by Maria Giurcan

Created on: October 23, 2010   Last Updated: October 25, 2010

Are you a vegetarian or vegan? Did you know that there are travel agencies and tour groups that cater to your dining needs and provide ethical holiday excursions? Fear no more! These groups organize sightseeing trips to a variety of worldwide destinations, similar to any travel agency would. However, the difference is that they provide their tourists with vegetarian and vegan meal options throughout the trip.

Many of these veggie tours ensure that their travelers stay at vegetarian or vegan accommodations.  These veggie-friendly bed and breakfast inns provide vegan breakfasts and meals each and every day. For those times when the tour group is out on the road sightseeing, the tour group will most certainly make a stop at vegan-friendly restaurants at mealtime. Non-veggie tour groups typically end up dining at restaurants which offer no vegan options on their menu. Some vegan tours even make arrangements for their guests to dine at the home of a local resident who will prepare traditional, local cuisine. What an amazing experience that is! This would be a wonderful opportunity to sample the region's cuisine. Imagine dining on vegan basmati rice and curry at a palace in India!

Another wonderful benefit of traveling with a vegetarian or vegan tour group is that they offer many activities which are geared towards the veggie-friendly tourist. For example, they may include vegan cooking classes where one can learn how to prepare the local cuisine. They may participate in a myriad of diverse, eco-friendly, healthy activities such as hiking, nature walks, yoga, meditation, or local music performances. Some holidays even offer the possibility of volunteering at an animal sanctuary in the destination country.

A vegan vacation is a fantastic opportunity to give back and help the animal population, experience eco-friendly, healthy living, and to experience, international, vegan cuisine. Some of the vegetarian and vegan-friendly travel agencies include Green Earth Travel in Maryland(It started over twenty years ago), Veggie Tours, and Veg Voyages. Carolyn of the popular healthy living website "The Healthy Voyager" is also starting a vegetarian and vegan tour program this year. These tours visit places such as India, Nepal, Peru, and the Carribean. Travelers can even find a vegan cruise. These tours are typically small in numbers so vegans may share community and friendship with other like-minded travelers.

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