European sea and old town type place where it’s easy to be vegetarian!

[StanfordPines]

I’m just imagining holidays right now, so this is all theoretical, but I look into a town only to find that I can never find anywhere that caters for vegetarians beyond a margarita pizza or a tomato mozzarella salad.

Has anyone found anywhere amazing?

Trogir near Split in Croatia had lots of veggie options. Some Italian supermarkets have a good vegetarian/vegan selection so I would say any Italian old town self catering .

Palma de Mallorca.
Old town, waterfront loads of nice veggie/vegan restaurants & cafes.

I was about to say, India and Lebanon, but then noticed you wanted Europe. I’d say Italy, Turkey, Germany, Poland.

I was surprised by how veggie friendly Slovenia was.
The vegan movement has taken off in Europe in a big way, Germany particularly.

Some great suggestions here. Thank you.

Lagos in portugal

I was also going to say Lagos!

Lagos is fab and DD has said if we go to Portugal again, she wants to go there.
Italy (where I am) is still hit and miss for vegetarians. A lot of ordinary Italian dishes are meat/fish free anyway, but often there still seems to be the attitude of the UK maybe 40 years ago, that you'll be wanting brown pasta etc.

Oooh. I was thinking Portugal. I’ve been looking at Madeira but I’ll have a look at Lagos.

Understand completely where you are coming from! I’ve been a vegetarian for 28 years and in some countries it’s been hard to find anything (takes a long sideways look at Cuba!).

I’ve always found Italy pretty easy (it might possibly be less so if you’re vegan) as many restaurants have the likes of melanzane parmigiana & fresh pasta and pesto on the menu. If you want seaside, the Amalfi Riviera is spectacularly beautiful (I’d just dodge Sorrento as it’s very built up). Or for a cheaper option, try Sicily. They have some really good regional vegetarian recipes. I loved Syracuse (fly into Catania, 30 minute train ride) which used to be one of the most important cities in the Greek empire, has loads of ruins, is on the coast and is very beautiful (google Ortigia which is the old part). Taormina in Sicily is lovely too but a bit pricier and attracts a very large summer crowd.

Turkish food has some good veggie options (although it can seem a bit like 100 ways with an aubergine!).

I'm vegan and found it super easy in Italy Rome,Naples,Amalfi coast, lots of restaurants very accommodating and supermarkets with vegan/veggie sections!

Near Lagos, I can recommend the village Barao de sao Joao which is a bit inland 10 mins drive to Lagos, lots of little hippy cafes, but if you want be near the sea then Burgau is also nice as is Salema. Lagos is more big town. Sagres right on the SW tip is surfy and FULL of nice places to eat.

I lived there and my kids were born there!

Germany is really great for veggie food but the sea isn’t very warm and it’s not what I’d describe as European old town.

I highly recommend Valencia or Alicante (the cities, avoid Benidorm and the likes) in Spain. Proper old town with a mix of modern architecture and museums, supermarkets cater perfectly for vegetarians and vegans, and there are more and more veggie restaurants every day. You can also eat anywhere traditional as long as you explain clearly what veggie means (most places will still give tuna in a salad unless you specify that tuna is a fish) - but most traditional meals have a veggie variant. Eg there is chicken, seafood or vegetable paella, the veggie option isn’t a rarity so it’ll be on the menu everywhere. Most tapas can be veggie. Plenty of Italian restaurants and Middle Eastern places. But you can eat local traditional food easily. The sea is lovely and there are so many towns around the two main cities that are great for day trips - Roman castles, natural reservoirs...

Tallinn in Estonia. Amazing old town, lovely beaches, warm sea in the summer.

I am a recent convert to plant based eating so have been thinking about this a lot.

Somewhere that does tapas would be a good option? Spain - maybe on the coast you could try Sitges? fabulous beaches and a lot of choices of where to eat and drink. Or the Canaries - a resort/town with a lot of tapas options ?

DD is vegetarian and tbh I usually find it quite limited wherever we go. I usually go on trip advisor and ask for specific restaurants rather than wandering and menu reading.

It also depends how strict you are, someone up thread mentioned pesto but that is usually made from Parmesan in restaurants so DD wouldn't eat it. Again she ordered a salad in Italy that had no mention of Parmesan but came out with a large sprinkling on the top which she had to send back.

The other issue we have come across is any kind of stock in a rice based dish like risotto. So a mushroom risotto but made with chicken stock. And fish sauce used in 'vegetarian' tofu pad Thai!

@treeeeemendous, you are absolutely right - it is problematic not only with hidden meat ingredients but the same utensils being etc etc. Not helpful either when you don’t speak their language and they don’t speak theirs and something you assumed was vegetarian turns up with bacon in it.

I’ve been a vegetarian since 1992 and have become a lot less hardcore over the years -whether it’s rennet in Parmesan or what fat the fries or roast potatoes have been cooked in etc, I sweat the small stuff less. The reality is as a vegetarian you are still eating dairy which is problematic, I know I’m not a purist!

I think I should have re-read that before posting, waiting staff quite obviously do speak their own language!

EileenGC how is Germany not European old town?!

If you've money to splash, then St Tropez declared itself a "vegetarian destination" a couple of years ago, and has an old town feel about the central area. I'm not entirely convinced that the restaurants will all have followed through, but I think there are quite a few now.

@SJaneS49 yeah she doesn't eat dairy either. In the U.K. she will ask about how it's been cooked but this is something that does often get lost in translation abroad.

Some dishes are easier to gauge than others. She tends to stick with safer options. I have found big resort hotels much better with English speaking chefs however we can't afford to have all in holidays in them! Besides it's nice to find small, local restaurants too.

I haven't been impressed with Spain re veggi food.
I'd go for Italy or Greece

Any Greek island. A lot of Greek dishes are vegetarian. We found it less easy to find restauarants with a wide choice of vegetarian food in Madeira, so I'm not sure how good mainland Portugal would be.

DD is vegetarian and we had a fabulous holiday in Kos about 18 months ago. She had plenty of choice.

Nerja. There's the most fabulous restaurant that does loads of amazing veggie food called Gloria Bendita. I'd fly them in for a party if I won the lottery. (it's not expensive, it just would be to fly them in!)