Hi guys,

Being gluten free in general can be a struggle and when travelling the struggle is real. I have came up with a few tips to help those who struggle travelling being gluten free.

• Bring your own food

I love having cereal in the morning but on holidays this would be a struggle as most Hotels don’t provide Gluten Free Cereals. I have now started bring my own. Putting it into a zip seal food bags (to save room). I roughly have enough to do me the whole trip.

I also bring a pack of spaghetti in the front of my suit case to just incase restaurants/hotels don’t have any. This was very handy in Salzburg we tried a restaurant that didn’t have gluten free opinions but when I asked them to use my gluten free pasta to make a dish they were very happy to and it was delicious. You could see that since you made the effort they did to.

Research

I always research so much about places I am going to but never food places at it til now. Google gluten free with the places you’re going to helps so much. Places will come up. It may take a good while to research a few but it is worth it instead of spending so much time searching around. Save them in your notes. Also write into the Gluten free groups on facebook, you may get someone that has already been and give you tips of where to go that might not be on the internet.

• McDonalds in Europe is Gluten Free

Unfortunately in the UK, Mcdonald’s is not Gluten Free so this is a real treat for us Gluten Free guys. I didn’t know about this at all until someone told me but this was a life saver. Especially when you have been searching for a cafe to grab something quick. I spent an hour trying to find a gluten free cafe in Salzburg and totally forgetting that McDonalds was Gluten Free over there. It is only the burgers and chips but still is brilliant for us who have been craving McDonalds.

• There is no harm in asking

Always ask, there really is no harm in asking at all. Lots of places wouldn’t have gluten free on there menu but are able to cater for it. Just ask. Ive walked into pizza/pasta restaurants which I really didn’t expect them to have options and had so many. Even in rural areas they will try accommodate to you.

• Learn the Basic Phrases

I find this really helps with speeding the process of knowing if there are gluten free options available. I googled Phrases like ‘Gluten free’, ‘Do you have gluten free options’ and ‘Coeliac’. I found it helpful screenshotting the translations and showing them to workers if couldn’t pronounce them correctly.

I also found it helpful that on Coeliac UK they had information leaflets on countries with supermarkets and useful phases.

• Stick to Simple Foods

Stick to your simple foods that you would know whats in them. Food that is nearly gluten free. Such as Rice Dishes, I always find Mexican be a good shout as proper Mexican tacos should be gluten free.

Hope this helps a few fellow gluten free friends.

Love Frans Travels x