The way to a city's heart is often through the visitor's stomach, and food tours are a delicious way for travellers to get to know a destination.
No stranger to being called a food lover's paradise, Vancouver now has one more accolade to boast: A tasting tour of Granville Island Public Market has been named one of the best tours for world travellers.
Ranked number two by Forbes on its "10 Great City Tours For Travellers In 2025," Vancouver Foodie Tours' Granville Island Market Tour is a trek through some of the iconic market's delectable highlights and is applauded for giving visitors a "taste of fresh, local, seasonal produce alongside a slice of local life."
The tour "offers a range of delicious samples from independent farmers and food artisans from Vancouver and beyond, from duck confit and cheeses to locally-made charcuterie, melt-in-your-mouth donuts, and of course, B.C. smoked salmon," describes the publication.
Granville Island Market Tour a backstage pass to the landmark food hub
Over two hours, tour participants get essentially a backstage pass to the best of the market, with samples at every stop (and the rare chance to get to cut the line at some of the market's biggest draws, like Lee's Donuts and Oyama (home to renowned cured meats).
Thanks to over a decade of building relationships with vendors, the "Foodie" tour offers incredible insight into the venue - even pulling back the curtain on some local insider intel (like where a famous chain gets the crucial component to one of its most beloved dishes) and offering the chance to see the bustling market through new eyes.
As Forbes points out, the local indie operation, which launched in 2010, does other food tours around town, including one of Gastown and one focused on some of the city's Asian food gems.
Montreal, Toronto among cities on list of top tours around the world
Vancouver's Granville Island Market Tour ranks just behind a tasting tour of New York City's Lower East Side, led by Devour Tours, but just ahead of another Canadian city's public marketplace tour: Spade & Palacio's Beyond the Market Tour in Montreal. There, tour-takers get a taste of the Jean-Talon Market and the neighbourhood, offering a nibble of classic Little Italy, contemporary artisanal chocolate, and more.
The list also features a tour of Toronto's St. Lawrence Market (in fourth place), however, the picks are not limited to just tours for food fans. The publication ranks a Jack the Ripper-focused journey in London fifth, for example, and rounds off its globe-trotting treks with a glimpse of the historic marvels of Sri Lanka's Galle Fort.
