Where to travel to on the cheap for foodies?

April 7, 2009 4:25 PM

Where's the best place to travel to (from the U.S.) with a relatively cheap flight (definitely under $500) and good (but not terribly expensive or fancy) restaurants and other fun but relatively inexpensive things to do?

My husband's friend is offering his time share for a week for free. We can basically stay for a week just about anywhere and only have to pay for the flight and food and shopping while we're there. I'm thinking that within the US or Mexico are probably our best bets for a cheap flight but I'm open to all suggestions. We mostly want to relax, eat some nice food and perhaps see some sights, but this does not have to be an incredibly cultural experience. That being said, we'd like to have enough to do for a whole week. We live in Philadelphia and have enjoyed traveling to Spain, Italy and Taos, NM together but would like to go somewhere new to us both.

posted by traceymariel to travel & transportation (10 answers total)

If you have a passport, fly to Montreal. Assuming the time share is available there. That kind of seems like a limiting factor. But restaurants in Montreal are fantastic and the CDN dollar is a pretty good deal lately.
posted by GuyZero at 4:31 PM on April 7, 2009

Belize. Cheap and quick to get to from the east coast, the official language is English (former Commonwealth country), and the Belize dollar is pegged to the US dollar at 2 - 1 which means that US money is accepted virtually everywhere with no penalty. The people are friendly, the food is pretty good and affordable (although not great, at least in my experience), and there's tons of relatively inexpensive things to do. (Cave tubing, anyone?)
posted by dersins at 4:36 PM on April 7, 2009

St. Thomas/St. John are very nice, and I would guess that you can get there for under $500.
posted by Stylus Happenstance at 4:41 PM on April 7, 2009

Flights to Puerto Rico are less than $250 per person right now. I've never been, but I have friends from there and the food is good!!! I think the combination of it being a U.S. territory, an island, latin american, a short flight, and cheap is a good mix to seriously consider.
posted by bengarland at 5:04 PM on April 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

The food in PR is outstanding, and the nightlife is pretty great too!
posted by lunasol at 5:08 PM on April 7, 2009

I just got a mid-May roundtrip flight from Boston to Frankfurt, Germany for $499 on Lufthansa. Lufthansa's hub is in Frankfurt so fights are cheaper there. It's a wonderful city. Munich is also awesome and you should be able to get there cheaply from Frankfurt.
posted by thekiltedwonder at 5:23 PM on April 7, 2009

Portugal was pretty cheap and a spectacular city. Stay at the Eden Suites - inexpensive and still amazing. With an amazing roof deck with a pool overlooking Castle Sao Jorge. Its the last place I visited with your exact specifications. And the town....so much charm and history. I now want to live there.
posted by Unred at 7:02 PM on April 7, 2009

Seconding St Thomas/St John. Right now flights here are under $300 and there are several very nice time share resorts. You don't say when you are planning on coming but right now is Carnival season in St Thomas with most of the main events (including the food fair!) hapening in the last week of April. If you can make those dates there will be no shortage of free events to fill your time and amazing food will be plentiful. Even if you decide to come at some other time there are a variety of dining options although to call us a " foodie" destination may be stretching it. If you would like some more specific suggestions feel free to Memail me.
posted by Bango Skank at 8:16 PM on April 7, 2009

From a USian currency point of view, London is ludicrously cheap right now...
posted by almostwitty at 6:59 AM on April 8, 2009

New Orleans!
posted by pyjammy at 11:41 AM on April 8, 2009