There is a particular kind of joy that comes from wandering into a foreign supermarket with no list, no plan, and a completely open mind. You are not there to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant or queue at some Instagram landmark. You are there to find out what people actually eat. What is in their fridges. What they grab on the way home from work. What snacks their kids beg for.
It is, genuinely, one of the best things you can do in a new country. And it is almost always free to walk in.
Supermarket tourism has been building momentum since 2024, and a 2025 survey of 22,000 travellers found that 55% now always or often visit local supermarkets when they are abroad. Reddit discussions about grocery shopping abroad are up 78% year on year according to SkyScanner’s internal data. People are not just buying snacks. They are treating it like sightseeing.
Here are the destinations where the supermarket is genuinely worth putting on the itinerary.
Japan: The Konbini Experience
If you have ever been to Japan, you already know. The convenience stores, or konbini, are a phenomenon. They are open 24 hours, they are on practically every corner, and the food inside bears almost no resemblance to what you would find in an Australian 7-Eleven.
The three major chains are 7-Eleven Japan, Lawson, and FamilyMart, and they all compete aggressively on food quality. Onigiri, the triangular rice balls wrapped in nori, cost somewhere between 140 and 170 yen each, which is well under two dollars Australian. They come in an enormous range of fillings: tuna mayo, salmon roe, grilled fish, pickled plum. They are made fresh throughout the day and they are outstanding.
Beyond the onigiri: the tamago sando at 7-Eleven and Lawson is a soft, pillowy egg salad sandwich that has attracted something of a cult following internationally. Lawson’s dessert range, particularly the matcha cakes and cream puffs, is consistently rated as among the best affordable sweet food in Japan. FamilyMart’s FamiChiki fried chicken is bought and eaten immediately at the register by approximately everyone who visits.
Then there are the Kit Kats. Japan produces flavours that range from matcha and hojicha to sake and regional specialities that change by season and location. They are legitimately different products from what is sold under the same name anywhere else. Take more than you think you need home.
The konbini is also where you eat cheaply without sacrificing quality. A full meal of onigiri, a hot item, and a drink will set you back around 500 to 700 yen, which is roughly five to seven dollars. For Tokyo, that is remarkable.
Spain: Mercadona
Spain’s supermarket scene is dominated by Mercadona, a chain that has become the go-to for travellers who know what they are doing. It is clean, well-organised, impressively affordable, and almost entirely stocked with own-brand products under the Hacendado label, which is exactly the point. Around 82% of Mercadona shoppers in Spain buy those own brands, and 62% say they prefer them to external brands. That tells you something.
What to look for: Spanish canned seafood is legitimately extraordinary. Mussels in escabeche, razor clams, cockles, white anchovies. The quality is well above what you would pay for at a tourist shop and the price is a fraction of it. Manchego cheese, jamón, Ibérico products, and olive oil are all significantly cheaper here than they will be anywhere near a tourist strip. Pick up a bottle of Spanish wine for two or three euros. It will be fine.
Madrid sits at index 46 for grocery prices compared to Paris at 71, making it one of the most affordable grocery destinations among major European capitals. The difference is real when you are actually shopping.
Mercadona is also where locals do their actual weekly shop, which makes it an unusually honest window into Spanish domestic eating habits. The bread section alone is worth ten minutes of your time.
Italy: Esselunga and COOP
Italy is a country where the supermarket can feel slightly redundant when there is a market around the corner. But if it is raining, or you are somewhere without a good local market, or you simply want to eat well on a budget, Esselunga and COOP are your friends.
The deli and bakery sections are the headline act. Fresh pasta, ready-to-eat antipasto, decent pizza al taglio sold by weight, and an olive and cured meat counter that is exactly as good as it sounds. This is the kind of lunch that costs eight euros and tastes like you made an effort.
For things to take home: biscotti, good pasta (real Italian pasta really is different), porcini mushrooms, dried herbs, capers packed in salt, and thick balsamic from Modena. High-end Italian chocolate is also meaningfully cheaper in an Italian supermarket than it will be anywhere that caters to tourists. Baci chocolates are the classic supermarket buy.
Rome sits at index 51 for grocery prices, which makes it considerably more affordable than Paris or London for the same basket of goods. Stock up accordingly.
South Korea: Emart and Lotte Mart
South Korea takes supermarket shopping in a different direction entirely. Emart and Lotte Mart are enormous, in the hypermarket sense, and they stock their own-brand products at prices that make them genuinely worth exploring even if you are not cooking anything.
The instant noodle aisle is the obvious starting point. South Korea produces instant ramen in a range of flavours that have no equivalent elsewhere, including black bean (jajangmyeon), fire chicken (buldak), and regional varieties that come in and out of rotation. Buying them here costs a fraction of what you pay for the same product imported into Australia.
For fresh eating in the store: both chains have food halls and prepared food sections with tteok (rice cakes), kimbap, and banchan (side dishes) at prices that will make you slightly annoyed about the cost of Korean food at home. The own-brand products, Emart’s No Brand label and Lotte Mart’s Only Price, are worth seeking out for pantry items like sesame oil, gochujang, and doenjang (fermented soybean paste).
South Korea also has a thriving convenience store culture with GS25, CU, and 7-Eleven on seemingly every corner. Korean convenience stores stock triangle kimbap in the same spirit as Japanese onigiri, along with an impressive range of instant hot food, Korean yoghurt drinks, and snack brands you cannot find at home.
Thailand: The 7-Eleven That Changed Everything
Thailand has the second-largest number of 7-Eleven stores in the world after Japan, and they are a completely different product to anything operating under the same name in Australia. Over 13,000 branches nationwide means you are rarely more than a short walk from one, and they have become a genuine part of the travel experience rather than a fallback.
The toasted sandwiches are the famous starting point, and the fame is earned. Ham and cheese toasties heated in the machine at the register, around 40 baht each (roughly $1.70 Australian), are the standard backpacker breakfast for a reason. They are not remotely glamorous and they are genuinely good.
Beyond the toasties: microwave meals including pad kra pao, Thai green curry, and spicy fish curry cost between 40 and 80 baht. Fresh cut fruit is bagged and sold cheaply throughout the day. Tom Yum cup noodles taste like the actual dish rather than a vague approximation of it. Doi Kham fruit juices are worth knowing about: they support local farmers and the flavours are intense and real.
Thailand’s 7-Eleven also serves an entirely practical travel function. Mosquito spray that costs fifteen dollars in Australia is a dollar here. Sunscreen is cheap. Phone credit, ATM access, late-night cold beers: the 7-Eleven is genuinely useful in ways that extend well beyond food.
France: Carrefour Hypermarkets
France is the most expensive country for groceries among the major European economies, but Carrefour’s 248 hypermarkets across the country represent the best value play in a market that can otherwise feel punishing for budget-conscious travellers.
The scale is the point. A French Carrefour hypermarket has an aisle devoted almost entirely to cheese. Another to wine. The mustard selection alone is worth pausing at. French supermarket wine at six to ten euros a bottle is genuinely good. The charcuterie, rillettes, pâté, and jambon are all meaningfully cheaper than equivalent products at markets catering to visitors.
High-end French chocolate is one of the better supermarket buys in France: the brands you would pay premium prices for back in Australia sit at regular supermarket prices here. The same applies to decent olive oil, canned sardines (which are significantly better in France than almost anywhere else), and good butter.
USA: Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s is an almost entirely own-brand American supermarket with a devoted following that extends well beyond its home market. If you are in a city with a location, it is worth an hour of your time.
The snack range is where Trader Joe’s has carved out its reputation: everything bagel seasoning, which became something of a global phenomenon a few years ago, is cheap here. The cookie butter (speculoos spread), the dark chocolate peanut butter cups, the dried mango, the various flavoured popcorns, the seasonal products that appear and disappear: all of it is priced considerably below what you would pay for comparable quality elsewhere.
The frozen food section is also worth a look for travellers with an Airbnb kitchen. Trader Joe’s frozen Indian meals, dumplings, and pasta dishes are regularly cited as among the better options in the American supermarket landscape at their price point.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go
Many countries have restrictions on what food products you can bring back into Australia. The Australian Border Force is serious about biosecurity, and fresh produce, meat, dairy, and many plant products are either prohibited or require a declaration. Check the DAFF biosecurity guidelines before you pack your suitcase with Italian cheese and Spanish jamón. Packaged, commercially sealed, and heat-treated products are generally fine, but it is worth confirming specifics before you get to customs.
Dried pasta, chocolate, biscuits, condiments, sealed spice packets, instant noodles, and packaged snacks almost always clear customs without issue. Fresh and unpackaged products are where it gets complicated.
The other practical note: carry cash or a travel card with low foreign transaction fees. Some overseas supermarkets, particularly in Japan and parts of Europe, have card machines that do not reliably accept Australian-issued Visa and Mastercards. Having cash available means you never have to put back a basket of konbini finds because the terminal has refused your card twice.
Go early for the freshest prepared food and deli options. Go late, within an hour of closing, for discounts on perishable items that need to move. Both strategies work. Neither requires any special planning beyond showing up.
