by Cindy C.
Making the most of the sunshine, the setting and seasonal ingredients, there’s nothing like a picnic to whet your appetite for discovery during your summer vacation – like pique-niques in France, a basket-packed lunch with the Big Five and friends in Ngorongoro Crater or a mid-day fresh air meal overlooking Yosemite National Park from atop Moro Rock and so many other places that feed your soul while you dine on regional favorites featured in the make-it-at-home recipes included here.
France is credited with not only coming up with its name, pique-nique, but also for perfecting this outdoor dining experience as an art! Do as the French do and pick out the freshest local ingredients at the markets you’ll find all over the country, succumbing to a cold salad like Tuna Niçoise, freshly baked baguettes, handmade cheese, artisan chocolate, and wine, served not out of red plastic cups, but real stemware in keeping with their love of joie de vivre!
Britain’s relationship with picnics dates back to the Middle Ages, when royalty would eat out of doors during hunting parties. But it wasn’t until the late 18th century when one of the UK’s most iconic picnic foods emerged: the Scotch egg, a filling dish that can be served cold, is easy to eat on the road and one that is perfect for celebrating the country’s National Picnic Week each June. Find a recipe here!
Australia has designated a national holiday dedicated to picnicking when its Northern Territory celebrates Railway Heritage Picnic Day on the first Monday of each August. The holiday allows families a long weekend full of activities like dancing, tug-of-war, lizard racing and eating outside.
You may not associate Iceland with picnics or berry picking but the locals love to do both. In summer, islanders often pack picnic lunches to take along on their search for berries called berjamór as the wild fruit ripens throughout August to mid-September. Besides cold cuts and cheese, the most important ingredient for an Icelandic picnic is secrecy: Keeping berry picking spots under wraps means more for your own harvest. For a taste of a fruitful berry treat, try this easy recipe for Summer Berry Buckle.
Tauck guests enjoy eating outings with incredible “place settings” on African safaris, aboard small ship cruises from the Mediterranean to the Galápagos, in Paris and Provence, in wilderness playgrounds and alpine wonderlands from Alaska and Canada to America’s national parks, on European riverboat cruises and South American adventures… each nurturing with nature like nothing else can!
Here’s a look at ten tantalizing Tauck picnics around the world:
- Picnic in Africa’s “Garden of Eden,” Ngorongoro Crater; Tanzania: A Grand Family Safari
- Bush breakfast in the Serengeti after a hot air balloon ride; Kenya & Tanzania: A Classic Safari
- Tapas lunch under the trees at a sherry bodega in Jerez, Spain; Spain and Portugal
- Picnic dinner in Canyonlands National Park desert with sunset views; Spirit of the Desert: The National Parks of the Southwest
- Cookhouse lunch on a working cattle ranch in Wyoming; Legends of the American West
- Pueblo Indian lunch on the banks of the Rio Grande; New Mexico: Land of Enchantment
- A picnic-BBQ lunch at Wolverton Meadow near Moro Rock; Yosemite & Sequoia: John Muir’s California
- Beach buffet in Panama’s Coiba National Park; The Panama Canal & Costa Rica
- A market-fresh tasting visit to Les Halles de Lyon; Savoring France
- A houseboat lunch on a picnic cruise through palm-fringed canals in Kerala; A Portrait of India
Click here to download all of the recipes