Food Markets: In the Belly of the City

The Mercato di San Lorenzo, or Mercato Centrale (Central Market) in romantic Florence, is Tuscany's true gem, as here, there's only one motto: taste, in all its glorious simplicity and authenticity.

Unquestionably, there's no better place than the centrally-located and well-covered food market of Marché Victor Hugo to get a general view and to feel the beating heart of Toulouse's vivid food scene.

The old ladies selling their baskets full of vegetables; cheese on the Dolac market in Zagreb; travelling from the Mediterranean islands to the Austrian Alps; from freshly caught hake and simple Baltic snacks to internationally awarded cheese.

Riga's Centraltirgus in Latvia is the biggest covered city food market in Europe, where there is century-old rye bread making, grilled lampreys, soviet milk sausages, and hemp butter.

Freiburg has an incredible gothic cathedral with a food market at its feet; farmers from the Black Forest bring their trout and herb pestos, wild berries and smoked ham to the city.