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A true taste of South Africa
Food tours
Edible plants explained on a food tour
Did you know?
Seven colours refers to traditional food served at Batswana weddings and funerals, and consists of slow-cooked beef, rice and 5 assorted vegetable dishes.
Food tourism is hot the world over. Gone are the days when holidaymaker’s vacationers long for the taste of home when travelling abroad.
Modern sightseers have insatiable appetites for alimentary authenticity. Numerous South African cuisine tours help you, the hungry traveller; seek out the food cultures and hospitality traditions that will reflect the tastes of your trip.
South African epicurean adventures will allow you to use your palate and your appetite to engage in a delicious study of the environment, history, climate, and culture of our land. So, what is on offer for those seeking edible and quaffable excursions in South Africa?
South African food tour options range from are über expensive Eurocentric gourmet exclusivity, to super-cheap cultural delights.
Whether your palate prefers 5-course luxury on a Western Cape wine estate, or morogo (wild spinach) and chakalaka (a spicy relish) in a Free State township, South African cuisine tours have a plate to match your palate, a pot within your price range, and a set of unique flavours that you will savour.
If you want to get into the kitchen and get your hands dirty, the food tour menu includes everything from opportunities to shop at a spaza (informal store) and cook umngqusho (maize and bean stew) with a township family to the chance to attend master classes with our top chefs.
From touring veld food gardens, to learning how to fold samoosas, South Africa has a food tour experience for you. If it’s booze rather than food that wets your appetite there are grape stomping weekends, wine tasting evenings, and Mampoer and brandy tours.
So why wait? There is a pot for you to stir, a spoon for you to lick, and a range of delicious flavours for you to experience with a South African food tour.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
!Khwa ttu offers San specialty tours
Tel +27 (0) 22 492 2998
Marico tourism offers Mampoer tours
Tel +27 (0) 83 2722 958
Kontrei Traveller does hotel-based Cape Dutch tours
Tel +27 (0) 21 871 1715
How to get here
Almost all major international airlines fly to Johannesburg and Cape Town. South African provinces can be reached by road, rail, and regional air services.
Tours to do
From San hunting and gathering tours to hands on fine dining master classes are available.
Get around
Self-drive is the way to go unless you are part of an organised tour.
What will it cost
Tour costs vary according to the time involved, and whether or not accomodation is included. Expect to pay approximately R400 for a half-day tour
What to pack
South African summers can be hot and many tours involve walking and cooking outside. Sun block and a hat are advisable.
Where to stay
South Africa has a range of accomodation options from luxury hotels to backpackers.
What to eat
Try our local culinary icons - Cape Malay sosatie-kebabs, Afrikaner koeksister-fritters, Zulu dombolo-dumplings and Durban style Indian bunny chows.
Best buys
Ben-Erik Van Wyk and Nigel Gericke. People's Plants: A guide to useful plants of Southern Africa. Briza 1998
Renata Coetzee. The South African Culinary Tradition. Struik. 1990