Welcome to The Travel Breakfast Blog.
Here we review breakfasts all over the world, mainly in hotels, but also breakfasts on airplanes and trains, at airports, train stations or just breakfasts eaten somewhere on the road.
The motto of this blog is Never travel without checking out the breakfast!
Why? Because breakfasts are important.
But there are other reasons too. As no doubt your mother told you, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This was brought home to me when I was doing my army service (Royal Gotland Anti-Aircraft Battalion, 1978-79) and breakfast was the only meal you could be sure was decent every day. I still can’t believe the amounts I would eat then.
The importance of breakfast is also obvious to anyone who has to travel and do a series of daily meetings. It is the only meal you are likely to have without rushing to catch up with the next meeting.
I should have started this blog years ago when I did more business travel. But I didn’t. However, for the record, the four best hotel breakfasts I have ever had are:
- The Metropole Sofitel in Hanoi. The first breakfast to be awarded The Travel Breakfast Blog’s top rating, 10/10.
- The Epic restaurant in the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Possibly the best hotel breakfast in the world in terms of choice and quality.
- The Auberge Ostapé outside St Jean Pied-de-Port in France. Beautiful view of the Pyrenées combined with the best of French breakfast.
- The Island Shangri-La in Hong Kong. A sumptuous mix of European/American and Asian.
On a more general point, I find that the four parts of the world that do the best hotel breakfasts are the Nordic countries (waffles, herring, lots of different bread and cheese); the Middle East (olives, pita, various cheeses and vegetables); North America (waffles, eggs, bacon, bagels); and East Asia (a cornucopia of breakfasts from different parts of the world, including obviously local).
La Vague de St Paul, St Paul de Vence, France, 16 July 2026
Different countries (obviously) have different breakfast traditions. French hotel breakfasts tend to have less choice than, say, Nordic or Middle Eastern. Therefore, they should be judged not only relative to breakfasts everywhere, but also relative to the local/national tradition. This is a case in point. A fairly small buffet, notably…
Juniper & Co Bar & Kitchen, London City Airport, London, UK, 14 July 2026
There is no lounge at London City Airport. However, Priority Pass gives you a discount at this restaurant, and if you’re flying business and your airline has no meal service on your flight, they also give you voucher. So: there is (obviously) no buffet. On the negative side, the tea…
Hotel Polski Pod Białym Orłem, Krakow, Poland, 24 June 2026
This one is difficult to rate exactly. It is a small but quite varied buffet. The cooked dishes choice is limited and doesn’t seem too inspiring, but you can order hot dishes. By contrast, three kinds of fish (salmon, trout, herring), and excellent spread of cheese of all kinds. Some…
Hotel Metropol, Warsaw, Poland, 18 June 2026
This is a nice, although perhaps not spectacular breakfast. As befits Poland, very good choice of bread and some very nice breakfast sausages. The home-made pancakes were delicious. Nice spread of cold cuts, cheese and vegetables. By contrast, I think I prefer Swedish hearing. On the negative side, the tea…
The Jolly Sportsman, East Chiltington, United Kingdom, 16 June 2026
This is a pub with four bedrooms, so I obviously do not expect a buffet. The menu is fairly limited, in essence either granola or variants of poached egg on toast; as well as a ‘full English’ and a ‘vegetarian full English’. And the tea is bags only, of course.…
Phaedra Hotel, Hydra, Greece, 6 June 2026
A quick getaway for a few days to the Greek Island of Hydra and a stay at the Phaedra hotel. The name of the hotel no doubt taken from Sophia Loren’s character in the 1957 film titled Boy on a Dolphin .The breakfast is served on a lovely terrace surrounded…
Hotel Post, Oskarshamn, Sweden, 6 June 2026
Breakfast for the person with excessive interest in military matters. Crispy bacon, small Swedish sausages and porridge, but no meatballs. The orange juice was freshly squeezed and there was loose-leaf tea next to the espresso machine. Intriguing local produce to put on your bread, including home-pickled herring (although no salmon).…
Comfort Hotel Copenhagen Airport, Copenhagen, Denmark, 18 June 2026
A relatively small but adequate buffet. Good choice of cold and warm dishes, including herring and fish roe (though this variant not really to my taste). Excellent bread. No croissants, but very nice Danish pastry (known in Denmark as ‘Viennese bread’). A special section for people with allergies/intolerances. On the…
Scandic Oceanhamnen, Helsingborg, Sweden, 17 May 2026
Another mixed breakfast, although the best so far on this particular trip visit (visiting Swedish battlefields). As usual, a nice buffet with a lot of variation. Interesting omission: no fish, neither salmon, nor herring. However good choice of vegetables and cold cuts, and a nice hot bar. The scrambled eggs…
Gyllene Uttern , Gränna, Sweden, 15 May 2026
Gyllene Uttern (the Golden Otter) is one of the classical hotels of Sweden, the first “motor hotel“, built in 1933. The view of Lake Vättern is to die for. Unfortunately, the breakfast is not. Again, a decent spread, good on the cold cuts and cheese side, waffles, warm dishes, yoghurt…