapel is regarded as one of the finest examples of the Italian international gothic style.
Santa Maria di Missione is part of an open culture circuit, the Cultura a Porte Aperte, a system created by the Council for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta, and the Fondazione CRT. The goal is to make sacred art accessible through a free app. Once it is downloaded, visitors can book and visit the various churches registered in the system via smartphone, opening the door with a simple QR code near the main entrance.
More than 70 churches and chapels have been made accessible through the project, and on entering them visitors can activate a multimedia narrative system: a story available in three languages, that provides historical and artistic information about the structure, accompanied by music and directional lighting.
“I am particularly struck by the more isolated chapels, located in fields or on the edge of a forest,” says Monsignor Derio Olivero, the bishop of Pinerolo, a small town 25 miles (40km) south-west of Turin. “Many are in meadows or among vineyards – a paradise of silence and beauty. For the faithful in the area, the project offers the chance to find a ‘private chapel’ where they can occasionally take refuge. The same is true for non-believers, who can experience it as a place to nurture their spirituality,” he adds.
The historic centre of Pinerolo, a municipality in Turin. Photograph: Framarzo/Alamy
Cultura a Porte Aperte allows visitors to explore the churches independently and freely throughout the year. The organisers have arranged the sites into six itineraries in different regions: Langhe and Roero; Monregalese; Colline Torinesi and Monferrato; Pinerolese and Saluzzese; Canavese and Valle d’Aosta-Via Francigena; Val di Susa-Via Francigena. Olivero says that the intention is to extend the project across Italy, with Lombardy already on board. “We are in contact with Lazio. I think about the impact the project could have when there are 700, or even 1,000 churches.”
He explains that the initiative drives regional tourism, attracting local and international visitors. “As a young priest, I was fascinated by small churches; they are rich in 15th-century frescoes, but sometimes abandoned and were almost always closed. Sometimes I would set off to visit them, and the challenge was to find the key, spending hours searching for it.”
When I reach the small Piedmontese town of Lusernetta, I find the chapel of San Bernardino da Siena. Built between 1450 and 1520, it is dedicated to Saint Bernardino, who in 1425 travelled to the Lucerne valleys to convert the Waldensians – a proto-Protestantism community known for its strict adherence to the Bible. The simple interior features a series of frescoes by an anonymous painter known as the “maestro di Lusernetta”. But the Madonna of Mercy and Child by Jacopino Longo on the left wall of the nave stands out: the Madonna, sitting on her throne, shelters the family of the Counts of Luserna di Rorà – who commissioned the work – under her blue mantle.
Frescoes by Bartolomeo Serra in the chapel of the Santa Lucia delle Vigne, Pinerolo. Photograph: Lavinia Nocelli
These small churches are maintained by parish volunteers. “These are spaces that promote slow tourism, enabling visitors to discover the area, often through word of mouth,” says Luigi Capello, the head of the local parish youth group and coordinator of pastoral activities. “This project allows us to accompany schools, communities and care homes on visits. But we must not forget the importance of human contact. People can visit the churches independently, yet most of those who return ask to meet one of the volunteers – to hear the story in person.”
The streets of the historic centre of Pinerolo, a municipality in Turin, are enriched by the aromas of bakeries and florists. Inside the cafes, people quickly exchange a greeting, grab an espresso, and leave. Just off the main street is the chapel of Santa Lucia delle Vigne, surrounded by vineyards. Inside are frescoes painted in the 15th century by Bartolomeo Serra and his workshop, depicting four episodes from the saint’s life. Six small wooden cubes serve as benches inside: dim light enters through the window, illuminating Saint Lucia’s face, which looks at the viewer from every side of the nave. The silence is broken only by the narrator’s voice describing the painted scenes. “It’s almost like talking directly to the painter,” says Roberto Billia, a volunteer. “When the door opens, like a miracle, the lights come on and the recording starts. It’s magnificent.”
