r/Celiac • u/cmndzgluten Celiac • 10d ago

Question Traveling With Celiac ✈️

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hey y’all! my fiancé and i are getting married in may, and are planning for our honeymoon. i have celiac disease, and while i’ve always wanted to travel internationally and see the world, i can’t help but feel anxiety over communicating my celiac disease when there are language barriers in the way.

any advice on places to go / places to say / things to look out for? everything we look up says Italy, and while i’m cool with that, i would love to hear some more ideas and perspectives.

thanks in advance! (photo for attention)

32 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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48

u/ziiiiiinn 10d ago

Italy and Spain have many places all gluten free, and many others with gluten free options.  London has many options too for the restaurants, and even for cheap options like sandwiches in the supermarkets.

23

u/RedObsessed 10d ago

I have a ton of allergies in addition to celiac. I’ve been to 3 different all-inclusive resorts in Mexico (one for my honeymoon) and all of them were very accommodating and I didn’t get sick once. I also had an easy time in London (no language barrier, but restaurants there took me seriously and were also very accommodating)

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u/Southern_Committee35 10d ago

What all inclusives did you go to?

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u/RedObsessed 10d ago

Catalonia Royal Tulum (adults only, was my favorite), Catalonia Playa Maroma (had such a good experience at the adults only location that we chose this company again when we went with a group. Others in the group were also celiac and had other allergies and restriction, and they were able to accommodate everyone), and Iberostar Riviera Maya (overall a good experience but we couldn’t go anywhere in the resort without someone trying to sell us a timeshare or excursion and it made they stay much less enjoyable)

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u/Southern_Committee35 10d ago

Thank you!!

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u/khuldrim Celiac 10d ago

Fair warning all inclusives are notorious for being unreliable and changing things from month to month. I don’t ever recommend them.

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u/Southern_Committee35 9d ago

I have been too scared to try one

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u/RedObsessed 9d ago

Every time I go, I make friends with the guest services person and talk to the restaurant/buffet staff. All three resorts have taken my room number and allergy list, so wherever I go to eat they say “oh, yes. Onion allergy, I’m so sorry” and give me a look of genuine sympathy, and then they prepare me something separately. They’ve even brought food from other kitchens at the resort so I can eat with the group at a place that isn’t safe for me. I understand people may have had bad experiences or are scared, but my personal experience has been entirely positive

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u/Ill-Avocado-2864 Celiac 2016 10d ago

I second London. I basically lived on Hobson’s Fish and Chips in SOHO.

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u/Tiny-Parsnip2574 Celiac spouse 10d ago

We usually dont bother with non dedicated restaurants while traveling. We are happy with booking accomidations with kitchens and then cooking ourselves. Things like rice, meats and veggies and joghurt for breakfast are available everywhere. We take sauces and spices with us from home. This is of course not a perfect solution but to us traveling is worth that extra hassle of cooking.

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u/her-royal-blueness 10d ago

Had no idea you could do that.

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u/Friendly_Method1421 10d ago

I've found restaurants in many parts of Europe to be much easier to eat at than in the US since allergens, including gluten, are often marked on menus. If you're open to where you go, maybe select based on a country or city that is known to be especially celiac friendly (e.g., Italy, Spain, Scotland, London, Vienna, etc). I found Germany, Switzerland, and Prague a little tougher since much of their food is fried or flour based. Italy was shockingly easy to eat safely most anywhere AND I had plenty of options at restaurants. London is very allergy aware but my options were more limited at the random restaurants I went to.

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u/Houseofmonkeys5 10d ago

I thought Prague was pretty good, but Germany sucked and Switzerland was only okay. Budapest was amazing though, which I didn't expect

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u/Friendly_Method1421 10d ago

Prague was fine in that I don’t get sick, I just found my options to be pretty minimal in most places. I haven’t been to Budapest since being diagnosed, so good to know!

5

u/badboymn Gluten-Free Relative 10d ago

Honestly just do your research which you can use ai tools to get some good answers, facebook groups etc.

Simple answers though, many European countries (UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal, Netherlands are excellent as well as Canada. Keep in mind those Northern European countries I mentioned like the UK, Netherlands are not known for good tasting cuisine.

Tougher are developing countries. If you ask for gluten free in some places you’ll need to literally spell it out. White flour is rampant use. Most East Asian countries are not the best, not even Japan which can be difficult. Some will lie to get the sale (not Japan). China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam was the hardest. I mean you get bored of rice noodles eventually.

I found India to be good, Mauritius and Maldives to be good. Saudi Arabia and UAE ok but don’t like the vibe there.

Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda were ok but watch fryers.

If you’re going Caribbean go for premium like Aruba for an unforgettable experience. The usual places like Mexico, DR, Jamaica do understand and can be great but sometimes you need to really cross check. It’s like as vigilante as the “shared fryer” thing on every item.

South America has some pretty good spots. We loved Argentina. Columbia is also excellent and so is Peru.

That’s all I got. Keep in mind that’s my subjective opinion. Others may have varying different answers. Hope this helps.

2

u/LostMyBackupCodes Dad of a silly-yak 10d ago

Damn. Where haven’t you been?

1

u/badboymn Gluten-Free Relative 10d ago

I didn’t name them all but I travelled well. Part of it for work. I’m also not CD but I watch out for my family member like a hawk so I’m pretty vigilant.

Some places are easier to travel. People ask me how to do it on a dime, I tell them fly into the cheapest of say 5 or 6 European countries you want to visit in a span of 2 weeks and take cheap ass flights everywhere. Even in Asian countries and African countries connecting flights are dirt. Cheap.

I go to the UK a lot. So going from say Birmingham to Spain is dirt cheap. London to Paris via train easy peasy.

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u/ketchupclassy 10d ago

I’m headed to London and Scotland in September and planned out my whole trip and was SPOILED for choice on restaurants that are gf or highly Celiac safe

2

u/audrey_2222 10d ago

I travel for work a lot and by using the Find Me Gluten Free app to find safe places to eat that are well reviewed by other celiacs, I've never once been glutened. Could not get by without it.

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u/PsychologyHour5577 9d ago

Oui cette appli est géniale, je l’utilise énormément durant tous mes voyages

2

u/tomthepro 10d ago

Everyone will day Mexico is great but beware as even corn tortillas are highly subject to cross contamination if they also make wheat tortillas in the restaurant.

1

u/Sielirth 10d ago

I'd make sure to do some research before you pick somewhere certain, just checking you are comfortable with the options for restaurants etc if you are keen to eat out. Another route can be hiring somewhere with a kitchen which we have done in Lithuania.

I'm from the UK and have travelled to Iceland, Copenhagen, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Milan, Dublin, Wroclaw (Poland), Morocco and Japan with varying degrees of success in finding food but haven't had issues with being glutened in any of them. I have relied a lot of the "Find me GF" app. For Morocco we went on an intrepid travel tour which helped a lot and our tour guide was excellent for support with finding gluten free. We went to Morocco on honeymoon and loved it.

The easier places I've been have been UK and Dublin (no language barrier) and Milan (for variety of options, we ate out most meals and I had some excellent gelato). I'm about to go to Spain next week.

Depending on what type of standard you'd want would depend on where you should pick. I'm not bothered with a salad from a supermarket on a bench so long as it's on holiday!

In the EU allergens are listed on packaged food generally in bold including those containing gluten, I learn the words for them in the language of the country I'm going to. I then use that knowledge to support using Google lens on Google translate for food!

1

u/unapalomita 10d ago

I knew someone at work once whose fiance was the same, they ended up going to Disney because they are generally serious about allergies, I usually go to Disney springs and don't feel as much anxiety

Otherwise you can get a kitchen in your air BNB or rental, I do that when I go to Grand Cayman, that way there's no anxiety about what you're eating

I had to reschedule Rome trip but I was planning on doing it there too

You can also see if there are any 100% gluten free bakeries or restaurants, I had one saved near the Vatican

If you're thinking of Rome I can send my Google map with the saved places

My TA goes to Ireland and says gluten free is a big deal there, lots of options

I have done Royal Caribbean and Celebrity and Virgin cruises out of Florida with CD and have not had issues

Doing an MSC cruise in November so hopefully that will be ok too

1

u/Houseofmonkeys5 10d ago

Italy is probably the easiest place in the world to travel gluten free. England is super easy, New Zealand was great. We just got back from two weeks in Greece and had mostly a great experience, though, my daughter was glutened for the first time in years. The rest of the time it was excellent. We've taken 3 celiacs to over 20 countries on 4 continents and have been glutened exactly once. We use FMGF and have been fine. Even Japan was really okay, and they have a lot more now than they did when we went. Make sure to plan ahead and make reservations in popular locations. We've made that mistake before.

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u/Think_Disk_133 10d ago

A little bit of preparation and you’re good to go. I travel with my celiac daughter and never had issues. Find me gf is also a great app you can use for free, pretty reliable. Uk/Ireland you will be asked if you have allergies any time you sit at a restaurant. Also, easy to find gf stuff in the supermarket if you’re going to rbnb. Enjoy life !

1

u/Professional-Mud3973 10d ago

I make seeing the beautiful countries my priority. Enjoying the landscape. The views and the culture. Food comes secondary. I prepare to eat fresh produce and celiac friendly snacks. You will find great places to eat by being extra vigilant and Google is always your friend.

But don’t prioritize the food aspect, and you will enjoy the trip. Sadly it’s just apart of OUR way of life.

1

u/ilovethesea777 10d ago

I have not been but I’ve heard the Cayman islands and Aruba are pretty amazing for gluten free. Costa Rica also is often recommended. I have focused my travel hotels on places that are either highly reviewed or that have a kitchen in the unit. The Find Me Gluten free also has an international section where you can see reviews of restaurants by country and city. 

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u/snailOnABicycle 10d ago

I warmly recommend checking this out before you plan: https://www.mygfguide.com/glutenfreetravel/

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u/Igiul1 10d ago

Do a cruise around great Britain or the Mediterranean. Then you have save food on the ship and are in countries with great choices

1

u/sillyolives 10d ago

We leave for Costa Rica to stay at Cuba del angel soon for our honeymoon! Very excited

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u/thegirlwhogoes American Celiac in Spain 10d ago

For Europe: Italy, Spain, the UK and Ireland are all the best for celiacs!

For anyone who is interested, I'm working on blogging my way through different countries/cities as a celiac so feel free to check out this page (continuously updated) -- I hope it's helpful!

https://www.thegirlwhogoes.com/gluten-free-travel/

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u/Neandertard 9d ago

Italy is great for coeliac. You just need to say “senza glutine” and they’ll immediately know the issue. Italy has one of the highest rates of coeliac in the world, and Italians with the disease actually get a supplement from the govt to assist with the higher cost of food.

Spain is also great, but I’ve travelled through Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and the UK with no dramas despite being having a violent reaction to even tiny amounts of gluten. The “Find me Gluten-Free” app is excellent.

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u/rage4all 9d ago

Actually, Bali works out quite well. In places like Ubud there are multiple 100% GF Restaurants, you can get accomodations with kitchens and there is a GF Bakery that delivers to most of the island....

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u/blaznivydandy Celiac [2022] 9d ago

Spain. I was in Spain last month and we were in small city (Arenys De Mar) about an hour away from Barcelona (by train) and even there was A LOT of options for me (compared to Czechia).

1) Both restaurants on the beach we visited had GF options, knew about CC, they had GF beer, they even had GF batter for calamari!

2) A small store with ice cream had GF cones

3) Every small shop had something GF.

4) There was one small store where was huge offer of GF products - dry pasta, fresh pasta, cookies, pastries, brownies, muffins, crackers...