If you have a weakness for sweets, Europe's pastry shops may be your undoing. They're on every corner, serving up debilitating choices: Which tart do you choose—the chocolate-covered confection or the fruit? Do you go macaron or macaroon? What's the difference?! The possibilities for cavities are nearly endless. But when you're in a foreign country, what you really want is a taste of the place, a bite that you might not get anywhere else. Thankfully, U.K.-based tour operator Thomson Lakes and Mountains put together a handy map of the most popular desserts across Europe, so you know just what to ask for when you step through the shop door.
Covering Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Italy, the interactive map drops a pin in the regions where a particular dessert is most well known. Plus, there's an general ingredient rundown, so gluten-free eaters know that they can try a poire à la beaujolaise (a newly ripe pear soaked in wine) but need to skip the flan-like cherry clafoutis in France.
In Spain, the map suggests you ask for a calientes instead of a churro, since the Sevillian version is thicker and fried in a spiral, rather than in long sticks. If you're heading to the German Christmas markets this year, pick up lebkuchen, a German Christmas cookie reminiscent of gingerbread. Nuremburg, with one of the world's largest Christmas markets running from December 1–24, is the best place to try these treats.
Check the map out for yourself, and let us know what dessert you're planning your next trip around.