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As you know we are a mostly meat-free family, we can call our unit flexitarian as I don’t eat meat and mostly vegan (when it’s my choice! Otherwise vegetarian for over a decade), husband is flexitarian and the kids are picky. Obviously, one is a sensory eater, the other one is a little bit picky. So when we travel – and we travel a lot in Europe – we like discovering new cuisines. We have noticed, that a lot of good restaurants and cafes and all sorts of eateries are really trying to move with the current direction and times of offering more and more vegan options on their menu. Which I think is awesome!
A growing number of people are cutting down on meat and dairy consumption for different reasons. Restaurants would be silly to turn any of them away, so naturally, they are trying to cater for everyone. It’s great, because we can still eat out as a family and all of us can find something on the menu we like. This is why I put this article together about the 10 Best Vegan-Friendly European Cities.
Europe, of course, or mainly most of Europe is fully on board with this, we noticed during our recent travels lately. All we have to do book our hotels and trains or flights. We normally book trains with Trainline or directly with Eurostar and flights with British Airways (we collect air miles) and we make sure in case there is a flight delay or cancelled flights we use AirHelp to see if we are eligible for compensation. The situation of cancelled flights and delayed trains – happened a lot to us – we had problems with Eurostar being delayed and numerous occasions flights cancelled – is not easy to manage with two smallish kids especially. We had to spend extra money we haven’t planned to, we were so late the children needed to miss school as they didn’t get enough sleep – just to mention a few problems. It’s very annoying, but luckily you don’t have to just accept it as it is – most of the time you can be compensated for the inconvenience, you just have too look at the right place! UK passed a law after Brexit to match EU regulation EC 261 (which is great! Other EU regulations should be matched too!) which means passengers have the right to be reimbursed for flight cancellations if they met the criteria. If so, airlines are legally required to pay you flight cancellation compensation of up to £520.
Europe has a lot to offer for tourists of any kind, and vegan travellers are no exemption any more. It’s easier to eat out and eat locally sourced, healthy, exciting vegan food in most capitals and beyond. Let’s see the 10 Best Vegan-Friendly European Cities in my opinion.
1 London
As I live in London suburbia – I can definitely tell, that the number one place is earned by London. I am also often testing new restaurants you can read about it on the blog: like Tendril and Sticky Mango recently. The truth is, London is full of fantastic restaurants and many has vegan options, but there are also fully vegan restaurants like the mentioned Tendril (Mayfair), Naïfs in Peckham, the very niche, vegan French called Gauthier Soho and many more. Even the streetfood vendors at Southbank have vegan options as well as Spitalfields Market.
2 Berlin
Berlin is only second on this list, purely because I’m more familiar with London. But Berlin has a thriving vegan scene and many young and older folks are going vegan. Vegan isn’t only just food but about the lifestyle in Berlin (similar to Brighton in the UK, I would say?) and it has over 80 vegan places to eat! Plant Base being one of the most popular but there are many others. The biggest vegan summer festival also held in Berlin each year, called Veganes Sommerfest.
3 Copenhagen
Ah Copenhagen – the sustainable capital of the world! The greenest city in Europe with urban farms, high-tech green buildings, ski slopes that generate electricity and slow fashion. And of course as such, big on promoting veganism as well. You can find casual vegan eats in Danish markets as well as Michelin starred, innovative fine dining restaurants (like Ark). Also, Copenhagen restaurants are really big on sourcing ingredients locally – which is another plus point for the city!
4 Amsterdam
As a progressive and very laid back city, it’s just natural that vegan vibes are warmly welcomed in Amsterdam. The city offers a lot of interesting possibilities for vegan travellers and even has a vegan food chain called Vegan Junk Food Bar. More and more new places are popping up and they all include vegans. The local vegan blog https://www.veganamsterdam.org/ has fresh updates on events and places.
5 Reykjavik
Like any progressive country and city (and |Iceland is definitely one of them, planning to go completely carbon neutrral by 2040!), the capital of Iceland more and more embraces veganism as a sustainable way of living. This is great news for tourists as the formerly very fish and meat-heavy traditional dishes now make space for meat-free options as well. There are a good number of vegan-only places to eat in Reykjavik, like Loving Hut and Vegan World Peace which is also wallet-friendly, or Mama – which is a must for a vegan traveller for it’s located on the main shopping street.
6 Stockholm
Stockholm is famously vegan-friendly and it has been for the past decade or so. It’s probable, because Sweden has the third highest percentage of vegans out of all the countries. Which is quite amazing for a country that was traditionally alway a heavy meat eater. There are entirely plant based eateries like Delivore and the famous Green Queen, lot’s of vegetarian places and plenty of others that offer a vegan menu alongside the other menus. Stockholm is a leader in a sustainable gastronomic world and the city was awarded with the title of The European Capital of Gastronomy 2023.
7 Vienna
I’m originally from Budapest and because Vienna is only a 3-hour train ride from there, I’m very familiar with Vienna and I absolutely love the city. True, Vienna and the Austrian cuisine is also heavily meat and dairy based, like most Central – and Easter European countries, Vienna’s cosmopolitan vibe has been definitely influenced by the growing number of vegans living in the capital. Today, Vienna has lots of vegan and vegan-friendly places to eat out, like Velani and Vinavegani, plus there are even vegan chain restaurants that you can find in multiple locations, like Veggiezz.
8 Prague
Prague is currently one of the most visited in Europe, so it is just natural that the city is trying to really please all types of tourist, including vegans. Shromaždiště is one of the most popular ones: it’s not only located fairly close to the Old Town but it’s speciality is veganised traditional dishes. Another good one is Palo Verde that also has a large organic wine selection with the plant based bistro dishes.
9 Barcelona
Along with the Balearic Islands (which I know quite well as I lived on the White Island for 2 years) Barcelona has this wonderful hippie vibe. Which is why it is actually it’s really easy to be a vegan tourist in Barcelona – despite of what we might think about all the Jamon Serrano worship, which is also true. But, Barcelona is actually a great place for vegans. There are even vegan hotels (Casa Albets)! Try Rasoterra, Roots & Rolls (vegan sushi) and Chez Kessler. For vegan pizzas, head to Blu Bar.
10 Warsaw
Warsaw is another vegan-friendly capital – there are over 40 vegan places to eat in the capital of Poland. Just like Prague, it is partially to please the visitors, but Poland and especially and Warsaw has a rapidly growing vegan population as well. – this is according to Uber Eats, between 2017 and 2020, the number of vegan food orders has risen by 500%, placing Poland second in Europe for plant-based online ordering, behind the UK. Which is quite amazing, a sharp rise. Now, the vegan eateries are popping up left, right and middle as you’d expect. You get vegan street food chain like Mango Street Food, vegan burgers in Krowarzywa, and the vegan pierogi is the best in Vege Miasto.
Which vegan-friendly European cities would you add to the list?