I am from Germany and the last 10 years beeing vegetarian got easier. More alternatives in all supermarkts, also more veggie meals in restaurant. I am no longer the weirdo or the person that wants an like we say "Extra Wurst."
I am often in France and compared to Germany I have to explain more what I dont eat and why. The people are genuine curiouse and not judgy so it is fine I just see the awareness isnt as spread as in Germany.
What other european countries are good for vegetarians?
Also I am not talking about major cities. I am more interested in rural areas and what you can buy in the supermarket cause it shows how acceptable it is in society.
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The major cities in Sweden is very easy for vegans and vegetarians. My ex partner and thus I during that period (10 years almost) only ate vegetarian and never had an issue.
Romania is acceptable I guess, there are a lot of people fasting so the concept of not eating meat is common. I eat a lot of vegetable ciorba, tomato soup, and creme soup e.g. vegetables, lentiles, or tomato.
Sweden is easy, every store has vegetarian items, and I can’t remember the last time I was at a restaurant that didn’t have vegetarian dishes
Belgium (my experience is with the North) is easier than France but harder than Germany. Though I only have experience with major cities in all 3 countries but there are so many more options at supermarkets, like Lidl Germany is crazy for veggie options vs Lidl Belgium.
England is good for that kinda stuff, long history of vegetarianism and Indian cultural influence helps with that too
A country that is surprisingly easy for vegetarians is Italy, believe it or not. Often they don’t know what it entails and they will offer you fish or chicken (that’s not meat, right?), but if you look properly at menu’s Italian restaurants have a lot of nice vegetarian options (though not labeled as such): risotti, contorni, pasta’s, … Much more than French restaurants in my experience.
Pretty good here in the Netherlands. Lots of completely or majority vegetarian or vegan restaurants, especially in the larger cities. Most other restaurants will have at least one vegan or vegetarian option, even if they’re very meat focussed. Supermarkets have pretty wide selections of meat replacement options; even the budget supermarkets have a decent choice, generally speaking.
Most people are pretty accepting, and it is usually assumed that at parties, a vegetarian option should be available. Many people eat vegetarian at least some of the time, and there are plenty of full on vegetarians as well. Not a lot of full on vegans, though.
Definitely not Bosnia, after our last visit I went on a completely meatless diet for 2 weeks when we were back because I was sick and tired of constantly eating meat (although it was absolutely delicious in general). Montenegro was a tiny bit better, lots of dairy though so definitely not for vegans.
In Spain eating vegan in restaurants can be quite tricky. Vegetarian is much more possible (in the sense of eating dairy and milk), but still meat and fish are present in a lot of dishes. However, I think you can get along pretty well on supermarkets especially if you eat more traditional stuff as fresh vegetables, lentils, beans, as there are lots of them in supermarkets. And of course lots of cheese and eggs. I always found also “meat substitutes” and things as tofu in most supermarkets I went, although apart from Tofu I don’t usually buy them so take this with a grain of salt.
In my experience Germany is very good indeed.
Just came back from Croatia, and was actually pleasantly surprised at the vegetarian options in restaurants (although I must say, I based this on menus, so not sure if sauces may have used meatbased broths – I decided not to be very strict with that). However, the only time a saw a meat substitute in a supermarket, was in a Kaufland.
In the Netherlands alot of the offices only offer vegetarian and vegan options and Amsterdam is in the top 10 for vegan options
I would say in Sweden it’s very easy. I’ve been a vegetarian for more than 20 years now, and in that time there has been a huge improvement.
Finding vegetarian food is very easy both at supermarkets and restaurants. And not just in the cities. Even tiny supermarkets in small villages will have some vegetarian “fake meat” substitutes to choose from, and basically every restaurant will have some vegetarian option. Although, of course there are still a lot more alternatives to choose from in the cities. Fully vegan alternatives might still be a bit scarce in the countryside outside of more touristy areas – but for a lacto-ovo-vegetarian such as myself, it is absolutely very easy now.
As for attitudes towards vegetarians there has been a huge improvement there as well, and being a vegetarian is not really seen as strange at all even in more rural areas.
Today’s Sweden is of course a very multicultural society as well, with many different kinds of dietary choices, and most people will absolutely try to be accommodating to that, as long as you don’t try to push your own diet or beliefs onto them.
Finland is super easy. There are vegetarian options everywhere but not necessarily vegan options though.
I think Greece and Turkey are not too bad. There are usually salads and cold mezze that are vegetarian/vegan. But I’ve only been to the touristy bits.