8 Best Vegan Travel Destinations to Add to Your Bucket List

This guest post about the best vegan travel destinations is written by Auston who runs the blog Best Vegan Tours. He is also a freelance writer and his work has been featured in many publications including Attitude Magazine, Edge Media Network, The Houston Chronicle and ManAboutWorld Magazine. 

Veganism is a growing trend these days and many people choose to change their diets for a variety of reasons.

Of course, controlling your diet at home can be easy enough since you’re in control of what you buy. Plus, you can learn which restaurants near you cater to your dietary needs.

Traveling, on the other hand, can be a challenging task. You may not know where to eat or which cities or countries offer an ample selection of vegan food to eat during your visit.

So, if you happen to be vegan and are searching for vegan-friendly places to visit, here are the 8 vegan travel destinations for you to discover.

Many of these destinations even offer vegan food tours so you can explore some great restaurants with a local.

(This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a certain percentage of a sale if you purchase after clicking.)

8 Best Vegan Travel Destinations You Need to Visit as a Vegan!

1. Greece

Though veganism is not particularly popular in Greece, their food may surprise you as many dishes are vegan by default.

The primary religion of the Greek people is Christian Orthodox, where fasting periods are standard at specific periods within the year. For example, during Lent, people are prevented from eating animal products. 

You can try their dolmadakia yalantzi, which is the vegan version of their dolmadakia (stuffed grape leaves). The dish typically has rice and ground beef, but you can often ask the restaurant to make it vegan.

Another meal you can try is gemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers with rice), which can also be vegan.

Let’s not forget a delicious Greek salad, minus the feta of course. Finally, Spanakopita (spinach pie) is famous in the Greek islands, and you can find something similar to it without dairy.

2. Berlin

Berlin is a place in Germany that caters to all types of diets and ways of life, and it is easy to find vegan food in the German capital. 

It might actually be considered one of the vegan capitals of the world, or at least certainly in Europe with so many options catering to the many vegan residents in this trendy and alternative city.

Do you love donuts? You can enjoy one at Brammibal’s Donuts. Not only that, but they also have vegan meals for breakfast and lunch.

Another vegan place at the center of Moabit, Berlin, is geh Veg. They offer soy-based ice creams and a wide selection of bagels, vegan spreads, smoothies, and more. 

3. New York

New York is another city with a large and growing vegan scene.

Though the vast majority of New Yorkers might eat animal products, there is a growing trend and there are more and more restaurants that offer vegan food around NYC.

A couple of popular places to try are Two Boots for vegan pizza or Ess-a-Bagel for delicious vegan bagels and spreads.

Another vegan place to consider is Jujube Tree. The Asian restaurant serves vegan meals inspired by different cuisines like Thailand, China, Korea, and Japan.

4. Florence

Visiting Florence is one of the best things to do in Tuscany. Even as a vegan, it should be high on your list!

To your surprise, Italian food can also be vegan, and yes, you can eat vegan pizza and pasta in Florence. You can consume pizzas without cheese in pizzerias, such as the vegeteriana or marinara.

You can even take a vegan food tour in the city where the guide will show you some delicious restaurants serving vegan dishes like cecina, breakfast cornetto, gelato, Panzanella, pappa al Pomodoro, and ribollita.

But be careful, due to the many awesome vegan food options you may consider moving to Florence afterward!

5. Bangkok

Mangsawirat is the term for being vegetarian in Thailand, however, the diet includes eggs. There is another term that is best-fit vegans, which is Jay.

So, when you’re checking out menus, most restaurants in Bangkok will usually label their vegetarian dishes as mangsariwat or jay, depending on the ingredients used.

With that said, one must-visit place in Bangkok is May Veggie Home. The restaurant serves pure vegan cuisine and is known to be one of the city’s top vegan restaurants.

It’s frequently visited by both locals and tourists.

The place is usually busy, so you can make reservations online to ensure you get a table and enjoy all the vegan meals on their menu.

6. Reykjavík

Reykjavík, Iceland is definitely among the up-and-coming vegan travel destinations.

It has tons of delicious vegan food, everything from traditional Icelandic comfort foods like hearty soups and bread to burgers, pizzas, and desserts.

You can find vegan options pretty much everywhere, including supermarkets, and restaurants that are happy to make their meals vegan.

Gló is a local restaurant with several locations in the city that serves delicious and healthy food, using local and organic ingredients, like soups, salads, sandwiches and has a variety of treats like brownies and tiramisu.

Enjoy an awesome lunch with creamy broccoli soup, peanut satay fried tofu, veggies, potato salad, coleslaw, raw sprouted crackers and hummus.

You’ll get all the energy you need to go explore beautiful Iceland in winter with a yummy vegan spread.

7. Siem Reap

Siem Reap is firmly on the map as the place to go in Cambodia to visit the amazing Angkor Wat, which really does live up to the hype.

It’s hot, dusty and a little crazy at times but it also got quite a growing vegan scene.

If you know where to look there are loads of vegan options including accidentally vegan Cambodian street food, local restaurants that are happy to leave out animal products, cafés that serve soy or nut milk in their coffees, vegan-friendly fine dining and even places with raw vegan cake.

One local favorite food comes straight from the street and is called nom heng; sweet, sesame laced, puffy fried bread which is a great early morning snack.

You’ll find people selling them on the side of the street from little carts. It’s best to get them when they’ve been freshly cooked for a full irresistible vegan street food effect.

8. Slovenia

Last but not least, head to the center of Ljubljana and check out Odprta Kuhna.

Every Friday from March through October, culinary wizards gather to form Odprta Kuhna – meaning “open kitchen” – and dish out the best of local and international cuisine from around Slovenia.

With nine vegan stalls, from burgers to falafel, you’ll want to sample everything.

Head to Barbarella and sample both the savory and sweet options, like spot-on curry and decadent chocolate mousse.

For lunch, dinner or both, head to one of Slovenia’s five Loving Hut locations. As a popular vegan restaurant chain, the Ljubljana Center location offers a remarkably affordable buffet with daily rotating choices.

Whereas the Maribor Loving Hut serves international cuisine like kung pao, chow mein, and kebab.

Finally, don’t leave Ljubljana without savoring the gelato. Though Italy is the king of gelato, Slovenian gelato makers claim to have been making gelato for just as long as their neighbors.

Visit Zvezda, with a large variety of vegan options, including several berry flavors and rich dark chocolate.

Just down the road, enjoy gelato while sitting in the swings that serve as chairs at Aroma, which entices passersby with handmade choices, such as strawberry with fresh mint and lemon with basil.

So if you happen to visit one of these vegan travel destinations, don’t lose heart! As you see, vegan food is everywhere – you just need to know where to look. 😉

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Do you want to travel like me?
Here are some of my favorite travel tips and resources:

Flights: I prefer using CheapOair or Skyscanner to book flights. The destination everywhere feature is perfect for finding some cheap deals!

Accommodation: Booking.com is my favorite site to find some great hotel deals. I do love staying at a local place as well, thus I book an Airbnb every now and then.

Travel Insurance: There are many reasons why travel insurance is important and I never travel without having one. I use the simple and flexible one from World Nomads to be protected against unforeseen events.

Tours: I love taking tours to explore destinations like a local. My favorite website to book them in advance is GetYourGuide.

Camera Gear: I use a Nikon D5300 camera with an 18-105 mm and a 10-20 mm wide-angle lens to take my photos.