Vegetarian Visitor by Annemarie Weitzel

Review:

Vegetarian Visitor is an annual guide listing ‘private houses, guest houses, hotels, cafés, restaurants and pubs that take catering for vegetarians and vegans seriously’. The 2009 edition follows the well-established format of its predecessors, with most establishments given a brief entry (often no more than two lines), sometimes accompanied by a further brief description or advertisement. After a short introduction explaining how to make best use of the book and a section listing activity holidays, the guide is arranged geographically by region, starting with London and Middlesex, and ending with Wales and Scotland. A further information section lists national and local vegetarian groups.

Vegetarian Visitor is largely aimed at visitors from overseas. Indeed, many copies are distributed free of charge through Visit Britain offices abroad. Not surprisingly, therefore, considerably more space is devoted to popular tourist destinations such as the West Country than to less glamorous regions like the Thames and Chilterns. The latter are covered in just two pages, with only eating places listed. There are also some obvious omissions here and elsewhere. However, Vegetarian Visitor does not claim to be exhaustive - indeed for a mere £2.50 you can hardly expect it to be! Readers seeking a more detailed (albeit more expensive) guide to veggie-friendly establishments in Britain should get a copy of Vegetarian Guides’ Vegetarian Britain. However, if you’re simply looking for a brief, pocket-sized introduction to vegetarian-friendly holiday accommodation, then Vegetarian Visitor represents good value for money.

Review of the 2009 edition by Paul Appleby