15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Food Travel Lovers

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Many people combine their love of food and travel, the “foodie traveler”. As Christmas approaches, here is our list of 15 terrific gift ideas for the food travel lover in your life.

If you are a regular Compass & Fork reader you probably share our love of food and travel. This list is good for any occasion not just Christmas. You can pin it for future reference.

Books for Food Travel Lovers

Books can serve as an inspiration to help plan your next trip or develop a theme for your next dinner party. Here are a few of our suggestions:

15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food1.

Lonely Planet Food Lover’s Guide to the World: Experience the Great Global Cuisines– Top travel guide publisher Lonely Planet shares their picks of cuisines and travel destinations for food lovers in this book. Need some inspiration for planning your next trip? This book definitely delivers.

 2. 15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food

Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe (National Geographic)- an “itinerary of foods, dishes, markets, and restaurants worth traveling far and wide to savor.” A beautiful book.

 3.

1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover’s Life List (Paperback or Kindle Edition)-  the Ultimate must try food list for cuisines from around the world.

 4. 15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food

Where Chefs Eat: A Guide to Chefs’ Favorite Restaurants (2015)- Collated based on recommendations of some of the world’s top chefs it has restaurants from over 70 countries. An app is also available.

 5.15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food Great American Eating Experiences: Local Specialties, Favorite Restaurants, Food Festivals, Diners, Roadside Stands, and More – Perfect if you are exploring the USA. (National Geographic)
 6.15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food Hungry Planet: What the World Eats-For 30 countries around the world this books looks at what a typical family eats during the course of a week. It’s a very interesting read to see how differently the world eats.


Travel Essentials for Foodies

A couple of essential items for the food loving traveler.

These days you can’t bring liquids or foods in your carry-on luggage. Yet many of the great food and drink you find in your travels are from small producers and not available at home. What’s the solution?

 

7. Inflatable Bottle Protectors: You can’t take liquids through security at the airport so if you want to bring home the local wine or spirits you need to pack it in your checked luggage. To prevent breakage, these inflatable bottle protectors are perfect. They pack flat and take up no room until you are ready to use them, then just inflate, slip your bottle in and pack in your suitcase.
OR 15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food The Heavy Duty Version: This self inflatable protective pouch even has a carry strap.
8. 15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food  Collapsible Coffee Maker– oh the number of times this has saved us! If you like coffee this can be a great way to make a cup on the road. All you need is a paper coffee filter, and coffee and you are ready to go. Just boil water and you can make a fresh brewed cup of coffee. Great when you are somewhere without a coffee maker or a country where filtered coffee is not the custom. Also works for camping! Or if you prefer, an Aeropress is also prefect for coffee when traveling.
9. How about a nice cocktail on your flights – one you can get through security as well! Try these carry-on cocktail kits- one for an Old Fashioned, a Moscow Mule or a Gin and Tonic. Relax and Enjoy!

 

Food Travel at Home

How about a game to play at home with your other foodie friends?

 

 10. 15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food Foodie Fight Rematch– second version with all new questions of Foodie Fight
 11. 15 Terrific Gift Ideas for Travelers that Love Food Foodie Craze– A food Trivia Game about food, cooking, wine, and culinary history. Test your food knowledge and learn about the world’s great cuisines.

Gifts for the Coffee Lover that Travels

 12. In addition to #8 above, Where to Drink Coffee, is a fantastic book for travelers that can’t live with coffee. As you know, we are always on the lookout for a great cup of coffee and this book list coffee shops around the world. Order in the Kindle version and take it with you. part of the same series as Where Chefs Eat, listed above.

Other Gift Ideas for Foodie Travelers

15 Terrific gift ideas for travelers that love food. Something for every occasion and any budget. Perfect for the foodie travelr in your life. 13. A Food Travel Gift Certificate

Gift certificates can be a great idea for a food or travel lover. Some other suggestions include:

  • A local restaurant they have been wanting to try
  • Specialty food shop
  • A cooking class at a local cooking school

 

14. An Online Cooking Class

Not near a cooking school? How about an online class? Craftsy offers a number of online Food and Cooking Classes teaching both kitchen skills (Artisan Bread Making, Free Pizza Making Class, Free Complete Knife Skills) and cuisines including Favorite Asian Dumplings from Scratch, Long and Slow BBQ, Mediterranean Favorites: Tapas, Meze & Antipasti. You have lifetime access to the class and can complete it at your own pace.

15. Destination Specific Food Travel Ideas

How about a gift to provide some inspiration for an upcoming trip or to help them relive some memories? If they have a favorite place they have visited or one they always talk about going to, how about a specialty cookbook from that region or some specialty food items. You can check out our collection of hand picked specialty items in the Compass & Fork shop– it contains books, cookbooks, movies, specialty utensils and ingredients from a number of regions around the world including Thailand, Turkey, Greece, Italy and many more.

Your Turn

Help us improve our list, leave us a comment below: (you don’t need a URL to leave a comment)

  • Do you have any other suggestions for gift ideas for travelers that love food?
  • If you are a foodie traveler what is your idea of a terrific gift?

We can’t wait to see what you suggest.

18 Responses

  1. Tom
    | Reply

    i love your book recommendations <3 We'll be off on a world trip next year and we'll try to get our blog up and running. Those books might help us quite a bit with it 😀 I'm going to give my girlfriend for christmas a portable spice rack as she (we) love to cook ourselfs when we're away

    • Editor
      |

      Good for you Tom. Nothing beats a little research to improve how much you can enjoy an upcoming holiday. You won’t go wrong with a spice rack. Another good gift.

  2. Anna @ shenANNAgans
    | Reply

    Super keen on the Collapsible Coffee Maker, as a bit of a coffee lover (have been known to travel with my machine), I am always on the look out for excellent ways to get my fix and not have to leave my favourite shoes at home too. The inflatable bottle protectors are pretty neat too. Awesome list, will be coming back here closer to Christmas. 🙂

    • Editor
      |

      We love our collapsible coffee maker. We travel with it all the time for the reasons you have detailed. I hope you manage to use the list at Christmas. Thanks for your comment.

  3. Krysten (#momnoms)
    | Reply

    I really love all of these gifts… my birthday is coming up, I may snake this post over to the hubby’s hands 😛

    I would add an Aeropress and electric kettle though, they are my go to travel essentials for tea and coffee! 😀

    • Editor
      |

      I like the aeropress and electric kettle idea for a car trip in country but a bit hard to pack for a plane trip with those luggage allowances. Thanks for your comment.

  4. Rosemary
    | Reply

    Great list of gift ideas for travelers that love food. Like the cooking classes ideas. A great way to get travelers really involved in the local food. Cheers.

    • Editor
      |

      Yes we are like the combination of food and travel and why not? I think, one of the better ways to learn about the culture of a place.

  5. Evelyne CulturEatz
    | Reply

    What a great list, I never heard of the Foodie Fights games, got to check that out!

    • Editor
      |

      I’m sure you will enjoy foodie fight. Great fun.

  6. Serina aka Ms Frugal Ears
    | Reply

    I so want to read 1,000 foods to eat before you die. I wonder how many I have tried? Probably not nearly 1,000. Great ideas for foodie travel gifts.

    • Editor
      |

      Yes I like my food and my travel. Maybe we should commit to trying everything in the book. Could be fun trying.

  7. Krista Bjorn
    | Reply

    As a traveler who loves food, I would be overjoyed to receive any of those fab books AND the cooking class. So fun. 🙂

    • Editor
      |

      I must admit the cooking classes are a great idea for a gift. So enjoyable.

  8. Rosemarie
    | Reply

    This is an awesome list, will keep in mind for my next birthday buy!

    • Editor
      |

      It’s not a bad idea to have a list of gift options for those that like to travel. Thanks for your comment.

  9. Kristy
    | Reply

    I would happily have any of these gifts! ^_^

    • Editor
      |

      Nothing like a little bit of travel luxury when on the road. Thanks for your comment.

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