Pardon?
Food and drinks are better elsewhere than in France? Difficult to argue taste, as it’s so individual, but for me, France is No1 in terms of food and drinks.
My wife and I just spend a few weeks in and around Savoien region, Region Isere, and Haute Provence. Besides having arguably the best climbs in the world, the food was fantastic, all local ingredients and locally sourced wine. 11/10 for me.
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Just avoid Roubaix. Oudenarde (specifically Kluisbergen just to the west) is so close to Roubaix; I thought that I had to visit. I was rather underwhelmed (Sorry anyone from Roubaix) 
Other times I have been in France though (Ronde Picarde and the Marmotte) the food and drink have been good 
You can absolutely get decent food and drink in France but compared to Austria/Switzerland/Spain/Italy the quality of accommodation, food and drink is far superior for the same cost.
Chiang Mai Thailand
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A couple of thoughts to add to the excellent suggestions preceding as an American living in Europe for the past 8 years (UK and Switzerland for the past 5+) and traveling with a bike wherever possible (though 2020 was going to be the big travel year with the gravel bike).
Mallorca is great and should be at the top of the list, but it is a small island. Depending on how long you’re there, you’ll be repeating yourself soon. Food options are great, but paramount, in my book, is safety on the road. Spanish drivers will maintain at least 1.5m and very often more distance from you (with very rare exception), wait and not honk when they can’t pass, and the roads are generally in great condition (with rare exception). This applies to the mainland. So my recommendation is, provided you have the time, which I think you may, to ride Mallorca and then hop to Spain (or Nice!) for more riding.
Up to France or Spain or Switzerland are relatively easy jumps (ferry can be 9hrs but around €95 so consider a flight to save time). As noted by @Aeroiseverything, it is possible the iconic passes you’d want to hit may not yet be open. This year, they opened very late due to our heavy winter and late arriving not-summer. However, these passes are within “easy” reach (either in the saddle or by train) and won’t require changing hotel. Trying to program in Stelvio or something will be more difficult and will reqiure a car.
In cycling destination cities, many two-star and three-star hotels will have secure bike rooms, if they don’t let you take your bike to your room.
While Ireland (and Scotland and Wales and England) have great offers as well, I think the easier “get” is Europe. If you decide to hit more than one place (perhaps Nice and then St Moritz in Switzerland or Mallorca), the movement won’t be difficult and will be relatively quick, and an adventure in its own right (in a good way) with trains readily accepting bikes (YMMW depending on the route and country, most Swiss trains, for example, have space for bikes, which are common sights, esp on the weekends).
So returning to your original framing, I would suggest the French Alps and Mallorca. Italy will be a hike and using Rome or Milan or similar as a base for cycling will involve too much time getting to good riding, something that won’t be a problem in Spain (including Mallorca) or Nice (or Grenoble or wherever). Plus, as graduating college students, the nightlife on Mallorca and Southern France may agree with you. From the French town, you could train to somewhere else and explore, just do an overnighter, and return (your original hotel would likely hold your bags for you as you check out one night). You could train to a far point and ride back… Options abound…
In short, these are countries with strong cycling cultures, with hotels and cafes and restaurants and routes that cater to cycling, and you’ll encounter plenty of other cyclists eager to share info, routes, ride with you, etc.
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Slightly off-topic…
There’s a big house, not quite one of the grand “Brideshead Revisited” style ones, near where I grew up in the Lake District. In the 1980s it was sold. Nothing unusual about that except it had been in the same family since at least the Norman invasion of England in 1066. When the Normans invaded they recorded what they had conquered in the Domesday Book (pronounced Doomsday) and the family are noted in that.
Back on topic. With a few exceptions I wouldn’t base myself in a city, getting out by bike every day would be quite fraught. Public transport is pretty good to excellent in Europe so if you based yourself close to somewhere it’s easy to get the train into town for the day.
As @mountainrunner says, cycling is part of the culture in much of Europe (not the UK!) so things are much less fraught.
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THAT is really cool.
On the historical point, recalling @bbarrera and @JSTootell, I’m from Los Angeles and buildings from the 1920s and 1930s are ancient and cool. Get to Britannia and it is another level. You can easily visit a pub that is older than the US. History is tangible. A nearby church where I lived in west London (W4) has a stone saying it was refurbished in 1874(or so). Across the river in Mortlake there was a brewery, since shuttered, on a spot that had been a brewery for the previous five centuries. Then there’s the “New Forest” (established a decade after the Norman invasion, ie “new” literaly a millennia ago), a still-standing Roman lighthouse in the South, Hadrian’s Wall in the North, the fortified drawbridge in Monmouth (where I think it’s still legal to shoot a Welshman with an arrow if he’s lingering there on a Sunday) etc etc etc. Here in Switzerland, you generally don’t have that same tangible connection with ancient times even if there are buildings around that are several to many hundreds of years old. (I did more than live in London before moving here, I attended Aberystwyth for a time a while ago.)
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Even further off-topic…
The house I grew up in has been in our family for something like 140yrs and is at least 100yrs older than that. We’ve the diary of one of the earlier owners/occupants who was a Quaker and a contemporary of George Fox who founded that society - there’s entries like “attended a sermon by George Fox” - and slightly later William Penn the founder of Pennsylvania who was also a Quaker.
Like you say, you don’t have to dig too far to get history.
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I’ll be in the Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria) in Dec, if anyone wants to join up for a group ride! I’m still planning out the details on the trip.
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