U-pick & culinary tour destinations
Region guides to the places where picking season and food experiences are worth planning a trip around — what grows, when to go, and which farms and tours to book.
Canada
British Columbia
Fraser Valley & Okanagan
British Columbia is where this site started. June brings Fraser Valley strawberry fields within an hour of Vancouver, July and August move north to Okanagan cherries above the lake, and September closes with Ambrosia apples — a variety first discovered in this valley.
United Kingdom
Kent & South East England
The Garden of England
Kent has grown fruit for London for centuries, and the pick-your-own tradition is still strong: strawberries from late May, cherries and plums in July, apples and cobnuts through autumn. West in Somerset, the cider farms open their barns for tastings all year.
Portugal
Douro Valley
Northern Portugal
The Douro's schist terraces grow far more than grapes: figs, almonds, olives and citrus share the slopes, and the September harvest season fills the valley with tastings, treading nights and long table lunches above the river.
USA
Hudson Valley
New York
Two hours north of New York City, the Hudson Valley runs on apples: heirloom orchards, cider donuts, hard-cider tasting rooms and farm-to-table tours that string three or four growers together in a day.
Italy
Tuscany
Central Italy
Autumn in Tuscany means white truffles around San Miniato, hunted at dawn with Lagotto dogs and eaten an hour later over hand-cut pasta. Further north, the Trentino apple valleys run a completely different, cooler harvest season.
France
Normandy
Northern France
Normandy's Route du Cidre links small family farms through the Pays d'Auge, each pressing its own cider and ageing calvados in the barn behind the house. Blossom in May and pressing in October are the two great times to go.
Spain
Asturias
Northern Spain
Green, wet and Atlantic, Asturias makes natural cider from its own bitter apple varieties and pours it from arm's length in packed sidrerías. Harvest runs from September, and the espicha feasts follow soon after.
Japan
Japan
Yamanashi, Aomori & Hokkaido
Japan treats fruit as a craft. Yamanashi runs all-you-can-pick peach and grape hours through summer, Aomori grows the country's apples, Hokkaido fills July with lavender and melon, and Kyoto's market tours tie it all to the kitchen.