A huge part of travelling the world is immersing yourself in new cultures. From admiring the architecture, to listening to new music and enjoying the theatre, to the delicious food. If you made the choice to follow the vegan diet, you might be concerned that this could affect your travel and what you can eat on holiday. Fortunately, more and more cuisines are expanding to include veganism, and travel search platform HolidayPirates (www.holidaypirates.com) put together a list of the top locations for vegans to visit:
Vegan on Female First
Taipei, Taiwan
Different branches of Buddhism will have different attitudes to eating meat – for example, Thai Buddhists can eat meat if it is offered to them. However, Taiwanese Buddhists shun all meat and live off a (mostly) dairy-free diet, making Taipei the perfect vegan destination.
Glasgow, Scotland
Perhaps a surprising entry on the list, especially as Scotland is renowned for its beef. However, Glasgow is a great destination for vegans, due to the vast number of vegan restaurants scattered throughout the city. This year, try and visit the city towards the end of May, when the infamous Vegan Festival is in town.
Portland, USA
Chosen as America’s #1 Vegan City by PETA in 2016, Portland is the perfect vegan location. From a plethora of vegan restaurants, to vegan-friendly cocktails, grocery stores and even tattoo parlours, a trip to Portland is a relaxing and enjoyable experience for any vegan.
Berlin, Germany
Berlin was voted Europe’s Capital of Vegan in 2014 by vegan website HappyCow.com, with more vegan restaurants than any other city in Europe. In addition to the numerous vegan restaurants, cafes and bars, Berlin offers an entire vegan lifestyle, with clothes stores and even sex shops tailored to the lifestyle. Lastly, as the prices in Berlin are still relatively low, vegan holidays there are kind on the finances.
Tel Aviv, Israel
The shift to veganism in Tel Aviv has been swift – as the dairy products became less popular, the influential Mediterranean diet, with its emphasis on fresh fruit and vegetables took hold. Being vegan in Tel Aviv isn’t only easy, it allows you to sample some of the best cuisine the city has to offer.
Chennai, India
With roughly half of India’s citizens favouring the meat-free diet, it isn’t difficult for a vegan to find delicious places to eat wherever they go. However, one of the best locations has to be Chennai – located in the South of India, the city’s cuisine has very little reliance on dairy products and meat, making it a vegan heaven. While you are there, make sure to visit the Royal Vega, one of the first fine-dining vegan restaurants in the country.
Austin, USA
When you think ‘Texas’, veganism isn’t the first thing that springs to mind. However, the city of Austin, despite not having the highest number of vegan restaurants in the country, is a great travel destination for any vegan who loves Mexican food. Since the city was voted as the most vegan-friendly by PETA in 2013, every year has seen at least 5 more vegan restaurants open, with plenty of tacos, vegan chorizo and chalupas to choose from.
Warsaw, Poland
One of Europe’s vegan cities-to-watch, Warsaw constantly sees new vegan restaurants popping open, with as many as thirty, all-vegan eateries located within one square mile. Just make sure you choose a hotel within the area and you are guaranteed to experience delicious vegan cuisine every day of your stay.
San Francisco, USA
Notorious for their healthy eating habits, the inhabitants of this California city are also keen vegans. Not only does the city host the World Vegetarian Festival every year, but it also has vegan restaurants that offer you whatever you would like – burritos, decadent 7 course meals, all without dairy or meat in the recipe!
HolidayPirates (www.holidaypirates.com) is one of Europe’s fastest growing, free-to-use, travel search platforms and apps, providing users with the best value for money international travel deals. Since its inception in 2012, the company has grown the biggest online travel community in the world, achieved 20 million monthly page visits, 5 million app downloads, having launched services across 10 countries and 7 different languages.
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