The small print.

These terms apply to every journey booked with The Gourmet Vacation. Please read them before you book. If anything is unclear, contact us before reserving your place.

Deposits and payments

The deposit amount varies per tour. Please check the specific information for the tour you are interested in.

Full payment is due 90 days prior to the trip's scheduled departure date.

If you make a Trip Deposit / Booking Reservation for a trip departing in fewer than 90 days, the balance of payment is due either 30 days from the date your Trip Deposit / Booking Reservation is received by us, or 60 days prior to your trip's departure date, whichever is sooner.

The Gourmet Vacation will establish payment plans for tours. Simply contact us if you want to be removed from the payment plan.

Payments may be made directly via our booking site, and payments may be made by PayPal, Venmo or by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express credit cards. Card payments may include a processing fee, which is shown before you pay.

If full payment is not received when due, The Gourmet Vacation reserves the right to cancel your Trip Deposit / Booking Reservation, and to apply a 100% cancellation fee.

Single room supplements

All room supplements must be paid either 30 days from the date your Trip Deposit / Booking Reservation is received by us, or 60 days prior to your trip's departure date, whichever is sooner. Advanced payment is required to guarantee single rooms.

Cancellations by you

• 120 days or more before departure: a full refund, minus a $500 per-person service fee.
• 61 to 119 days before departure: 50% of the trip price.
• 0 to 60 days before departure: 100% of the trip price.

No refunds will be provided for any unused portion of a trip once the trip begins, including if you leave the trip for any reason or must be removed from the trip.

There are no exceptions to this cancellation and refund policy, including for reasons related to weather, terrorism, civil strife, personal, family, or medical emergencies or any other circumstances beyond our control. We encourage you to purchase trip cancellation and interruption insurance and travel protection.

Cancellations and changes by us

The Gourmet Vacation reserves the right to cancel, alter, or modify a trip prior to departure for any reason, including insufficient Participant reservations.

When a tour is canceled for foreseeable reasons, then you agree that a full refund of trip payments made to us will constitute full settlement of any claims.

In the rare event that The Gourmet Vacation is forced to cancel or reschedule a trip for any unforeseen circumstance beyond the reasonable control of The Gourmet Vacation, such as, but not limited to, acts of nature, war, labor strikes, earthquake, flooding, pandemics, quarantines, international travel restrictions, national emergencies, etc., The Gourmet Vacation will reschedule your trip departure, and your booking will automatically transfer to the rescheduled date. If you are unable to travel on the rescheduled date, you may keep 100% of your booking value as a Trip Credit, to be used on any The Gourmet Vacation trip in the future.

Changes to your booking

Due to requirements that our tours have a minimum number of travelers, we do not allow changes in departure dates after we confirm your reservation.

However, if you have any issues with your tour dates, please contact our support team at info@thegourmetvacation.com or at 1-704-421-6155 and, only when possible (i.e., The Gourmet Vacation will not incur fees or cancellation penalties as a result of your change), we will work to assist you if appropriate, and subject to our sole discretion.

Minimum group size

Because the tour may be cancelled when a minimum number of Participants have not signed up, we recommend that you either purchase refundable air tickets or wait until we have confirmed with you approximately 2 months prior to the tour that we have enough Participants.

Travel insurance

The trip price does not include travel insurance. We strongly recommend that you purchase comprehensive travel protection, covering trip interruption and cancellation, baggage, medical, accident/life, evacuation, repatriation, and other expenses which might arise as a result of loss, damage, injury, delay or inconvenience occurring to you.