Gluten Free Travel In Austria, Germany, And Switzerland

[waitingdorothea]

My husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and perhaps Luxembourg in early summer (late May or early June).  Our initial plan is to start in Vienna and generally work our way west to Zurich or Bern.  We would definitely hit Vienna, Saltzburg, Munich, and the Black Forest, someplace in Switzerland off the top of our heads.  Other possible locales include Luxembourg, Geneva, Nurembourg, and Frankfurt; as I said we are in the very early planning stages and frankly, we will tailor this trip to places I feel I can eat. I am reading about some positive gluten-free experiences and some negative gluten-free experiences here and elsewhere on the internet....as I would expect. 

 

I've traveled extensively in England and spent a bit of time in Italy without much difficulty (even without doing much research), but it seems that research will be more important in this area. I'm happy to do it - and come back and post about what I find and what works / doesn't after the trip - but any hints to get me started or to avoid me recreating someone else's wheel would be appreciated. 

 

We plan on using German gluten-free cards, as we did in Italy.  My husband speaks limited, broken German, but would not be able to explain cross-contamination.  I'm sending out emails to the various relevant country-wide celiac societies as well.

 

Thanks much!!!

[cristiana]

My brother in law lives in Freiburg and says there is an amazing gluten-free shop in his neighbourhood.  Anyway, I was just trying to find it and came across this amazing website. The Germans are famous for their efficiency, I am not surprised such a helpful website exists.  Anyway, looking at this you aren't going to have any problems over there!

 

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[NJKen]

My husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and perhaps Luxembourg in early summer (late May or early June). 

 

I recommend that you consider staying in vacation apartments, at least in a few locations.  That way you can prepare your own meals (and save a bit on the overall cost of your trip).  Many Reformhaus shops carry gluten-free foods.  ("Gluten-free" in German is "Glutenfrei"; easy to recognize.)  A Reformhaus is a combination drug store and health food shop; the amount of shelf space given to food products varies from store to store but some have very extensive gluten-free products.  The Reformhaus in the underground shopping center beneath the Zurich train station has a good selection, and you can make a quick stop there between trains.  (You can search for a Reformhaus in any town or city that you are going to stay in on Google Maps.)  If you are in a town with a Spar grocery store, they have a "Free From" line of foods that includes some gluten-free products.  (The brand name "Free From" is in English.)  Wasa crispbreads are available in Europe in a gluten-free variety (but why, oh why, not in the US?).  Most food products in European grocery stores and Reformhauses list the ingredients in several languages, often including English.

 

Among restaurants, I can recommend from experience Ristorante il Salento in Munich and Tibits Bistro in Winterthur (also in Zurich, Bern, Basel, and Lucerne).  I've also eaten at Nordsee restaurants (a seafood cafeteria chain), but cross-contamination may be more of an issue here if you don't select carefully; I stick to the salmon or the pre-prepared dishes like paella.

[erikalikescows]

Hi I am also a celiac living in Germany. If you have the possibility of cooking on your own during the trip, I would highly recommend the brand "Schär". It is also available in the United States now, but it is originally from Germany. The products will be in yellow packaging labeled "Glutenfrei". They have a variety of breads, cookies, and pastas. One of my favorites is the "pausa" cake. It resembles those delicious little Debbie snack cakes from the US! They also have options in the freezer section such as tortellini, fish sticks, pizzas, etc. I would definitely recommend those products :)They should not be difficult to find in Germany or Austria. Layered tortes are quite popular in German bakeries, and luckily you can find a gluten free version at most larger "Edeka" grocery stores. They will be in the freezer section and have a label clearly stating "Glutenfrei" other words you need to watch for on ingredients are: Malz, Rogge, Gerst, Weizen, Weizenmehl, and of course gluten (luckily the same word). You can find regular gluten-free products in grocery stores like Edeka or Kaufland (there is a brand called Seitz in Kaufland) or look for a reformhaus or "Biomarkt" like the person above stated. In restaurants, you might get mixed results because Germany isn't really "service-oriented". You can say "Ich darf kein Gluten essen" which means "I cannot eat gluten." Good luck