The Culinary Collection
Culinary Retreats: Food-First Small-Group Travel
A culinary retreat is a small-group trip for getting to know a place through its food: market tours, cooking with local families, farm-to-table meals, and long dinners together. Eat your way through Oaxaca or Costa Rica’s rainforest, and we take care of the lodging, airport transfers, and every detail.
Market & Farm Fresh
Long Shared Meals
Happily Accommodated
Why a culinary retreat?
Meals are part of the experience on every Away retreat. At least one or two are shared feasts, with plate after plate passed around the table, so you taste far more of the cuisine than you’d ever order on your own.
That’s what we look for when we plan a culinary retreat: markets, local cooks, and family kitchens, like the market stall in Oaxaca where someone presses memelas on a hot comal, or the farm kitchen in Costa Rica cooking over a wood fire. And whatever you eat, or don’t, we’ll make sure there’s a seat at the table for you.
– Lindsay
What a day actually looks like
Every itinerary is different, and everything is optional. Here’s how most days on our culinary retreats go.
Farm to table
Who you’ll eat with.
Our culinary retreats are led by chefs, food lovers, and hosts who know where the best meals are, from market stalls to family kitchens.
Anna Klimmek
Chef & Wellness Educator
Anna is a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef, a certified health coach, and the founder of Happy Food MN. She brings food, movement, and adventure together to help people live healthier, more balanced lives.
Lindsay Eldridge
Founder & Host, Away Retreats
Lindsay has spent more than 20 years creating experiences through travel and the outdoors, from guiding sea kayaking trips in the U.S. Virgin Islands to leading expeditions in Ecuador and the Galápagos. A certified Pilates instructor and mom of two, she designs the kind of trips she wanted for herself: adventurous, thoughtful, and full of real connection.
Amy Heinemann
Trip Host & Food Explorer
Amy is an avid traveler who loves hiking, food, and architecture, and her favorite way to discover a new place is through its markets and culinary traditions. She has visited 142 countries.
Pick your dates.
Every upcoming culinary retreat, soonest first. New dates show up here as soon as they’re announced.
Retreat
Collection
Destination
Dates
From
New culinary retreats are on the way. Get first word in Lindsay’s Sunday email, or book a call to hear what’s coming.
Get first word on the next Culinary Retreat.
We announce new culinary retreats first in our Sunday email, Sundays from Somewhere. Every culinary retreat includes airport transfers, lodging, most meals, and the food experiences on the itinerary, in a small group.
What it’s really like.
“I did a trip with Lindsay to Mexico and she is an excellent travel expert! She has an innate quality for finding the true authentic local spots, restaurants, etc.”
– Sara W., Mexico 2024
Know before you go
Travel guides and stories from the places our culinary retreats visit.
Culinary Retreat FAQ
“Every detail was thoughtful and well planned from activities to meals.”
– Anna H., Away Retreats guest
Market memelas
Find your kind of retreat
Six ways to travel with us, all with small groups, a menu of choices, and every detail handled.
Not sure which retreat fits? Ask our team.
A quick call to talk through dates, rooms, and what each retreat feels like day to day. No pressure, ever.