ON THE TRAIL

Dreaming about your first big trip in what seems like forever? As Europe slowly begins to open up, now’s the time to start making plans. And, as a food-lover, make sure you pick a destination that can cater to your desires. Whether you’re taking a chocolate-themed train trip through Switzerland, following the Cider Route in Normandy or traversing the olive groves of the Peloponnese, here are 18 of the continent’s best gourmet trails — each one a feast for all the senses

- SARAH BARRELL, CAROLYN BOYD, ELLA BUCHAN, CHRISTIE DIETZ, RICHARD ORANGE, JESSICA VINCENT & PETER YEUNG

Any seafood tour of Sweden’s west coast should begin in Gothenburg. This laid-back Scandi port city serves its seafood with a side order of industrial-chic — graffitied waterfront warehouse cafes contrast with the linen-table-cloth-restaurants lining the city centre’s wide neoclassical boulevards. Begin at church: Feskekôrka (‘fish church’) on the Rosenlunds canal is home to a wet market and seafood restaurants set under 19th-century vaulted gothic ceilings. The smoked salmon, in particular, is not to be missed. Shrimp-topped smörgås (open sandwiches), along with fishy chefFY offerings dominate menus city-wide but book ahead for six-seater Hoze(hozerestaurant.com), the current hot ticket restaurant, serving sashimi made almost entirely with the local catch.

And what a catch: West Sweden is Big Five country — a reference to the langoustine, lobster, oyster, shrimp and mussels that can be foraged, caughtand cooked on a number of organised foodie safaris that take in the snaking,fjord-feathered coastline and rocky islands north and south of Gothenburg, which can be reached within a few hours. And with such a broad selection of delicacies on offer, it’s worth timing your visit according to your preferences. August is one long crayfish festival, when locals feast on these fiddly, dillsoused-crustaceans; autumn (late September) is lobster season on the windblown islands and skerries of the beautiful Bohuslän coast, stretching some100 miles towards the Norwegian border; and springtime sees the finest Nordicoysters speed-shucked in the Bohuslän towns of Lysekil and Grebbestad.