Gourmet tours, foodie shows, and the Year of Food and Drink in Scotland: Travel agenda

Where to go and what to know

1. Tasty tours

MasterChef Travel has introduced a number of new tours for 2015. Foodies can explore culinary traditions in Crete (pictured), including visits to vineyards and olive farms, or try delicious street food and tea in Taiwan. There is also a closer-to-home gastro experience in Cumbria.

mastercheftravel.co.uk

2. Snack and ski

To combine activity with eating, visit the St Moritz Gourmet Festival – which will run 26-30 January. It will celebrate 150 years since Brits began visiting the Swiss resort in winter. It features top UK chefs including Angela Hartnett and Jason Atherton.

stmoritz-gourmet festival.ch

3. Frozen food

Combine a trip to see the Northern Lights with a taste of Icelandic food. Taber Holidays' new Icelandic Cuisine and Culture trip offers the chance to experience local delights, and the brave few can choose to sample rotten shark meat with Brennivin ("Black Death Schnapps"). Operates 18 January to 29 March. Prices from £1,711 per person include flights from Gatwick.

taberhols.co.uk

4. Eat French

Get the New Year off to a tasty start with a day at The France Show, which takes place at London Olympia from 23-25 January. The show will feature recipe inspiration from top chefs, expert wine tasting sessions and more. Stalls will be selling French cheese, bread, and charcuterie.

thefranceshow.com

5. Full of grace

Boutique hotel group Grace Hotels is now offering a range of foodie add-ons as part of its "bespoke experiences" programme. Guests can choose from vineyard tours, wine-blending with local wine makers, picnics in hidden locations and culinary master classes with head chefs.

gracehotels.com/bespoke-by-grace

6. Tartan treats

Next year has been designated the Year of Food and Drink in Scotland, with a series of events and initiatives celebrating Scottish produce and gastronomy. Visitors can attend food and drink workshops, follow the west coast "Seafood Trail" and find out when particular ingredients are in season.

bit.ly/ScotlandFood

7. Greedy videos

Celebrity chef and "greedy Italian" Gennaro Contaldo appears in a new series of videos for specialist tour operator Citalia. The cook, who has been credited with teaching Jamie Oliver how to make Italian food, has launched the company's new YouTube channel with a series of video recipes inspired by regions within its programme.

bit.ly/GCitalia

8. Learn to cook

Chef John Campbell opens a cookery school this week on the site of the former Five Bells pub in Newbury, Berkshire. Launching with a lesson in cooking steak on 8 Dec-ember, the Woodspeen Cookery School will have 10 stations and sits alongside a restaurant and bar, both of which opened in October.

thewoodspeen.com