Travel Like a Vegetarian: Top 6 Best Destinations

While traveling, you value every minute, and you don’t want to spend half a day looking for a cafe. It is doubly difficult for vegetarians: everything around is unfamiliar, and it is also unclear what kind of filling is in the cakes on the counter and whether the waiter will understand that the vegetables you ordered cannot be cooked in meat broth. People often ask me what I will eat on my trip. Well, I usually answer that I’ll taste a lot of delicious and completely vegetarian dishes. And frankly speaking, I have a very wide choice. Why? After all, I know countries and places where vegetarianism is very widespread! However, realizing that many vegetarian travelers face difficulties during their travels, I decided to compile a list of veggie-friendly countries where plant food is a tradition.

India

India is considered one of the most vegetarian-friendly countries in the world, as most of the citizens refuse meat for religious reasons. In India, vegetarian food is available wherever you look for it (see red or green dots on the packages to indicate if they are vegetarian or not). But to get a real taste of the country, you must try street food! Lentils, curry, coconut milk, extraordinary spices – everything that is difficult to get in some other countries, in India is at every turn. Many dishes are prepared here according to the principles of Ayurveda, so a thick spicy sauce with hot warming spices will be added to your “cooling” rice – be careful not to turn into a fire-breathing dragon.

Israel

Over the past couple of years, more and more Israelis have become supporters of vegetarianism. For some, this is a tribute to fashion, a desire to be in trend; someone quite consciously chose this way of life for themselves. In any case, Israel can be called a country open to those who have given up eating meat. Local traditional cuisine is quite suitable for this: hummus and falafel, its main dishes, have long been loved by vegetarians from all over the world. Almost anywhere in Israel, you can indulge yourself in vegetarian cuisine, especially Tel Aviv. In terms of restaurants for vegetarians, it deserves an honorable first place! Israeli cuisine has an incredible amount of vegetable dishes – perfectly vegan hummus, falafel, and mujadara. Yummy!

Italy

In Italian cuisine, meat isn’t a must but an optional ingredient in the vast majority of dishes. All sorts of pasta, lasagne, salads, cheese dishes, and casseroles – in Italy, all this is universally prepared both with and without meat. In Italy, you can truly enjoy delicious and varied vegetarian food without overpaying for it. By the way, according to statistics, about 10% of the Italian population are vegetarians, this is the highest figure among the EU countries.

Ethiopia

Ethiopian cuisine practically doesn’t use pork in its dishes, and this is typical not only for Muslims who are forbidden to eat pork but also for Christians of the Ethiopian Church, who adhere to the food prohibitions of the Old Testament. Besides, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church prescribes several fasts, including on Wednesdays and Fridays, which is why Ethiopian cuisine has plenty of vegetarian options. Therefore, Ethiopian restaurants are popular among vegetarians in other countries. You should try Injera – one of the most famous dishes of Ethiopian cuisine, which is large, loose flat cakes, which are often wrapped in various fillings, and served with a variety of gravies, sauces, and cereals.

Sri Lanka

In terms of taste, traditional Sri Lanka cuisine is quite spicy, it has a pungency peculiar to the cuisines of Southeast Asia, as in Thailand, for example. At the same time, it cannot be called exquisite and varied. Most local dishes are based on rice, fish, vegetables with different spices. However, I ate curry rice (food of kings) with great pleasure!

Romania

It’s unexplainable, but it’s a fact, Romania is very vegetarian-friendly! I didn’t know this until the moment of my arrival. I can’t say that every restaurant has a bunch of dishes, but in general, in Romania, there is a wide selection of such food. For example, Mamaliga, try it, it’s very tasty!

Just use my list of vegetarian-friendly countries to make your journey just perfect!