Dining Alfresco: The World’s Best Picnic Spots

One of the great joys about traveling is discovering new food, and new places to eat it. Buying local produce, packing up a picnic basket and finding a breathtaking location to enjoy it is a feast for all the senses. Here are just a few of the most stunning picnic spots across the globe.

Atop Table Mountain

Sitting proudly at the heart of Cape Town, Table Mountain looks down on just about every corner of the city. You can get the cable car up to the top or pop your food in a backpack and take the three hour hike to the top. By the time you get there, you’d certainly have worked up an appetite. However you choose to get to the top, the view is incredible. You’ll be able to see the Helderberg mountains, the Devil’s Peak, Camps Bay, Robben Island, Signal Hill and Lion’s Head along with the Cape Town Stadium, which was built for the 2010 World Cup. With so much to drink in visually, you’ll want to put together a good-sized picnic. Because Cape Town embraces diverse food cultures from around the globe, you can pick up Asian, African and Italian cuisine from delis across the city.

In front of the fountains

The brainchild of the Duchess of Northumberland, Alnwick Gardens in North East England are a labour of love that took around four years and £42m to complete. And, while you do have to pay an admission fee to get in, you can take your own food and, once there, you can linger as long as you want. Head into Alnwick town centre on a day when the farmers’ market is on and you can pick up fresh bread and cheese before sitting in front of the incredible cascading fountain, which features 7260 gallons of water tumbling down 21 weirs with water displays every half hour. The young, and the young at heart, can run underneath the water as it jumps from one weir to another.

Veggie delights in Philadelphia

You don’t need to be on the coast or in the country to enjoy a picnic. Just about every city in the world has beautiful pockets of greenery where you can take some time out. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia, the Hip City Veg deli is an institution, and rightly so. Even confirmed carnivores make an exception for this little joint. You could have a taco salad with black beans and grilled corn to go and head out to Rittenhouse Square to find a bench, picnic and people watch.

On the Cornish coast

It’s no wonder Cornwall is the favourite vacation destination of so many people. The beaches here are stunning, no matter what the weather. You can pick up some fresh fish from one of the local fishmongers and take a disposable barbecue with you before choosing one of the most scenic spots on Britain’s south-westerly coast. Porth Joke beach, sometimes known as Polly Joke, is just five minutes’ away from Newquay itself, but it isn’t as well known as Holywell Bay and Crantock, so you should find plenty of room for your picnic blanket. Or, you could opt for vacation accommodation with a verandah like the caravans at Parkdean’s St Minver or Newquay sites so you can cook up more complex recipes, perhaps having a trip to the famous fish market at Newlyn before returning to cook up fresh lobster in garlic butter served with a glass of crisp white wine on your own terrace.

Picnicking in Peru

It’s no wonder there’s such an incredible view from the top of Huayna Picchu, given that it sits at an elevation of nearly 9,000 feet. The climb is strenuous but the rewards are great, with a breathtaking panorama of the Urubamba River Valley and the city of Inca. Given that the local dish of roasted guinea pig is an acquired taste, you might want to opt for the butifarras instead, an easily portable sandwich filled with Peruvian ham, onions, chilli and lime, while you take in the views.

They’re all beautiful spots that allow you to combine two of the best things in the world – food and travel.