Summer is just around the corner. If you haven’t already, like so many others by now, made your summer holiday travel plans it’s high time to do so now. I’ve gathered my well tested advice for smooth vegan traveling for you to enjoy. I share how I do to get the most out of my travel experience, cut back on costs if I can, avoid stress and find vegan food on foreign ground in this 4 part article series.
Pick a place and the best time of year to go there – and the right time for traveling
I do my best to pick the off season period. Usually in Europe that means July/August, but it’s seasonal to different regions of Europe of course. Not only do I enjoy a lower fare for flights, less crowded places and sometimes lower prices for food etc, depending on the destination.
I also consciously pick days when less people travel, and sometimes down to time of day. This is something I’ve learned the hard way during my time when I lived in London. Avoid rush hour at the airport (or the tube!) and you have a much more pleasant experience getting from A to B.
You can also choose your time of visiting a country by looking up your city of fancy on http://www.weather.com. They have handy graphs and breakdowns showing you what temperature and weather to expect during which time of the year. As I’m half Swede, I take my weather information very seriously ;)
Finding the best place to stay to optimize your experience
I always try to stay with friends or family if possible, not only do I get as much quality time with my loved ones as possible, I get to experience the country for real. Shop for groceries, find a pharmacy, pretend I live in the area at the local cafe, etc.
If you don’t have the luxury of friends or family to the destination you want to travel to, try to rent a flat or house. Nothing beats experiencing the local life and its much cheaper than staying in a hotel. Use sites as airbnb to find a nice dig. Also, some hotel search engines lists local apartment hotels.
If you do prefer to stay in a hotel to ensure your creature comforts are met, a good way to find and choose a hotel is to figure out what areas of the city you want to hang out in the most. Use a map with landmarks, to choose the best spot for yourself. A good location of your hotel will mean less commuting in a big city and you get a comfortable experience there.
If you want to stay further out, view the surroundings in google street view to get a feel for the area before booking the hotel. If you want to be on the safe side, use a hotel search engine and check out any reviews by others prior to booking. useful for both a hotel and area.
Originally published by The Happy Cow Veggie blog.