One of the problems facing travelling vegans is choosing a suitable destination. The food aspect for vegans will almost always dictate the decision on where to travel. Travelability is crucially important for vegans. When travelling to, or within, Australia, the capital cities are the key focus, and the best capital cities in Australia to travel vegan are Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. These are the best three Australian capital cities where you can feel confident in finding vegan food, culture and experiences.
Adelaide in South Australia
Adelaide falls in South Australia, voted as one of the planet’s Top 10 regions by Lonely Planet this year. Adelaide is also well-known throughout Australia’s vegan community as one of the best capital cities in the country to reside or travel to. No wonder Adelaide is sometimes referred to as ‘RADelaide’!
Just by staying within the city’s fringes will lend you to Adelaide’s ever-growing list of restaurants and cafes. Some of the best places to travel vegan in Adelaide for delicious meals and sweets and treats are Nagev, Pollen 185, Vego n Loven It, Zenhouse Vegetarian Teahouse, and Two Bit Villains Soda Bar. If you need location for groceries, then Everything Vegan has you covered.
When travelling to Adelaide during November, there’s a strong chance the city’s Vegan Festival is happening. Keep informed on the date, then book your Adelaide visit to coincide with the festival. Just make sure there are enough days on each side of the festival to explore the eateries that are booming during Vegan Festival time. Also consider hiring a car to get around easily and explore the city’s fringes, too. You may want to explore some of Adelaide’s sanctuaries such as Freedom Hill Sanctuary in the Adelaide Hills.
Melbourne in Victoria
Melbourne, my beloved hometown, was voted as the most liveable city in the world in 2016 for the sixth year. Recently, I argued that Melbourne is the most liveable city in Australia for vegans and here’s why. Melbourne has a restaurant and café culture that underbellies the city’s vegan multi-cultural food experiences. There are food truck parks hosting vegetarian and vegan weekend, and streets dedicated to food culture. Just a wander down Brunswick Street or Victoria Street, for example, and you’ll uncover vegan restaurants or restaurants with vegan options scattered throughout. Inner city hubs are the best when uncovering vegan food spots, from Smith & Daughters and The Fox Hotel in Collingwood, to Fina’s on Brunswick Street, and Loving Hut on Victoria. The Cruelty Free Shop is a hub in its own right, selling over 2,500 vegan products and groceries (now in Sydney, too). The Cruelty Free Shop hosts their annual Vegan Day Out; a vegan self-guided walking tour of Brunswick Street. For specialty items, shoes, bags and belts can be found at Vegan Wares.
The city also hosted its first Big Vegan Market this year, bringing in the queues of people vying for vegan products available on the day, not to mention a sub-hall filled with food stalls. You can also plan your visit around World Vegan Day so you can celebrate the day at Melbourne’s World Vegan Day festival-style day out. Want to experience a tour of one of Melbourne’s most well-known sanctuaries? Take a roadtrip to Edgar’s Mission Lancefield. Need to stay and experience an all-vegan bed and breakfast? Another excuse to hit the road and travel regional to a vegan B&B. Head to Bed & Broccoli in Elphingstone, The Beet Retreat in Warrandyte or Forest Haven B&B in Beaufort.
Sydney in New South Wales
When travellers think of Australia, they think of Sydney and the icons associated with it – the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. There’s no excuse for travellers not to think about Sydney as a top Australian destination in a vegan light. It’s easy to travel to Sydney, almost always the gateway into the country for those flying in from faraway. It’s easy to ‘pitch your tent’ – booking an apartment – in inner city Sydney and walk to many eateries for more brilliant vegan food. Bliss & Chips for vegan fish and chips, Golden Lotus for all vegan homestyle Vietnamese food, Gelato Blue (an all vegan gelato bar) and raw kitchen Sadhana Kitchen are a handful of spots to try for Sydney vegan cuisine.
One stop that can’t be overlooked is all-vegan traditional pizzeria Gigi (you have to try the cannoli!) Sydney exudes a food culture that’s stemmed from its worldly influences, much like Melbourne sans the bitterly cold weather. If you do need to head out of town from the hustle and bustle, sanctuaries to travel to include Where Pigs Fly and Peanuts Funny Farm that welcome their travelling vegan friends.
Now, here’s a little giveaway for you thanks to GPSmyCity especially if you’re planning your own vegan tour of Sydney!
You can upgrade the GPSmyCity app with ‘Mapping Out a Vegan Foodie Tour of Inner City Sydney’ for free. This giveaway is valid now until Friday, June 23.
This offer is currently only available through iTunes.
