The great thing about a food tour is that you get to eat a plentiful amount of food, not feel guilty about it, and come away understanding more about culture. After all, any culture that can’t share with you its beautiful food is probably not a culture worth knowing. Luckily, there isn’t a people or a nation alive that doesn’t hold wonderful and delectable treats or traditional dishes worth trying.

The worst thing about a food tour is that, well, eating a load of food over and over again doesn’t always feel that great. You might come home with nothing but warm feelings thanks to how many wonderful dining experiences you’ve had, but could also feel a little bloated, or a little overstimulated, even if you haven’t eaten way too much night after night.

For this reason, planning your food tour around health and personal comfort is also worthwhile. In this post, we’ll discuss a few measures for achieving exactly that:

Get Good Sleep

Restful, quality sleep is an absolute necessity when you’re on a food tour adventure, because eating nice food is hard work! If you’re not properly rested, you’ll quickly start feeling lethargic and unable to truly appreciate and savor your food. Aim to get a solid 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night (and try to go easy on the inebriation) so you wake up refreshed and ready to enjoy another day.

Eat Light Breakfasts

As mouthwatering as those big, indulgent breakfasts may look, it’s wise to start your mornings off light to avoid that overstuffed feeling before the real feasting even begins. That said, if you’re enjoying a breakfast day, you can flip the schedule. However, greeting the day with enjoyable options like yogurt, fresh fruit, or just a modest portion of a healthy local breakfast staple (fresh croissants in France can be unbeatable) will help ease you into the day without completely killing your appetite for later. Moreover, you might even eat less, but higher quality food, so you don’t feel like you have a food coma 24/7..

Consider Light-Eating Days

Don’t be afraid to build in a few tactical light-eating days throughout your packed food tour schedule. These can genuinely come as a welcome, refreshing break – giving your body a much-needed chance to properly digest and reset before enjoying that next restaurant – after all, fasting is a part of many cultures, and it might be worth including that in your food tour.

Enjoy Other Delectable Treats

Remember, food tours aren’t solely about those heavy, many-course feasts one after the next. Maybe during the “middle weekend” of your trip you’ll enjoy a wonderful wine tour in Tuscany with Arianna & Friends and drink some of the most delicious bottles around, learning about their growth process, the philosophy behind the brands, and the wonderful climate of this undeniably beautiful area. It’s not always about sitting at a table and eating as much as you can, as it is about learning the history, the culture, tasting the fruits (in this case quite literally) of ambition and success. What better way to explore a wonderful country?

With this advice, you’ll be certain to enjoy the best food tour possible.