If there's one thing that's important to get your gluten-free holiday off to a good start, it's doing extensive research! In addition, make sure you have a 'survival pack' with you in case of unforeseen circumstances. You can read more about that in this blog.
You know it, you had a nice day at your holiday destination and notice that you are hungry. You are not staying all-inclusive so want to eat in a restaurant. At the first two restaurants, they look at you with difficulty when you ask about gluten-free, so you decide to keep walking. By now you are starting to get quite hungry and you are less critical at the next restaurant, they seem to recognize the term 'gluten-free' so you decide to eat there. In the evening you get serious complaints, unfortunately the restaurant turned out to have given you gluten-free food, but they had no idea what cross-contamination meant ...
It has happened to almost everyone. Unfortunately, celiac disease makes it less easy to enter somewhere on spec. To be able to enjoy your holiday carefree, it is useful to do a lot of research in advance so that you can go on holiday with a list of reliable addresses. Are you really serious about it? Then make sure you make a reservation before you go on holiday and discuss your wishes with the cook.
But where do you start?
I always start by looking for a reliable hotel that knows a lot about gluten free. If the supply in the area is not sufficient, I always have a reliable place to fall back on. In addition, they know the area like no other and can advise you on reliable addresses. Also be sure to check out the gluten-free accommodations that I have collected, because in these hotels they go the extra mile for you! Supplemented with the list of restaurants that you already had in your pocket, it will not be due to your preparation.
My favorite research tools
Find Me Gluten Free A nice, user-friendly app and website for gluten-free addresses. Read more about my experiences with the app by clicking the link.
Tripadvisor I like to look on Tripadvisor for both hotels and restaurants. For restaurants there is the option to filter for gluten-free options, but I mostly rely on reviews. Tip: set the language to English and enter 'gluten free' as the search term. This way you can find more reviews, also from other languages.
The National Celiac Association In Europe, many countries have a celiac disease association. You can regularly find information for tourists on the website. Some also collect addresses of reliable restaurants on their website. Click here for an overview of the European celiac associations.
Facebook groups There are a number of Facebook groups that focus on traveling on a gluten-free diet. Travelers share tips with each other here, the best known are: Celiacs Eat Abroad and Gluten Free Travel Around the World. In addition, there are also local groups of a city or country that you can join.
Search by # on Instagram A convenient way to find gluten-free addresses is to search for #glutenfree and the name of the city or country.
Do you have any more tips? Let me know in the comments below!