My husband and I spent 10 days traveling through the Netherlands and Belgium in June 2025, and I’m just now finally caught up enough at work that I can take a few beats to write out a post for you! If you’re looking for travel tips and how to eat vegan in The Netherlands and Belgium, you’ve come to the right place!
The Netherlands
Amsterdam
Amsterdam was stop 1 for us, and we spent 4 nights here. We could have easily cut a night, but were afraid of losing a day due to exhaustion upon arrival. Neither of us sleep well on a good night, so we knew we’d not sleep on the plane, and would be zombies upon arrival. That most definitely happened.
So I was glad that I had pre-arranged a driver from our hotel and that said driver showed up in a Mercedes Maybach. WHAT??!! We felt like total royalty, so much so that we hired the driver for a full day to take us around Amsterdam and Giethoorn so we could just enjoy the scenery in the fanciest of fancy cars a little more. Giethoorn was nice, but the scenery and luxury of being in that car was FAB.
Hotel: we stayed at the Andaz Amsterdam. It’s in an awesome area and their restaurant had a bunch of vegan options on the menu – all were fantastic! Their breakfast is held in the sunniest, most cheerful dining room ever, and they also had a ton of delicious vegan options to choose from, too. The hotel IMO was just OK – it was way modern and definitely quirky, and not in the most comfortable/convenient way. But the food, and the restaurants, and the hip lobby, were all awesome.
Walking from the hotel all through the Jordaan and into downtown was lovely. There’s tons of shopping in the 9 streets, and tons and tons of great cafes right around the corner from the hotel. So the location can’t be beat.
OK, so you’re here for how to eat vegan in The Netherlands and Belgium, so I’ll quickly mention our favorite vegan meals in Amsterdam. We unfortunately didn’t find many vegan options, so I hope you have better luck on your trip! As stated, the Andaz hotel restaurant was fantastic. We sat at the bar and enjoyed every minute of it so much that we went a second night during our stay.
CT Coffee and Coconuts had great vegan bowls and light vegan lunch options, and it was in a cute part of town with shops and very walkable. We went to Pancakes one morning as they have vegan pancakes and I wanted to see what a Dutch pancake was all about. I could’ve easily passed up this meal, but judging by the line, it’s a popular place.
One of my favorite spots was the De Pindakaaswinkel peanut butter store. Yes, you heard me right: they sell nothing but peanut butter. Lord, help me. There are several throughout Amsterdam, and other cities in The Netherlands as well. We took an Uber out to Ron Gastrobar one night as well. The drive was lovely; the food was so-so. I was really bummed as we were truly looking forward to this visit; it’s a Michelin restaurant after all, with vegan options on the menu. However, I have come to realize after this trip that Michelin is simply not my scene… more to come on that.
Cafe de Jaren was a good place for a light lunch as well, and they offer a few vegan toasts to choose from.
Honestly, the food in Amsterdam did not come close to impressing me. Actually, we didn’t start eating truly great food until we got to Ghent, and that could have been just the types of restaurants we chose. I read a lot of vegan food blogs before making this trip, but really only the hotel and CT Coffee had food that impressed me, aside from of course, the peanut butter store. Drool.
What else? My favorite part of Amsterdam was the Reijksmuseum. We also went to the Van Gogh and Stedelijk museums, which were good, but the Reijk, holy smokes, the building alone is worth the visit. My favorite part was seeing the dollhouse that inspired one of my favorite books (which I also think is a must-read before coming to Amsterdam, along with the Diary of Anne Frank, of course).
We attended a jazz concert at the absolutely incredible BIMHUIS, and happened to be in town for the Red Light Jazz Festival, which we went to on two different nights. The Red Light district was seedy but also fun and the music was good. It was great to be among such a young, vibrant city, supporting live music and just enjoying walking the streets.
The hardest part of Amsterdam, of course, is the Anne Frank House (that is the most informative and best designed website ever, BTW). I’m glad we went, but it was kind of hard to see such devastating rooms packed in with so many fellow tourists. I don’t know how to get around that (we did an evening tour thinking it would be less crowded), but we were packed in, and there were so many children chatting and running around that it just disgusted me for humanity’s sake.
Soooooo… go here for history but just know it might be jam packed. Or, just view their interactive website, as it’s incredible.
Giethoorn
Next up on the list of travel tips and how to eat vegan in The Netherlands and Belgium, is the city that has no cars. Giethoorn is cute and we got lots of pics, but it kinda came across as mainly a small town with ice cream shops and souvenir shops and is not a place we’d go rushing back to. It was between this and Haarlem, Utrecht, or Delft for us, and I would definitely pick Haarlem, Utrecht, or Delft on a future trip.
We took an afternoon-long river cruise that lasted a bit too long IMO, but they served us a ton of fruits and snacks, and it was nice and relaxing for about the first hour. I get a bit antsy and like to be on my own schedule too much for most guided things, so I would definitely pass on this in the future. The town is cute, but it caters to tourists, so much so that it doesn’t feel real.
Leiden
We spent our last night on the trip in Leiden, after our time in Belgium, before heading out of Amsterdam the next morning, and it was a nice, small city to spend in before our early flight out. I have a few Leiden-focused options below from this list of travel tips and how to eat vegan in The Netherlands and Belgium.
We stayed at the Steenhof Suites which was fantastic, and walkable to so many great cafes, shops, and gorgeous scenery. We loved Leiden, even if it felt a little suburban-y. It’s perfect for a night, and really has everything you need in one cute college town.
There are a ton of cafes and a quaint grocery store along the Botermarkt (and along many of Leiden’s streets, actually). Our faves were Roos for lunch (vegan toasts and bowls, and tons of coffees to choose from), and Exclusivitee, the tea shop next door for delicious matchas and vegan treats.
For dinner, we ate at WAAG which had a few vegan options, none were awesome, but sitting on their patio and people watching cannot be beat. We stopped in the grocery store Meltem Lekker en Vers for fresh peanut butters, breads, and the freshest OJ possible for our breakfast the next day.
Belgium
So, my husband had visited and worked in Belgium years before we met, and had nothing but incredible things to say about the country and the people. I thought The Netherlands would be the highlight of this trip, and of my goodness was I wrong. Belgium absolutely STOLE our hearts.
Ghent gave me the exact same feels as Granada, Spain, quite possibly the best European city I’ve ever been in. I would go back to Belgium in a heartbeat for Ghent and to explore what we missed (Antwerp) and see more of Brussels (quite possibly Reddit’s most hated city imaginable). Side note: don’t trust everything you read on Reddit.
Ghent
We spent 4 nights in Ghent and I did not want to leave. We took the train to get here and stopped in Antwerp to switch trains, which was fairly easy (we missed our connection as apparently most do but it’s easy to get on a future train). The Antwerp train station is GORGEOUS.
We stayed at Hotel Harmony which we adored. The room was great, the breakfast was fantastic, and it’s close to the best Indian restaurants in Ghent. Hot damn, so many great restaurants to choose from! It’s a short walk to the incredible St. Michael’s Bridge and Graslei and Korenlai canals (we went here every night – so incredibly romantic), and the Gravensteen castle, St. Bavos Cathedral, and the Patersol neighborhood of Ghent.
For food/drinks: Music Mania Records is diagonal from the hotel, and aside from a killer record selection, it has coffee and a bar, and you must go and hang with all the cool kids here. It’s FAB. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but after all the disappointing food in The Netherlands, when we realized our hotel was a very short walk from an assortment of Indian restaurants, we went there, and then back again, and again, and again. IT WAS SO GOOD. And so refreshing to EAT real food and oh my gosh Indian food is our fave regardless, so…. we were in Heaven.
Himalaya restaurant was fantastic (we went here twice) as was India Palace (we also went here twice). There is so much to choose from over here though, so if you’re looking for Turkish, Italian, Belgian cuisine and more, you’re in the right place.
We also went to Viva La Puglia Italian (it was good, not great), Osteria Delicati Italian (good not great) – also please know Italian is not my fave so I am biased here. Viva La Puglia came with the highest ratings from our awesome driver Abdel so it’s probably just me as I’m just not a fan of Italian food at this point in my life.
Andddd we went to the famed Michelin restaurant Vrijmoed which made me declare that I will never go to another Michelin restaurant again. It’s probably just me here, as again, this is insanely highly rated. Just the most boring crowd and restaurant and food I’ve ever eaten/been around.
Ghent, though, was absolutely fantastic. Please add this to your list of places to visit!!
Bruges
We did a daytrip to Bruges one day and it was a cute town (get here early) but for me, did not have the appeal of Ghent. It felt more touristy, Disneyland-ish, more fake. Ghent felt REAL. Go to Ghent, stay in Ghent. Spend less time in Bruges. Also, we saw Bruges after Ghent which might have changed my mind if it was the other way around.
There’s just no comparison to Ghent, both in crowds, in scenery, and in the overall vibe, that I think if we would have started in Bruges, we would have loved it, and then just been blown away by Ghent. Just my two cents!
Brussels
OK, so we loved Brussels!! We might be the only people posting on the internet that really liked it. I love REAL cities and Brussels is one of them. It’s a vibrant, International city, with so many great streets to walk on and enjoy all the languages, different types of food, different shops, and unique people.
It’s a true city: gritty on the edges, clean in the middle, and has a lot to offer, including the absolutely fabulous Rene Magritte Museum. We also went to the Musical Instrument Museum, which I would skip. If you’re a fan of Magritte, do not skip the Magritte Museum!
Afterwards, we ate at Yummy Bowl, a short walk back towards the Grand Place, which was delicious and had matchas too and not the friendliest of service, but really tasty, healthy food. We spent an afternoon here walking around and sipping on drinks and just enjoying being around such vibrant people. I would definitely spend more time here on a future trip.
Summary
Alright, so there you have it for travel tips and how to eat vegan in The Netherlands and Belgium! Belgium was the stand out winner for me, and The Netherlands was quite lovely as well. This was our TWENTY YEAR wedding anniversary trip (how is that possible???) and we splurged and had a fabulous time. Flying from DFW to Amsterdam was a breeze, and the trip length was the perfect amount of time.
If I had it to do over, I would spend more time in Belgium, and would take time for Delft, Utrecht, and Haarlem as well. Amsterdam was fun but very, very crowded and OMG they are not kidding when they say watch out for bikes. It’s kinda stressful. Maybe if I was in my 20s I would be enamored, but at mid-forties, I’m sticking with Belgium. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed this list of travel tips and how to eat vegan in The Netherlands and Belgium!
With love,
Jen