How Rankings
Are Decided
Every criterion, every weighting, every change. Documented openly.
Why this site exists, and how it works
I have been vegan for over ten years and a traveller for much longer. This site came from a frustration I could not find a good answer to: not which destinations have the best vegan restaurants, but which destinations are genuinely easy or hard to navigate as a vegan when you are actually there. Most existing resources answer the first question while calling it the second.
The rankings here are my attempt to answer the harder question systematically. I am not a data scientist and I make no claim to perfection. If you think I have weighted something wrongly, missed a factor, or ranked a destination in a way that contradicts your experience, I want to know. The contact page is there for exactly that reason.
Destinations are ranked within each level using seven criteria. The two that carry the most weight are whether veganism is genuinely understood by the people serving you food across the destination as a whole, and how deeply animal products are embedded in the food culture below what communication or preparation can reach. The remaining five inform and refine the ranking. All seven are explained below.
Rankings are reviewed and updated as each destination is assessed against the full criteria. Positions will move as that work develops. Where a ranking changes, the reason will be noted.
HappyCow data and tourist arrival figures are processed numerically and the methodology has been stress-tested analytically, including with the help of AI tools. Every ranking reflects my own judgement and experience as a vegan traveller. The numbers inform the decisions. They do not make them.
What we look at, and why
The first two criteria carry the most weight. They describe conditions that no amount of preparation can fully overcome. The remaining five provide important context and refine the position within each level.
Is veganism understood?
The most direct question for any meal, any day of the trip. Whether the person taking your order understands what vegan means determines whether you eat safely. We assess this across the destination as a whole, not just in major cities or tourist zones. "No meat" getting you fish, or "no dairy" drawing a blank look, scores this down regardless of what is available in the capital.
How deeply are animal products embedded?
This is the wall, not the friction. Fish sauce in the broth, dashi in the stock, butter as the default cooking fat, dairy in the bread. These are structural features of a food culture that no level of preparation or communication can reach. Speaking perfect Thai does not remove the fish sauce from pad see ew. This criterion scores how deeply animal products are embedded below the level of negotiation.
Can you eat vegan by accident?
Some food cultures make vegan eating easy without anyone trying. Parts of South Asia, the Middle East, and West Africa have deep traditions of legume and vegetable-based dishes that happen to contain no animal products. If a destination has a strong base of accidentally vegan staples that are reliably identifiable as safe, that significantly reduces daily friction. The key word is identifiable: dishes that look plant-based but contain hidden animal products do not count here.
Supermarket and self-catering infrastructure
For most vegan travellers, the local supermarket is the safety net. When eating out gets complicated, being able to buy recognisable plant-based food from a shop is what keeps the trip manageable. We look at how reliably mainstream supermarkets stock vegan basics: plant milks, tofu, legumes, clearly labelled snacks and ready meals. Strong supermarket access can offset a difficult restaurant culture.
Allergen labelling law
Labelling law determines whether you can trust what is written on a packet. Strong mandatory allergen labelling, such as EU regulations, means a vegan can read an ingredients list and make an informed decision. Weak or voluntary labelling means the packet cannot be trusted even when it appears suitable. This is a legal framework question more than a cultural one, and it directly affects how safely someone can self-cater.
HappyCow listing density
The total number of vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants listed on HappyCow provides a concrete, independently verifiable count of dedicated infrastructure per destination. It is checkable by anyone and consistent across all 250+ destinations.
Listing counts are normalised against annual tourist arrivals rather than total population. Population figures measure who lives in a country. Tourist arrivals measure who uses these restaurants. A destination with 80 listings and 400,000 annual visitors is a meaningfully different experience to one with 80 listings and 8 million visitors. The normalised density figure is then placed into one of four tiers rather than used as a raw score, so a small island with exceptional density and a major city with large absolute volume can both be assessed fairly.
Language and communication barrier
Communicating vegan needs clearly is a distinct challenge from understanding whether food is vegan. A destination with a high language barrier requires active preparation: phrasebook work, printed cards, translation apps. Unlike cultural embeddedness, this is a solvable problem with the right tools. We score the difficulty of communicating vegan requirements without preparation, and destinations where this is genuinely hard are marked accordingly. Our vegan phrasebook exists precisely for this.
Community feedback and updates
How community feedback works
Traveller submissions are reviewed twice a year. Consistent recent experience from multiple people can change a ranking. One strong opinion on its own will not. The bar is deliberate: rankings should reflect reliable patterns, not individual trips, however recent or well-intentioned.
Report an error or share experienceRevision log
Every change to a ranking is written up with the reason and the evidence behind it. If something moves, you will be able to see exactly why. A permanent record, not a quiet edit.
Every change, documented
Site launched. The first version leaned on public signals and real-world vegan friendliness rather than deep on-the-ground scoring.
Why it existsGlobal map launched and tested with real vegans. The feedback was blunt and useful, so we rewired the scoring and tightened the wording across the site.
Map detailsMethodology expanded to seven criteria. Two new criteria added: language and communication barrier, and cultural embeddedness of animal products. HappyCow density normalisation updated from population to tourist arrivals. Rankings are being reviewed level by level against the full framework and positions will be updated as this work is completed.
Disagree with a ranking?What each level actually means
Vegan is understood in restaurants and shops. Labelling is clear, dedicated options are plentiful. You can eat well without preparation or negotiation.
Explore Level 1Good infrastructure with some planning needed. Vegetarian is well understood but vegan often needs clarifying. Supermarkets are reliable. You will not go hungry.
Explore Level 2Cities work well, rural areas much less so. Menus need careful reading and some local phrase knowledge helps significantly. Self-catering is a reliable fallback.
Explore Level 3Dedicated options are limited and hidden ingredients are common. Research before almost every meal out. Self-catering is often the more reliable path.
Explore Level 4Animal products deeply embedded in the food culture. Dedicated options are scarce, communication barriers make eating out a real challenge. Self-catering from local markets is often the only viable route.
Explore Level 5Remote locations, fragile supply chains, or very limited retail infrastructure. Veganism may be essentially unknown. Packing supplies before arrival is not optional. It is the plan.
Explore Level 6Meat and dairy central to almost every aspect of the food system. Full self-sufficiency required. These destinations can be reached but eating vegan will be the defining challenge of the trip.
Explore Level 7A safety and access ranking, not a food ranking. These destinations are here because travel itself is currently unsafe or severely restricted. A destination can have an outstanding vegan food scene and still be Level 8. The food is not the issue.
See the full research