My concern is not about being vegan or vegetarian in Europe (which I do believe is a small bit of a challenge).

Rather when you say "budget europe tour". Are your meals included in the package? Will you be eating at the places the tour group chooses for you and take you to? Are they fixed menus?

It does sound like they may be vegans (>><i>My mom and sis are vegetarians and do not eat any kind of flesh, fish or eggs or anything made from these things, or any dish added with these things</i><<) - and that would be a problem.

If they are actually vegetarian instead, they could have had it easier.

BUT neither matters much if you are on a cheap European tour covering that much territory that fast.

Either your meals are included (and WON'T be vegan) - OR - you are likely staying in outlying hotels and will only have short times to feed yourselves before having to get back on the bus.

You won't have the luxury of free time to wander in other neighborhoods to find some favorite vegetarian cafe.

This will be a next to impossible situation.

Some of my family are vegitarian at various levels of depth. Most of the countries look ok and what with falafel, houmous, pasta (non egg) you are pretty safe. Be extra careful in spain as pig fat can be used in pastries. Take care and get the correct word for what type of food you want for each country, Europeans are generally very used to the concept and will try to help but they need to know specificlly what you want

With that itinerary they will not have time to eat, let alone seek out vegetarian or vegan restaurants.

PLEASE read what janisj said!

What some posters seem to be missing here is that they are on a budget whirl-wind speed tour. Likely the food is provided in cafeteria type settings or plated meals ('would you like the chicken or the fish?').

Yes a vegan/vegetarian can do OK in European cities... on their own... with time to research, go to other neighborhoods, wander around, hit the markets and grocery stores, etc. etc. But that does NOT fit with being on an organized tour seeing 9 cities in 16 days with a large group on a tour bus. THAT part's going to be the problem!

I would personally be very worried and I assume your mother and sister didn't look into this issue before booking the tour, angel. In Venice hopefully whereever you eat they can order risotto, that should work for them along with some grilled vegetables. If you pass a food market if time is available they could buy some fresh fruit. Do they eat cheese?

I also meant to say when in Italy they could order pizza with just vegetables on it, I love the fungi pizza (mushrooms) but I have never been on a tour so I have of course always been free to eat where and when I want to. Do they drink wine? That might help tied them over, lol. That and good Italian espresso. And how about gelato? You didn't say that they won't eat dairy products.

Assuming the situation that janisj outlines, I think you might want to stock up on food stuff from the super market - chocolate, fruit, that sort of thing - and eat it while moving between cities = /

Eating from supermarket can be done if you travel independently. If you're on a tour with limited meal hours (esp at lunch) you may not be near a supermarket. I would really rethink a tour unless it is set up for vegetarians/vegans.

St Cirq and Ira beat me to it. You will not have time to eat or see the places in which are landing. I sincerely suggest you look at a map and some train or airline schedule and see how much time you will be traveling.

The best foods to eat in Spain are tapas for a veggie/vegan wahtever. There are all sorts of mushroom and pepper dishes.

Unless a restaurant specifically says veggie/vegan, to most Spaniards a veggie meal is one with a little less pork.

For security, how about a packing a couple of jars of peanut butter with crackers and carrot sticks in the luggage? We have some Indian friends who are vegan and their "grand tour" of Europe was most accommodating of their dietary requirements ... special vegan meals awaited them wherever the group stopped. (It was a high-end tour though.)

Just a thought as one who has some severe allergies. If I eat any dairy product or any corn product I would be horribly ill and would especially if I ate any corn product as I would end up in a hospital. I have never taken a tour so when travelling I am cautious and careful but I haven't had a problem. My point is that someone who does not want to eat certain foods such as the OP relatives won't end up ill and possibly in the hospital if they happen to eat something that goes against shall we say their moral values. So in my opinion, and I sure do respect their thoughts as to what they do not want to eat, again if they do have something that is against their beliefs they will will not be physically ill and in most cases probably will not be aware of the "forbidden" ingredient I would think. And again, unless it is an allergy problem they will not become ill. But hopefully all with work out although I can't imagine with such a desired restricted diet and such a fast paced tour how the trip would be enjoyable. But my good wishes that somehow it will be enjoyable.

Thank you all of you that every advices are useful, and sorry I did not mention that we eat dairy products but just avoid smelly dishes with lot of cheese. We can manage with Veg pizza or Pasta. I think Supermarkets only would be the right choice. We are not on organised tour and mostly flying with easyjet flights between the cities. I would appreciate if you can give me a term for "All veg, no meat, fish, or flesh" which I can use at restaurants in Italy, Spain, France and Netherlands. (I know basic German language).We wish to have at least one good lunch or dinner in two day. Rest of the time we may do with carry-on food.

This site enables you to get translation cards in varoious languages to explain allergies and food requirements.

http://www.selectwisely.com/

Looks like you have to pay - it's also availablefor i phone and ipod touch.

In the Netherlands you will almost certainly get by with English, or your German.
Just explain you are vegetarians, but can't eat eggs.

The restaurants listed on happycow will be fine in any case, and some are cheap too.

In supermarkets in the ingredients list you need to look for ei, eiwit, kip, varken, rund. Vegetarian products tend to be marked - often with a green tick sign. Not all cheese is vegetarian by the way - a lot of it isn't.

Quote <b>LoveItaly</b> <i>"Do they drink wine? That might help tied them over, lol."</i>

Vegetarians need to be careful of wine - much is produced using fish finings to remove organic particles. You're best bet for wine is to find a wholefood/organic/vegetarian café/shop/co-op who'll likely stock a range of vegetarian and vegan friendly wines.

Nb. You can generally spot these shops at a distance; they're generally painted garish colours and a high proportion of people milling around infront will sport dreadlocks and copious amounts of facial hair and piercings.

Many of my vegetarian friends who travel to Europe have adopted a don't ask, don't tell policy. They won't order food with recognizable meat products, but don't interrogate about whether is chicken stock, fish oil, or other animal products in the food.

And when food like potatoes or asparagus happen to come served with flecks of ham (not uncommon in Germany), they just brush it aside. Perhaps this practice preserves some level of sanity for them.

Here is a website with how to say I am a vegetarian in different languages. http://www.ivu.org/phrases/westeuro.html

"<i>We are not on organised tour and mostly flying with easyjet flights between the cities. </i>"

Sorry -- but I can't get my head around this. On an organized tour this plan would be nutty but doable (since the tour would manage everything from luggage to transfers to checking in, whatever)

Doing it on your own --IF you accurately laid out your itinerary -- this is impossible. Not the food issue -- the actual trip.

9 cities in less than 2 weeks!?!

A very nice restaurant I can recommend (even though I'm not a strict vegetarian)in Rome is Le Cornacchie which is in the Piazza Rondanini, very close to the Pantheon.

According to www.traveleurope.it - it is a vegetarian restaurant, as are these two restaurants in the city centre...
L'Isola (tel 06 679 25 09, 4th floor, Via delle Vite 14)
Margutta Vegetariano (tel 06 678 60 33, Via Margutta 118)

However, given your time schedule you are going to be spending a lot of time sitting in airports and on planes. Dear old easyjet, who I actually enjoy flying with (several times a year), does not supply any food, let alone vegetarian food, for free on its flights. You will need to plan ahead to ensure you and your family have snacks to keep you going on your flights and airport waits.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your 'budget Europe tour' but feel you will be rushing around like headless chickens (!) to see anything much of European other than the airport lounges.

Please post a trip report when you get back, as I'd really like to hear how you get on, and anyway your restaurant advice may well be of help to others in the future.

Good luck!