Best Michelin-Starred Restaurants: A Global Foodie Travel Guide

If you love traveling as much as I do, then it’s likely you’re thinking the same way I am as fall arrives in California and summer crowds jamming faraway places recede. That’s the sign for me that it’s time to travel again and take my next big adventure to somewhere I’ve not been before.

Thinking of traveling also always makes me hungry: hungry for new experiences in new places and especially famished for new taste sensations. This got me thinking: Should I travel expressly for sublime culinary life moments and let my foodie flag fly?

I began dreaming of different Michelin-starred restaurants I’ve dined at over the years, cementing the idea of chasing more of those starry meals across the globe. The result is this personal guide to Michelin-starred restaurants that are worthy of a trip, a melding of those I recommend from experience and the ones on mine – and yours, perhaps? – ever-expanding list of dining destinations.

An offering from Chef Heiko Nieder at Dolder Grand Hotel’s ‘The Restaurant.’

What Exactly Are Michelin Stars?

The Michelin Guide rates restaurants in over 30 countries around the world. The ratings are all about the food, with no consideration given to the ambiance or service, based on the voting by full-time anonymous inspectors who travel the world tasting every sort of cuisine.

And as the company explains, “all inspectors judge by the same standards and have the same reference points – a Michelin Star must mean the same and have the same value, regardless of where in the world it is located.”

Michelin delineates each of their awards with specific parameters. “One Michelin star is awarded to restaurants using top-quality ingredients, where dishes with distinct flavors are prepared to a consistently high standard. Two Michelin stars are awarded when the personality and talent of the chef are evident in their expertly crafted dishes; their food is refined and inspired. Three Michelin stars is our highest award, given for the superlative cooking of chefs at the peak of their profession; their cooking is elevated to an art form and some of their dishes are destined to become classics.”

With that in mind, let’s delve into places to try, both in obvious big cities as well as some off-the-beaten-path spots. There are approximately 3,700 restaurants worldwide in 2025 that have stars, so if we’re going to try them all, we had better get started!

Finding Fine Food Far, Far Away

Europe: It’s no surprise that Europe has lots of countries with starred restaurants, as the Michelin Guide first began awarding stars in France in 1926. France remains the country with the most stars on the planet (654, with 31 three-star awardees) with legendary chefs like Alain Ducasse and Pierre Gagnaire leading the way, both having eponymous eateries in Paris and beyond. Expect to pay $400 to $500 for a tasting menu at either one; and know that most three-star Michelin restaurants anywhere in the world are likely to be very expensive and reservations may take months to snag.

France’s most remote three star is La Marine, found at the tip of Noirmoutier Island in the Atlantic Ocean, where Chef Alexandre Couillon uses local ingredients to create magical seafood-centric meals in a waterfront eatery. Even the Michelin Guide says this one is “worth the trip,” high praise indeed.

The elegant dining room of London’s Brooklands.

(WILL-PRYCE)

Across the channel, find 220 United Kingdom restaurants with stars, including London favorite Brooklands by Claude Bosi, a delightful two-star rooftop spot in the Peninsula Hotel. Overlooking Hyde Park, it’s an eminently British restaurant helmed by a Frenchman. Try the Cornish squid and Dorset snail for some unexpectedly elegant English tastes.

Head up to Manchester, a cool city with a terrific dining scene, to check out one-star Skof. That’s where popular local chef Tom Barnes serves up enticing tasting menus anchored by his Lightly Set Miso Custard, a luscious melding of hen of the woods mushroom and truffles. Lunch is about $75 for four courses.

Find another one-star delight way up on the North York Moors National Park at The Black Swan Oldstead in Yorkshire. The 15th-century inn still uses local produce, with Tommy and James Banks creating unique “localvore” dishes on land their family has farmed for generations. It’s a treasure of England’s North Country.

Jet off to Switzerland to eat your way through that country’s 128-starred dining establishments, while reveling in the amazing scenery found just about everywhere in this landlocked country. When in Zurich, sleep and dine at the legendary Dolder Grand Hotel, set high above the city since 1899. The Restaurant is their two-star wonder by Chef Heiko Nieder, with six- or eight-course meals that feature seasonal offerings like venison served with purple curry.

Dishes from Radius by Stefan Beer. (Photos by Jenny Peters)

Interlaken, that beautiful Swiss city ringed by very famous mountains, has Radius by Stefan Beer, a one-star delight anchored by Beer’s determination to source everything within a radius of around 30 miles (50 km). He succeeds admirably in this fine dining spot inside the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel, an incredibly welcoming and posh stay. Keep traveling southwest to discover the legendary three-star Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville in Crissier, the ultimate in Swiss fine dining since its first three-star designation in 1975. Duck, lamb and seafood dishes are the backbone of this celebrated spot.

Finish up our small meander through Europe with stops in Spain and Portugal, where culinary excellence occurs in just about every big city and small village. In Spain, that theory is proven in Ulldecona, a small mountain town halfway between Valencia and Barcelona. Find that hidden spot and discover two one-star Michelin restaurants in this tiny town of 6800 residents, the very definition of going off the beaten path.

Get ready to taste Ibex mountain goat with wild mushrooms or eel with garlic and pepper at the Castell family-run Les Moles. Try The Journey, their tasting menu celebrating 30 years in business ($170) or The Tradition lunch menu, a steal for five courses for $60. Less than five miles away, discover L’Antic Molí (The Old Mill) where Chef Vicent Guimera’s one-star, multiple award-winning gastroteca, or neighborhood restaurant is filled with sublime tastes from the sea, garden and farm.

Journey next to lovely Lisbon where Chef José Avillez reigns supreme, with side-by-side Belcanto (two stars) and Encanto (one star and 100% vegetarian) restaurants anchoring his numerous Chiado neighborhood dining delights. Beautifully creative presentations, takes on Portuguese childhood favorites and inventive modern dishes (his scarlet shrimp concoctions burst with unexpected flavors) make dining with Avillez a must-do while in Lisbon.

Finish up this European Michelin culinary adventure in Cascais, Portugal’s famed beach playground, at the wild water’s edge of the Atlantic. Leave the bustle of the center city with its marina and famous citadel (sleep inside the 15th century fort at Pestana Cidadela Cascais) to discover Fortaleza do Guincho. A few miles up the coast from Cascais, it’s perched at water’s edge, with amazing views pairing with the fascinatingly intricate seasonal dish presentations fashioned by Chef Gil Fernandes in his “Identity” 14 “moments” tasting menu ($225).

Then if it’s time to head home and make your next European plan to return for another culinary odyssey, Italy and Germany and their 393- and 340-starred restaurants await your next European foodie adventure – sprinkle in Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium for Guide favorites as well.

Asia: It’s been about 20 years since Michelin started adding Asian countries to its honorees, beginning Tokyo, Japan and now covering ten countries, with mainland China and Hong Kong considered separate entities.

Japan ranks third in the world with 361starred eateries (with Italy ahead, Germany next) including 20 with three stars. For one of Tokyo’s best, discover Sézanne at the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi. Honored with three stars, and also ranked seventh on the 2025 World’s 50 Best Restaurants, this French (with a Japanese twist) restaurant helmed by Daniel Calvert is the stuff dreams are made of. Tasting menus ($350) change regularly, but the sublime experience lingers in memory, with the signature Shanghai Hairy Crab leading the way.

Careful plating at Spring Moon.

For an authentic sushi-only experience in Tokyo, one-star Sushi Keita is the place. For about $150 in this small “sushi shop,” you’ll have a classic omakase to remember, with some of the freshest fish you’ve ever eaten.

In Hong Kong, where 75 restaurants have Michelin stars, getting an authentic dim sum meal can be an elegant affair, especially at Spring Moon. Inside the legendary Kowloon Peninsula Hotel, this elegant Art Deco-styled restaurant serves elevated dim sum bites like swooningly good king crab dumplings, a goldfish-shaped cod dumpling and a swan-shaped turnip bun. It’s a simultaneous feast for the eyes and stomach.

At Tim Ho Wan, another one-star eatery, Hongkongers know they’ll find the best baked barbecue pork buns on the planet, served here during their no-frills dim sum dining. The Sham Shui Po outpost has the star, but the same delightful tastes are offered in the six other outposts found across the city, at prices that don’t break your travel budget.

(Etienne Bossot) (Etienne Bossot) Colorful and artful offerings from La Maison 1888. (Etienne Bossot)

And if a visit to Vietnam is on your horizons, don’t miss venturing to Da Nang, where beaches and coastal rainforest meet at the Pacific Ocean. Make your way to the sublime and secluded InterContinental Da Nang Sun Peninsula Resort (you should stay for a while, too) to find one of Vietnam’s hidden wonders at La Maison 1888. Ride the cable car up the steep mountainside and discover this one-star revelation, with dishes so beautifully plated you won’t want to break the spell to take a bite. But do, as Chef Christian Le Squer’s French-Vietnamese inventions are first-class taste sensations.

A beautiful sampling of offerings from Angélica Cocina Maestra in Mendoza. (FlorGroppa)

South America: Michelin arrived in South America in 2015 with Brazil, then added Argentina in 2024. In 2025, Brazil has 25 stars, Argentina 20, with the Mendoza Valley’s Angélica Cocina Maestra a one-star standout for both its cuisine and its architectural wonder of a building, found at Catena Zapata Winery. Their ever-changing, seasonal seven-course “Wine First” tasting menu is a thing of beauty, with each delectable dish paired wonderfully with one of Zapata’s world-class wines, and a perfect introduction to Mendoza’s incredible valley.

While Brazil is still on my personal must-do list; it seems obvious that getting to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to visit the five Michelin two-star spots should be my first stops. Lasai and Oro in Rio and Tuju, Evvai and D.O.M. in São Paulo all seem to be doing everything right in South America’s biggest country – consider them, as I do, necessary to that culinary bucket list.

(John Troxell/©John Troxell)

Deliciousness Close to Home (That is, Northern California)

Food-forward and agricultural powerhouse California has plenty of accolades from Michelin, of course – as of 2025, the state now boasts 85 Michelin-starred places to dine, ranging from San Diego to Monterey, so travel-loving foodies based in Southern California have a cornucopia of places to visit for bragging-rights foodie moments.

I’m partial to heading north, where there’s lots of wine to pair with my meal, so here are a few of my favorite lesser-known gems. Assuming everyone knows about longtime three-star standouts like The French Laundry in Yountville, and Quince and Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, let’s focus on a few one-star lovelies, beginning with Press in Napa’s St. Helena.

Chef Philip Tessler makes a meal at Press an adventure, with ever-changing menus, five- or seven-course seasonal offerings ($175-225) and a lounge menu that’s a terrific á la carte way to try his droolingly delicious caviar pretzel or delicate lobster roll. And don’t miss the black truffle fries, paired with one of the thousands of Napa wines in the Press cellar.

Auro.

Nearby in Calistoga, there’s dining gold at Auro, Chef Rogelio Garcia’s chic, open-kitchen restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley. One incredible bite of his bluefin tuna with caviar, followed by the taste of his signature blue and gold corn tetela stuffed with chanterelles and you’ll be salivating for the rest of his decadent seven-course tasting menu ($250).

The Kitchen, Sacramento, CA (Photo courtesy of The Kitchen)

If you find yourself in the capital city, check out the nightly revelry at Sacramento’s The Kitchen, in business for 30 years and the first one-star Michelin awardee in the city (in 2019). Chef Kelly McCown changes the set tasting menu monthly ($195), to the delight of both longstanding patrons and first-time visitors. Expect fresh local ingredients, a robust wine list and plenty of conversation in this convivial open-kitchen eatery with a constantly evolving and world-class menu.

So to answer the question I asked myself, I’m convinced that investing in travel experiences that lead to incredible, memorable meals in faraway places (or nearer to home) is a particularly scrumptious way to invest in a life well lived.