This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here.
The experience was sponsored by Tinggly, which did not review or approve the story.

Your tour choices include a 4-course lunch or a 6-course dinner, both of which have an option to add a wine paring (extra charge). Knowing that our local restaurant wishlist (see a list here) was robust we opted for a lunch tour with a wine pairing.

The bus itself is quite impressive. Black and sleek on the outside the interior is set up with comfortable leather booths in dark colours. Upon entry, a host greets you and explains the tour’s inner workings. Each guest is given a digital pen that also works as a listening device. The “pen” is paired with the tour map, you simply tap on the stop and then hold it up to your ear to listen. Pretty cool.

The bus then smoothly cuts through the city traffic bringing you close to its best monuments and attractions. My favourite part was driving through the Tower Bridge. The traffic at this point gets pretty bad but with the stunning views from the bridge, this slowdown actually works to our benefit. 

The onboard menu is curated by various guest chefs and therefore changes. During our visit, we enjoyed a creative appetizer, rich ravioli, a modern take on the meat and potatoes main, and a delicious cold dessert.

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Book this tour for yourself on bustronome.com, via GetYourGuide or gift it to someone with Tinggly, the gift has no expiry date so they can use it whenever they are ready! 

Luxury London bus tour with a gourmet lunch

Where to stay in London

Claridge’s Hotel, Mayfair
5-star

Beautiful historic hotel that was often visited by Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

The decor is stunning all around and these rooms will make you feel like royalty yourself. There are 8 (or even 9) restaurants and bars on the property and a very impressive wine cellar. There is of course, also an on-site spa. 

Book Claridge’s

The Henrietta Hotel
4-star

Another historic property (I suppose most of them are) with urban views and wonderful, subtly colourful decor. The rooms look stunning and comfortable, with velvet seating, accent walls, and metallic decor touches. The restaurant and bar take you on a “journey through iconic Italian gastronomy” and I’m always here for Italian, even if in London. 

Book The Henrietta Hotel

The Pilgrm Hotel
3-star

This is a beautiful boutique hotel, restaurant, and bar situated within walking distance from walk to Hyde Park. You will admire winding antique staircases and beautiful decor. Each room is unique, offers slow travel comfort, and has a lovely view of London. The on-site restaurant and bar have a beautiful terrace, casual decor, and an exciting menu.

Book The Pilgrm Hotel

All hotel images are courtesy of the properties.

The post See London on a panoramic gourmet food bus appeared first on Paths to Travel.

We are all strangers right now, masked, hesitant, and a little afraid. There is something about coming out into society after 18 months of isolation that makes us all a little jumpy and somewhat feral. But that all will change in a couple of hours.

After a brief introduction and a small history lesson on the spiral development of Parisian neighbourhoods (if you follow the numbers, you’ll see a snail shell), the small bits of history became an ongoing part of the tour but in a very unique way through culinary influences. Each country that invaded (or attempted to invade) France has introduced something new. Whether it be cheese or a cooking technique, many of these ‘gifts’ became staple dishes of France. Like, did you know that foie gras is originally Egyptian? It’s a fun story about fat flying ducks, but it’s a story you’ll have to hear from Stéphane, or me if you meet me in person and we share enough wine.

This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here. 
The experience was gifted to me by Tinggly. 

Montmartre is a neighbourhood that was originally beyond the city wall. As such it was a neighbourhood of the people, where cultures mixed and everything was cheaper than in Paris ‘proper’. We went up the hill towards Sacré-Cœur Basilica and curved around it to the left starting our tour with freshly baked madeleines that our guide brought from his favourite bakery followed by a tasting stop at the Christophe Roussel macaron and chocolate shop. “French macarons are made with almond powder, unlike American which uses coconut,” pointed out Stéphane. Historic fun fact: macarons originally came from Persia. Down another colourful street, packed with cafes decorated with bushy flowers we stopped at the smallest Crêperie in Paris – La Crêperie Monami. Our guide spoke about the different flavors placing orders on our behalf and then ducked away to pick up fresh baguettes while we gleefully ate our warm crepes. 

Before heading to our final, secret spot, the group stopped by a Butcherie and a nearby cheese shop. The shop associate patiently walked us through the different types of cheeses, the craftsmanship of local cheesemakers, and various unique local flavours. Here artisanal craftsmanship is at the heart of everything. Any simplified mass production is frowned upon, even though it undoubtedly exists. If you have spent any leisurely time in Paris, you know you can always tell the locals by their shopping bags, packed with local goods from various stores, accentuated by pointy baguettes (if it’s not pointy, it’s not handmade, and that is also frowned upon). Now with 3 bags in hand – bread, cheese, meat – which we all took turns helping to carry, our group headed down an alleyway towards an undisclosed location for the last, and my favourite stop.

Slightly sweaty, a little tired, and undoubtedly hungry, we descended into a cellar. At the centre is a harvest table, wine and shopping bags placed on the side table, and various wine racks spread around the room – “damn, these folks are serious about wine,” I thought to myself. As we took turns washing our hands upstairs, Stéphane hustled, slicing the cheeses, arranging cold cuts, and opening wine bottles. Soon enough, we were all seated, quietly listening to the introductions and historical notes dotted with fun cultural remarks on how to properly eat baguettes (tear by hand in small pieces, never put the baguette upside down) and how we should never eat cheese with crackers (much like in kindergarten, we all had to repeat that statement 3 times).

Each mini-course was paired with wine: natural pairing is food and wine from the same region or alternatively, you can pair by intensity (light with light, heavy with heavy). We indulged in many flavourful and unique kinds of cheese, Burgundy and Bordeaux wines, dry sausages, cold cuts and pickles, ham with butter, and finished on a sweet note with 1st Cru of Cognac and chocolate eclairs (tip: what’s on the outside should also be on the inside). As time went on, crumbs and cheese rinds sprinkled around the table, empty bottles were cheerfully passed back to the host, and everyone in attendance lowered their defensive guards. The room got rowdier and louder, we were discussing the sharpness of the cheese, poking jokes at each other, and feeling like bad students for not paying attention to our foodie history lessons while remarking on individual likes and dislikes. 

Our experience lasted longer than the allotted time, but no one was even slightly peeved by it. By the end of ‘dinner’, we were all good friends, discussing travel plans and sharing tips, having a hard time separating, and if it wasn’t for the train mom and I needed to catch this party would’ve gone on till the end of the night. 

There are many different ways to experience a city and a culture, but this is certainly my favourite. Eating like a local, with a local, while learning customs and making friends is something that was missing from my life – everyone’s life at least in this group – for many months. It was a social gap, unfulfilled by sharp cheese and that feeling you get when a stranger becomes a person you’d like to hug. There is comfort and a wealth of experience that one could not possibly get in a shiny gift box of macarons, but after all, that is a difference between sharing and giving a souvenir – sharing is stories over meals, souvenirs are just magnets on the fridge.

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Book the tour on secretfoodtours.com, sometimes there is a special offer for the drink upgrade.

The post In search of my Parisian foodie heart through a tour of Montmartre appeared first on Paths to Travel.

This article might contain affiliate links. Read the disclaimer about affiliate links & PR gifting here. 
The experience was gifted to me by Tinggly.

Tinggly is a company built specifically for experience gifting and their range of offers spans across the world. The process is very simple:

• Choose and purchase a gift box
• The box gets delivered to the recipient
• They pick one of over 2000 experiences around the world and actually do it, IRL and all

So what could you do or give as an experience you might wonder? Anything! For example, a Bucketlist box ($239) includes 700+ experiences across 100 countries.

Money spent on experiential purchases tends to provide more happiness than having material stuff.

~ Cornell University Study (2021)

For my experience, I chose Aerial Tour of Toronto with iflyTOTO. After many pandemic-related rebookings, we were finally able to make our way to Buttonville airport this week. The original tour was meant to be with a small group of people on a bigger plane. But during one of the many calls iflyTOTO team kindly upgraded us to a private tour. I think they felt bad for me because of all the local cancellations.

Note: You can, of course, book this tour with iflyTOTO. In addition to the cost of the experience for this specific activity, there was also a fuel charge of $90. Upgrade that experience to the Toronto Aerial Tour with Niagara Winery Tasting Tour with iflyTOTO for that very special day.

As we approached the tiny aeroplane, a small wave of doubt passed through my partner’s face, wondering if he would fit inside. Being a tall man he worries, but he fits in comfortably. I take the seat at the front next to the pilot for a better view and to give B more room in the back. In a timely fashion, we taxied along runway 33, behind another small plane. As our tern approached we promptly took off into the blue sky.

For the next 30 minutes or so our pilot took us toward the waterfront, sharing minor commentary and answering questions. We did a few laps around downtown before going back to Buttonville a different way. The new direction showcased more of the city’s east-end waterfront.

It was pretty amazing to be soaring over Toronto, looking down at the city from a birds-eye, spotting our homes, and notable buildings, and seeing the city’s architecture from a new angle. “Well this is certainly a new angle on the CN Tower,” I hear B in my headphones, commenting on seeing the tower from above, “don’t know if I’ll ever see it like that again” he murmured. 

As my ears began popping on takeoff a small wave of fear began to fill my floating body, but a short internal dialogue convinced me that everything is totally fine, I’d flown before, and the man behind this “wheel” had flown commercial aeroplanes, I am in safe hands, free to enjoy the view. 

In retrospect, as we laughed a few hours later over dinner, it was a little scary to be basically sitting in a chair, coasting with the wind over the city on the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on. It is a unique experience and one that was much needed after this very long lockdown.

I stand by my earliest statement: experiences make fantastic gifts; I am looking forward to continuing giving them and hopefully receiving many myself .

If you go: The GPS may get confusing close to the airport if following the provided address, instead, key in “Million-Air” and that should take you to the right place. 

A few notes on the sustainability of experience gifting 

On an environmental note, Tinggly works hard on being a fully sustainable experience company, and among their many commitments is offsetting the footprint the experiences can make, for example: for every Tinggly experience gift box purchased Tinggly promises to remove 11lbs (5kg) of plastics from the environment – which is pretty awesome. And yes, all of the boxes are made from 100% recycled and recyclable packaging using planet-friendly inks.

The post The Experience: Seeing Toronto from new angles with Tinggly and iFlyTOTO appeared first on Paths to Travel.