There’s more to discover in Europe than you might think. From historic cities to lush green landscapes, Europe is home to so many beautiful places. Take a slow travel trip to Barcelona, get lost in a maze of streets in Granda, explore magnificent lakes in Macedonia, immerse yourself in Bulgarian history, and go by train across Poland.
I’d like to say that week #3 of our vegan travel challenge was as veggieful and exciting as weeks #1 and #2 of Veganuary, but it wouldn’t be true. Week #3 has been rammed with challenges, from trying to be more confident about saying we’re vegan to crazy cheese cravings. Actually, I was craving cheese like it was the end of the world.
We’re halfway through our 31-day vegan travel challenge this Veganuary, and still going! Last weekend we flew out to Bulgaria, not a country known for it’s vegan cuisine, but so far we’ve been pleasantly surprised about how well being vegan in Bulgaria has gone.
Our second week of travelling vegan has been… more challenging. After an easy transition into veganism in Luke’s home town of Brighton during week 1, finally getting on the road and travelling in Bulgaria has meant that being vegan hasn’t been such smooth sailing.
We’re one week into our 31-day vegan travel challenge as part of Veganuary. We’ve had ups and downs, we’ve experimented with new foods, we’ve stocked up on 2kg of nuts and we’ve raided Brighton‘s most delicious vegan food joints. Next we’re going to be travelling vegan in Bulgaria.
Arabic architecture, Middle Eastern food, cave houses, snow-capped mountains, free tapas with every glass of wine… The more we heard, the more irresistible the idea of visiting Granada became. So we abandoned our winter sun chasing in Seville and booked ourselves a cheap ticket on board the next bus to the mountainous town of Granada.
Oh my sweet Alhambra. You absolutely cannot miss the Alhambra if you’re visiting Granada. This enchanting Islamic palace, named “the Red Castle” because of the reddish hue of the walls, is set high up on a hillside above the city.
Amidst the backdrop of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountain range, the Alhambra looks like something straight out of a storybook.
Seville is one of those beautiful historic cities that you can’t not love, but if you’re a vegetarian in Seville then prepare to be assaulted by huge pig legs hanging from the ceiling of just about every restaurant. Sevillians adore their jamón and they won’t let you forget it.
Being vegetarian in Seville, you can easily end up relying on the big bread basket and small ramekin of olives that comes with every meal. While bread and olives are pretty delicious, after the fourth or fifth time of them appearing on the table, you’ll be craving some variety and veggies.
Seville isn’t the most vegetarian friendly of places, but it’s not completely in the dark ages when it comes to meat-free cuisine either. Being a vegetarian in Seville takes a bit more effort and forward planning. Here’s our guide on how to survive as a vegetarian in Seville without just eating bread.
Unable to bear the cold weather crawling into the UK this November (we’re such wimps!) and with our insatiable love for slow travel trips, Luke and I were adamant that we had to get some winter sun on our faces. Well, you can hardly blame us, right?
With temperatures at around 21’c, beautiful buildings wherever you look, and that laid back Spanish culture that lends itself so well to slow travel, we decided that Seville would be the perfect slow travel destination for the winter.
Now that we’re approaching the end of 2015, lists of the top countries to visit in 2016 are cropping up all over the place. The most prominent among these has been Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016, featuring countries hand-selected by Lonely Planet’s “travel experts.”
But just how were these countries selected as the best places to go in 2016? I wrote to Lonely Planet to find out.
The vegetarian restaurants in Barcelona are some of the best we’ve eaten in. As a country that loves jamón and paella, Spain isn’t known for its vegetarian restaurants. But Barcelona is an exception to the rule. You won’t even believe your eyes (or your belly!)
With my family’s new home base being in Dorset, I set out on a hunt for delicious vegetarian and vegan cafes in and around Bournemouth. The area isn’t exactly known as a vegetarian and vegan scene compared to more alternative UK cities like Brighton and Liverpool. But there are some real veggie-friendly gems to be found.
I never got round to sharing my birthday weekend from back in August. Now that autumn has well and truly overtaken in England, I’m really missing the long summer days that we had. That’s not to say that autumn here isn’t incredibly beautiful, but everyone likes the sunshine right?
There was no exotic destination for my birthday this year – but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any travel for me at all! Instead of just spending the weekend at home, Luke and I dug out my family’s tipi which hadn’t been used for years and headed just half hour away from the house to the Dorset coastline.
From cycling around the city gazing at beautiful architecture and lazy afternoons on the beach to cooking meals with fresh produce from La Boqueria and drinking Catalonian wine in any of the city’s outdoor squares, Barcelona is an ideal slow travel destination.
Seeking out local experiences and taking your time to travel slowly in Barcelona lets you get a feel for the city, learn about the local culture, and travel responsibly.
We’re Charlie and Luke — UK travel bloggers, adventurers and storytellers. We travel slow and write about sustainable travel. We want to make responsible travel choices and help you do the same. Get to know us.
