Hi, we're traveling to Germany for a family vacation. I have never been to Germany as a vegan. (I don't eat any animal products, except honey.) I'm wondering if anyone can suggest restaurants or strategies (including the verbiage to use.) We'll be traveling mostly in the Rhein/Pfaltz. Of the four of us: I'm Vegan, two are vegetarian and my younger daughter is a complete carnivore. I was a vegetarian before I became dairy intolerant, so I know it's possible to do well in Germany as a vegetarian --the vegan thing has me a little nervous. I don't want to spend my whole vacation sick to my stomach! Thanks in advance.

When I've stayed in larger hotels in Germany the breakfast buffet has included fruit and some vegetables (mostly tomatoes and cucumbers as I remember).

Are you dairy intolerant or lactose intolerant?

Your daughter will love Germany with its abundance of meat!

Thank you. All dairy makes me sick.

I feel bad for you. At least I can have yogurt and cheddar cheese.

Also post on Trip Advisor.

Here is a list of vegan restaurants in Germany sorted by town in alphabetical order:

http://www.peta.de/restaurants

Oh my gosh, thank you so much!

You might create a card for yourself with "Ich bin Veganer. Bitte keine Fleich- oder Milchprodukte." (I am (a) vegan. Please no meat or milk products.)

Let me know if you want to tweak the wording at all.

On another thread recently we have been talking about bakeries and I happened to find out that the bakery chain Ditsch, which is in many towns, has Brezeln (pretzels) and Laugenbroetchen and Laugenstangen (bread rolls and small bread sticks made of the same dough as pretzels) which are vegan. If you don't know pretzels of this kind, they are a big knot of dough which is a bit salty, with a shiny brown outside and which splits to show a white doughy inside. It is decorated with salt crystals. Just be careful as some places are selling the Brezeln spread with chive butter. If you see this ask for 'eine Brezel ohne Butter, bitte' (a pretzel without butter, please).

Lavandula

Thanks so much. I'm fluent in German, but didn't have any idea what the verbiage was for "vegan." Turns out it's "vegan!" LOL

You can do it, but it will not be the least convenient for you in my opinion. Of course, depending on where you live you may not have a lot of vegan options either. DH and I are vegetarians and one son is a vegan. He is not at home but I cook things for him fairly often. I have learned to make a lot of very tasty vegan dishes. We are going to his home for the 4th and I made vegan chocolate cupcakes and potato salad to take. We have been to Germany several times and even as just vegetarians find our food selection fairly limited. Of course, since you are fluent with German that should be a major help. We probably had many more choices but couldn't understand the menu. You might want to take a few of your favorite protein bars along to fill in the gaps. : ) I hope you have a great trip.

Thought of another website for you:

www.happycow.net

Thank you so much! I really appreciate this so much --there are four vegan-friendly restaurants in the small town where we'll be based alone! THANK YOU! (I live in Austin (TX,) which is very vegan-friendly.)

Anasmun, I am German, and a couple of years ago there was a thread in the U.S. forum asking for the most European city in the U.S. - And to the surprise of most American Fodorites, I posted that in my opinion, Austin appeared to me as the most European city in the U.S., not because of the architecture but because of the general feeling of the town.

We loved the city's motto "keep Austin weird" and enjoyed the relaxed lifetyle, the music and the SRV statue in the city park.

I don't think you should have much of a problem, the produce in Germany is very good if you don't go in the winter. I'm not a vegan but there are times when all I want is a salad and there's never been a problem.

(btw, of course I know that you would want more than a salad for a vacation )

anasmum, if you plan on going to a restaurant on the happy cow website be sure and check first to make sure it is still there. We have checked on a few vegetarian ones in the past that no longer existed.

Any restaurant can serve you potatoes and greens, and white asparagus in season. Spargel time is spring as I recall. What about fish?

spaarne-when reading replies I sometimes check the profile for the person and I did that with you. I was happy to see your website at the bottom and I have been reading some very helpful information. I will post a new topic and list it. I am sure others will find it helpful and interesting. For those reading here it is www.enjoy-europe.com
Thanks spaarne for sharing your wealth of information.

<i>violetduck on Jul 5, 14 at 11:23am
Thanks spaarne for sharing your wealth of information.</i>

Thank you for the attaboy.

Daughter is a vegan and has no problem finding food to eat in Germany. Being vegan is extremely popular and trendy. Sometimes she has better luck with ethnic restaurants though. Lots of bakeries are joining in, making vegan baked goods. If you are on Facebook, look up pages like Vegan Berlin, Vegan Frankfurt, etc.

Vegetarians (not to mention vegans) don't eat seafood, either, some people don't seem to understand that. A card saying you don't eat meal or milk isn't correct. Vegetarian means you don't eat animal flesh (animal in the broad sense). Vegans don't eat any animal product.