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Revealed: the best European cities for vegetarians

Based on the number of veggie and vegan options on menus per 100,000 inhabitants, these are the best cities in Europe for meat-free diets

Ed Cunningham
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Ed Cunningham
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Once upon a time, it was pretty darn tough to travel as a vegetarian. Unless you were in one of select few veggie-friendly cultures, you’d be restricted to pretty much just chips and salad. And if you were a vegan? Well, the situation was likely even more dire.  

But that isn’t the case any longer. Today, in most cities around the world, vegetarians and vegans are well catered for. But which cities offer up the best options for meat-free travellers? To find out, luggage storage company Bounce totted up the number of vegetarian and vegan eateries in cities around the world before comparing that number with the city’s population.

According to Bounce, the best city in the world for vegetarians is, drum roll please... Brussels! Averaging an enormous 526 veggie food establishments per 100,000 people, apparently the Belgian city has a vast range of menus with vegetarian options.

The second-best city for vegetarians is apparently Florence in Italy, with 343 veggie eateries per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Venice, which has 270.

When it comes to vegans, Bounce says again that it’s Brussels that comes out on top, with 209 establishments per 100,000 with vegan options. Florence again comes second (with 163), though the Scottish capital Edinburgh comes third (with 154). 

These are the top five cities in the world for vegetarians, according to Bounce’s study – along with the number of eateries per 100,000. 

  1. Brussels, Belgium (526)
  2. Florence, Italy (343)
  3. Venice, Italy (270)
  4. Porto, Portugal (238)
  5. Edinburgh, UK (229)

And these are the top five cities for vegans, with the number of restaurants with vegan options per 100,000 residents.

  1. Brussels, Belgium (209)
  2. Florence, Italy (163)
  3. Edinburgh, UK (154)
  4. Porto, Portugal (142)
  5. Lisbon, Portugal (128) 

You can read more about Bounce’s study here – then check out this new ranking of the most popular cuisines in the world. And no, number one isn’t Italian.

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