A kitchen is only half of self-catering. The other half is what you can buy on foot: a market, a greengrocer, a butcher, a bakery for the morning. We mapped the nearest of each around 654 of the hotels and apartments we list, from OpenStreetMap, and compared cities. Some put fresh food at the door of nearly every stay; in others you will need a car or a delivery app.
The nearest place of each kind, across all 654 stays. “Found” means within our search area (900 m for shops, 1.2 km for markets).
| Place | Found | Median distance | Within 500 m |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supermarket | 95% | 244 m | 81% |
| Bakery | 87% | 215 m | 77% |
| Butcher | 57% | 392 m | 37% |
| Greengrocer | 55% | 415 m | 35% |
| Cheese shop or deli | 48% | 428 m | 31% |
| Food market | 51% | 579 m | 21% |
| Fishmonger | 24% | 600 m | 9% |
Supermarkets and bakeries are everywhere. Specialist shops are not: a fishmonger within 500 m is the exception, and food markets are usually a little further out than shops, but worth the walk.
Cities with at least 8 mapped stays, ranked by the share of stays with a market, greengrocer, butcher or fishmonger within 500 m.
| City | Stays | Fresh food ≤ 500 m | Market ≤ 1 km | Supermarket (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 22 | 100% | 22 | 94 m |
| Valencia | 19 | 100% | 18 | 187 m |
| Vancouver | 10 | 100% | 6 | 85 m |
| Paris | 8 | 100% | 8 | 217 m |
| Brussels | 8 | 100% | 6 | 258 m |
| Philadelphia | 10 | 90% | 9 | 399 m |
| Marseille | 10 | 90% | 5 | 262 m |
| Porto | 9 | 89% | 4 | 225 m |
| Krakow | 8 | 88% | 6 | 324 m |
| Milan | 15 | 87% | 5 | 255 m |
| Lisbon | 29 | 83% | 28 | 180 m |
| London | 17 | 82% | 12 | 228 m |
| Madrid | 9 | 78% | 8 | 147 m |
| Prague | 8 | 75% | 6 | 133 m |
| Vienna | 11 | 64% | 9 | 68 m |
| Singapore | 11 | 64% | 5 | 215 m |
| Rome | 10 | 60% | 5 | 287 m |
| New York City Area | 14 | 57% | 5 | 243 m |
| Honolulu | 9 | 56% | 7 | 355 m |
| Amsterdam | 10 | 40% | 2 | 338 m |
| San Francisco Bay Area | 10 | 40% | 2 | 382 m |
| Madeira | 8 | 38% | 3 | 385 m |
| Kuala Lumpur | 11 | 36% | 6 | 337 m |
| Berlin | 14 | 36% | 9 | 207 m |
| Los Angeles Area | 9 | 33% | 2 | 373 m |
| Montreal | 9 | 33% | 0 | 300 m |
| Bangkok | 11 | 27% | 3 | 231 m |
| Toronto | 11 | 27% | 4 | 118 m |
| Austin | 8 | 13% | 2 | 650 m |
| Dubai | 8 | 13% | 0 | 263 m |
| San Diego | 10 | 10% | 1 | 556 m |
| Miami | 17 | 0% | 0 | 346 m |
| Denver | 13 | 0% | 1 | 490 m |
| Cape Town | 9 | 0% | 0 | 223 m |
| Las Vegas | 8 | 0% | 0 | 670 m |
The cities at the top are the ones with networks of covered municipal markets. In Barcelona our stays sit near markets such as the Mercat de la Llibertat and the Mercat de la Concepció; in Valencia, the Mercat Central. Porto has the Mercado do Bolhão, Krakow the Stary Kleparz and Prague the Havelské tržiště. Stay in these cities and you can shop for dinner the way locals do, a few minutes from the door.
Most US cities sit at the bottom of the table. In Miami, Denver and Las Vegas, none of the stays we mapped has a fresh-food shop within 500 m. Even supermarkets can be a walk: the median distance to the nearest one is 650 m in Austin, 556 m in San Diego and 670 m in Las Vegas. Extended-stay hotels there are built around the car, so plan a supermarket run when you arrive or use a grocery delivery app. Vancouver and Philadelphia are the exceptions, with fresh food near most stays we mapped.
Every stay card on our city pages has a “Fresh food nearby” row with the nearest market, greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, bakery, cheese shop and supermarket, and how far each is. Each city guide also has a section on supermarket chains, markets, Sunday opening and delivery apps. To check the appliances as well, see hotels with a dishwasher, oven or stove.
How we measure: straight-line distance from the stay's own location to the nearest place in OpenStreetMap; walking routes are a little longer. Only stays with a precise location are included. Named markets are checked to sell fresh food, so flea and flower markets are left out. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
In our data, Barcelona, Valencia, Vancouver, Paris and Brussels have a market, greengrocer, butcher or fishmonger within 500 m of every stay we mapped. Cities with networks of municipal markets, such as Barcelona and Valencia, do best.
Across the 654 stays we mapped, the median straight-line distance to the nearest supermarket is 244 m, and 81% have one within 500 m.
In Miami, Denver, Cape Town and Las Vegas, none of the stays we mapped has a market, greengrocer, butcher or fishmonger within 500 m. Plan a supermarket run or a grocery delivery there.
From the stay's own location to the nearest place of each kind in OpenStreetMap, in a straight line. Walking routes are a little longer. Named markets are checked to sell fresh food, so flea and flower markets are left out.
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