Traveling while vegan doesn’t have to be difficult, you just need to do your homework in time. To help, there are many vegan travel guides online along with sites like Happy Cow and VegDining.com which are great resources for local restaurants and health food stores. When staying at a new hotel you haven’t been to before, reach out to the manager or chef to see if they can do accommodate vegan dining (if there isn’t already something on the menu).
If you don’t want to go through the hassle of traveling the trip on your lonesome, of course using a travel agency or tour company that specializes in vegan travel is the most efficient way. One that tops this list is Green Earth Travel, the nation’s premier vegetarian/vegan/eco travel agency founded by Donna Zeigfinger.
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As they are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, I sat down with Zeigfinger to get the inside scoop for where to travel in 2017.
1. California: Of course The Golden State takes the No. 1 spot as there are over 472 vegan/vegetarian/vegetarian friendly restaurants in the state. Along with a sprouting of famous restaurants in Los Angeles like Crossroads, Plant Food & Wine and Gracias Madre, San Francisco is a hip and vegan friendly city. Home of the Greens and where the Millennium used to be (they moved to Oakland but close enough), about three Loving Huts, the city has over 90 vegan/vegetarian/veg friendly restaurants in the area.
2. Kenya: With a large Indian population along with natives, there are plenty of vegetarian options in a surprisingly wonderful land. Furthermore, it is illegal to hunt big game in Kenya so all more the reason to travel and enjoy all the vegetables there as most hotels will often have a vegetarian option. Just make sure that you get vegan and do not get things like Ghee which is not vegan.
3. Costa Rica: A vegetable wonderland with numerous vegetarian and vegan resorts as well as many veg-friendly places. Beans and rice are the staple of the diet there and although most are not cooked in beef or chicken stock, just make sure to double check. Along with the plethora of restaurants and places to eat, there are also many outdoor food markets with plenty of fruits and vegetables. The one thing to be careful with is the coffee as it is sometime colored with cochineal to make it red, so best to get the organic coffee.
4. Italy: Fun fact, most of Southern Italy has food that happens to be vegan. This is because they were not as wealthy as Northern Italy and so they had less meat and less cheeses and had to be creative. Meat and cheese are still staples of their diets, but they aren’t as heavy as Northern Italy. Like in Costa Rica, the outdoor markets are amazing with all of their fresh fruits and vegetables and if you head down to the Almalfi Coast, make sure to try some large and flavorful lemons.
5. Belize: With a large Indian and Asian population, vegan travelers get the best of both worlds when it comes to cuisine. There is now a vegan hotel in Belize city and there is a jungle lodge that has an all vegan menu. Most resorts there will cater to vegans and veganize anything you want, and with the food being so fresh there, you can’t go wrong.
6. Ireland: The land once of bangers and meat stews is actually vegetable and vegan friendly. After being hit with hoof and mouth and mad cow, like the Italians they also had to be creative. In Ireland’s southwest coast, Cork has the oldest vegetarian restaurant in all of Ireland called Café Paradiso (1993). Zeigfinger also urges travelers to travel to one of her favorite areas on the island, Galway, a harbor city on Ireland’s west coast with four vegetarian restaurants and about 16 vegetarian-friendly places as well as several health-food stores and a vegan baker. Dublin is great now that Guinness will be going vegan this year, with over 35 vegan/vegetarian restaurants including a vegan butcher.
7. Germany: When traveling in the 80s, Zeigfinger notes there were only about 10 vegetarian restaurants in the whole country. Currently, the country is one of the most vegan-friendly places on the planet, the first country in Europe to give constitutional rights to animals and one of the top locations in the world that EVERY vegan needs to go to. With over 80 vegan/vegetarian/vegetarian friendly restaurants, they also have an all vegan supermarket!
8. New York City: With over 125 vegetarian and vegan restaurants, the Big Apple has some of the most famous in the world. Zeigfinger advises travelers to go to Hangawi, for a traditional Korean experience and amazing food, Beyond Sushi for the “best sushi ever” and all of the Candle restaurants. There are so many other restaurants to mention like Dirty Candy, Superiority Burger, Blossom and more, along with some wonderful vegan fashion stores there as well.
9. Israel: The Mediterranean cuisine served has a lot of foods are naturally vegan, with Tel Aviv alone having over 200 vegan/vegetarian/vegetarian friendly restaurants. Zeigfinger notes that in 2014, about 4% of the population considered themselves vegan, highlighting the fact that the country as a whole is very environmentally friendly. They have built an eco-friendly town Nurit, in northern Israel, with over 59% of plastics being recycled, and they take care of their wildlife with some amazing wildlife conservation programs.
10. Philadelphia: Just in the past 5-10 years this has been a rising city with some amazing places to eat at, with the most famous being Vedge. While there is a waiting list to get in there, the wait is totally worth it as guests will be delighted with inventive vegan and vegetarian small plates in a charming old mansion. There are also not just one but three Hip City Veg, serving “The Ziggy”, what Zeigfinger calls the “best vegan burger ever!”