Portugal vs Italy Switzerland - Which one?/Vegetarian

[ajw28]

My mom and I are deciding between the Portugal and the Italy/Switzerland trip for this summer. It will be our second ABD.

1. If anyone has gone on both or one of the trips, which would you recommend to choose? I know they are quite different to compare.

2. We are vegetarian (no fish) and many of the meals in the reports seem to heavily meat in the Italy/Switzerland trip. Has anyone gone with someone who is vegetarian?


Thanks for the help!

 

[OKW Lover]

We have only done the Italy/Switzerland trip so I can't compare. However I will say that we really enjoyed that trip! Most spectacular was the stop in Zermatt and seeing the Matterhorn.

 

[aggiedog]

I think vegetarian would do better in Italy at least given all the pasta options. Portugal does a lot of fish, FWIW.

I’m sure they will accommodate you either way, but I’ve seen plenty of fellow travelers given “vegetarian” meals that are a plate of rice, potatoes, and steamed veggies. Not meat, but not a balanced meal either. That’s been almost everywhere I’ve traveled though.

 

[ajw28]

Thanks for your replies.

@aggiedog - Was that your experience on an ABD or in general? When we went to Australia, we were given proper meals for the most part as far as I remember.

 

[GAN]

My mom and I are deciding between the Portugal and the Italy/Switzerland trip for this summer. It will be our second ABD.

1. If anyone has gone on both or one of the trips, which would you recommend to choose? I know they are quite different to compare.

2. We are vegetarian (no fish) and many of the meals in the reports seem to heavily meat in the Italy/Switzerland trip. Has anyone gone with someone who is vegetarian?


Thanks for the help!

I’ve not done ABD but at some point I’ll give it a try so I’m probably not the best source. I’m thinking given ABD’s influence they could pre-arrange any dietary requirement. That being said, I’ve been to Europe a number of times and have family in Italy/Switzerland and one thing for sure a lot of places aren’t super accommodating. Beyond that, a lot of menus are based on foods that are in season so somewhat already limited.

 

[aggiedog]

Thinking about it, friends that used to live in Italy have said that northern Italy is culturally more like Switzerland, so food wise it will probably be very similar.

 

[aggiedog]

I haven’t done an ABD, but I think that what you get as vegetarian is going to be up to the restaurant. I’m not vegetarian but definitely veggie-centric and definitely notice what people get. Our Danube cruise we traveled with a vegetarian friend and she was not happy with several of the restaurant meals we had. That part of Europe is very meat and potatoes/noodles/spaetzle.

 

[hilarys]

I am vegetarian (not vegan) and have done five ABDs (Central Europe, Backstage Magic, London/Paris, Alaska, and Italy (this year)). ABD has always taken care of me and it was never a plate of vegetables. The quality/variety varied between trips and meal stops. Risotto seems to a popular vegetarian option on several of the trips My family loves food and we love high end restaurants and street food. I have never gone hungry on an ABD trip, however I find that you don't do the ABD trip for the food - we search out food and higher end restaurants in the OYO time.

 

[wabbott]

We visited Switzerland and Northern Italy/Venice this past summer. Stunning natural beauty that gave us memories to last a lifetime.

 

[ajw28]

Thank you everyone for your advice. It sounds like maybe we will do the Italy/Switzerland. It's also most likely cooler weather there as well in the summer. I know not as many people have gone on the Portugal trip as it is newer.

 

[wabbott]

Don't miss the Valais Blackneck goat parade through Zermatt.
https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Attractions/Geissengaedi-at-Zen-Stecken

 

[ajw28]

@wabbott Thank you! That looks really interesting and something different to see.

 

[ajw28]

Thank you everything for your suggestions. We have decided to go with Italy and Switzerland

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Dd is a vegetarian and we did Rhine River, Peru and Japan with ABD and didn’t have any issues. We were worried about Japan since a lot of the sauces have fish paste in them, but the guides were amazing about providing her with vegetarian meals that were balanced and that she really enjoyed. I think you’d be fine with either option with ABD tbh — they really take special care with dietary requirements.

 

[aggiedog]

We just returned from a DIY Japan trip and I was really impressed with how universal they were with food allergy awareness for my DD. Much more so than most places we've been in the US. We were almost always asked what allergens anyone might have, and many places had menus with allergen checklists.

Vegetarian isn't an allergy, but I think they'd "get it" pretty easily.

 

[AquaDame]

We just returned from a DIY Japan trip and I was really impressed with how universal they were with food allergy awareness for my DD. Much more so than most places we've been in the US. We were almost always asked what allergens anyone might have, and many places had menus with allergen checklists.

Vegetarian isn't an allergy, but I think they'd "get it" pretty easily.

You could also look/ask for for shojin ryori (temple food), as monks do not eat meat or animal products of any kind, and its easier to quickly understand. I've heard that many think fish is totally fine, even when you say you're a vegetarian, and dashi is ubiquitous - often hidden or just plain forgotten about in foods, even things you would assume are vegetarian friendly like tofu dishes and rolled egg omlettes.

 

[chuff88]

I think vegetarian would do better in Italy at least given all the pasta options. Portugal does a lot of fish, FWIW.

I’m sure they will accommodate you either way, but I’ve seen plenty of fellow travelers given “vegetarian” meals that are a plate of rice, potatoes, and steamed veggies. Not meat, but not a balanced meal either. That’s been almost everywhere I’ve traveled though.

Portugal does do a lot of fish, but my best friend and his partner are both vegan and they honeymooned in Portgual and he told me they had no trouble eating vegan while they were there, so vegetarian should be doable.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I know this too late for OP, but in case someone in the future has the same question - in Italy you need to be careful with the cheeses. A number of the hard cheeses can be made from animal rennet, and people will call them vegetarian (not knowing any better) even if they are not. Parmesan is one that will trip up a lot of people and it’s everywhere.