Hello Wonderful People!
I love being a vegetarian; I’ve been one all my life and would never dream of changing my eating habits. However, being veggie can be a royal pain in the a hole when travelling. There are some countries that are really good for veggies and there are others that look at you with disgust when you ask if there’s a veggie option. You’d be surprised at the amount of people who have no idea what the word vegetarian means and who offer you chicken as an alternative. The last time I checked, chicken was definitely meat. So here is a list of the best and the worst countries that I’ve been to as a veggie.
Hall of Fame:
Italy
Italy has got to be my favourite European country. The people, the weather and the food make it the perfect place to go on holiday. For me, Italian food is amazing, and there are so many veggie options, I’m always stuck for choice! The pizza choices are always great, and even if there isn’t much choice, you can always have a margarita and add some extra toppings! My favourite pasta dish has to be a simple cheese ravioli in a butter and sage sauce. They also do some cracking salads in Italy and all the food seems to have so much flavour! I love a simple mozzarella and tomato salad, drizzled in olive oil or a tricolore salad, they are both delicious!
Vietnam
I ate really well as a vegetarian in Vietnam and never struggled to find tasty food. Meat is quite expensive in South East Asia and lots of their traditional dishes are meat free. Plus tofu is readily available and used in lots of curries, so there’s a great choice! My favourite dish in Vietnam was a street food noodle soup type of meal called Pho. If all else failed, I could always fall back on good old spring rolls, I absolutely love them!
Thailand
Food wise Thailand was very similar to Vietnam. I ate really well here as a veggie and always had a good choice of food. My ultimate fave meal in Thailand was a Thai Green Curry with sticky rice. Thai Green curries in Asia are very different from what they are like at home, and they are amazing! Don’t be fooled into thinking a Thai Green will be mild; it won’t be. The Asians love their spice, so I’m sure a Thai Green is mild for them, but I certainly couldn’t cope with any hotter (a Thai Yellow or Red for example). Again, if I ever struggled (which was pretty rare) spring rolls were always an option!
Hall of Shame:
Hungary
I really struggled to eat anything in Hungary. We this is a lie, I did manage to eat, but I couldn’t eat any traditional Hungarian food. When I visit a country I love to try some of the local delicacies; sadly, this proved to be pretty impossible when I visited Budapest. All the traditional Hungarian dishes contained meat, which was a really bummer, so most of the time I ended up eating Italian food. Good old Italy saves the day again.
France
France is pretty famous for its food; sadly for veggies the choice isn’t that great. Loads of restaurants have set menus, which 99.9% of the time are all meaty, not leaving much flexibility for veggies. Everything in France seems to have meat added to it; even the salads. There aren’t may exciting options for veggies on most French menus, so get used to ordering onion soup, omelettes and lots of cheese. And if you’re vegan, then this definitely is not the best country for you!
Australia
No I don’t like to be stereotypical, but the Aussies do love a good BBQ and sadly, they are always full of meat. While I was backpacking the east coast of Aus I stayed in a few hostels that offered free BBQs. Whenever I asked if there was a veggie option the answer I always received was a blank stare and a shake of the head. So my free BBQ always ended up being a bread roll filled with fried onions and ketchup. Fantastic. I didn’t actually eat out that much in Aus, as I was on a budget and couldn’t really afford it, so I cooked most of my meals in hostels. Cooking for myself also had its limitations as I found it impossible to find any meat substitute products, such as Quorn, in any Aus supermarket. So sandwiches and stuffed peppers played a big part in my Aussie diet.
Katie Nelson 
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