traveling on a school trip on a tour of europe

[lucy power]

I am going to europe next summer and this will be my first time traveling overseas. i am not sure if the plane provides a gluten free meal or if i am allowed to pack snacks in my carry on bag. i have read a lot that italy is very accommodating to celiac disease, but i am also going to france, england, and switzerland. i'm going with EF tours so they pick the restaurants i'm pretty sure.  i'm not sure if i will be allowed to stop at stores even though they said they try their best to accommodate to dietary restricts i feel like meals we eat at the hotels will not be safe. the train rides to each country confuse me to. i was hoping for any guidance with traveling to europe with celiac disease or any experience with EF tours with celiac.

[RMJ]

My only experience is with the air travel part.  You should be able to get gluten free meals, but they must be requested from the airline in advance.  You can take plenty of “dry” snacks on planes. The only food limitations would be on liquids.

There are cards available in various languages that one can show to a waiter  to request gluten free food.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge of those will chime in.

[lucy power]

thank you, yes i saw the cards, i am definitely getting some.

[Kurlykaitlyn]

On 10/21/2023 at 10:17 AM, lucy power said:

I am going to europe next summer and this will be my first time traveling overseas. i am not sure if the plane provides a gluten free meal or if i am allowed to pack snacks in my carry on bag. i have read a lot that italy is very accommodating to celiac disease, but i am also going to france, england, and switzerland. i'm going with EF tours so they pick the restaurants i'm pretty sure.  i'm not sure if i will be allowed to stop at stores even though they said they try their best to accommodate to dietary restricts i feel like meals we eat at the hotels will not be safe. the train rides to each country confuse me to. i was hoping for any guidance with traveling to europe with celiac disease or any experience with EF tours with celiac.

I can only speak for air travel and being the UK. 
i always pack my own snacks and meal to carry on. I haven’t had problems bringing my own but I have kept it limited. Bars and nuts are great for an extra snack or supplement of calories. 
i found it to be quite easy to eat in the UK! I traveled a few weeks and did become sick once and that was a risky chance with a restaurant. Better safe than sorry! Listen to your gut and don’t risk it, otherwise you may end up on a hotel toilet that hopefully has a fan to block out sounds. 
i found great success in going into grocery markets and keeping a load of snacks and easy things to carry around. Things like a jar of pesto and gluten free crackers to enjoy together. Also nut butter and bananas. This worked for me so that I had food in my bag everywhere I went. I wasn’t very picky when I was there because I cared more about having fun and exploring the country while not falling sick. Tasty food was low on my list. I was able to eat in a couple restaurants that were very reassuring about celiac safety. Hotels only had bananas or some other fruit which isn’t enough. 
Use your judgement, trust your gut, and focus on calories and nutrition over taste. 

[Scott Adams]

We have some excellent travel articles that might be helpful for you which are here:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/gluten-free-travel/ 

[lucy power]

9 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

We have some excellent travel articles that might be helpful for you which are here:

https://www.celiac.com/celiac-disease/gluten-free-travel/ 

thanks!!

On 10/22/2023 at 10:04 PM, Kurlykaitlyn said:

I can only speak for air travel and being the UK. 
i always pack my own snacks and meal to carry on. I haven’t had problems bringing my own but I have kept it limited. Bars and nuts are great for an extra snack or supplement of calories. 
i found it to be quite easy to eat in the UK! I traveled a few weeks and did become sick once and that was a risky chance with a restaurant. Better safe than sorry! Listen to your gut and don’t risk it, otherwise you may end up on a hotel toilet that hopefully has a fan to block out sounds. 
i found great success in going into grocery markets and keeping a load of snacks and easy things to carry around. Things like a jar of pesto and gluten free crackers to enjoy together. Also nut butter and bananas. This worked for me so that I had food in my bag everywhere I went. I wasn’t very picky when I was there because I cared more about having fun and exploring the country while not falling sick. Tasty food was low on my list. I was able to eat in a couple restaurants that were very reassuring about celiac safety. Hotels only had bananas or some other fruit which isn’t enough. 
Use your judgement, trust your gut, and focus on calories and nutrition over taste. 

thank you so much! that made me feel much better because i was super worried about the UK

[Scott Adams]

Do you know yet which countries you will visit? 

[patty-maguire]

Wow!  Sounds like an amazing trip!  Enjoy!

I've travelled in Italy, France and UK.  Italy is amazing for gluten-free.  France and UK are very good too.

Others mentioned printing off dining cards.  Definitely do that.

On overseas flights you can usually order a gluten-free meal.  Check the airline's website.

I always bring food on the plane.  Nuts, cheese & crackers, granola bars, sandwich or wrap.  Be careful of liquids or gels, they must be under 100ml or 3.4oz.  I had hummus confiscated once.  You can bring an ice pack to keep your food cold so long as it's under the liquid allowance.  Bring an empty water bottle.  You can fill it up after you go through security.

I also recommend the Find Me Gluten Free app.  They cover many cities around the world.  If your tour group is booking the restaurants you can check to see if there are any reviews. If you can't influence the restaurant choice, at least you'll know what to expect and if you need to eat in advance or bring your own food. 

You may be pleasantly surprised about hotel meals.  Check their websites and email in advance so you know what to expect. 

Same with trains.  You may be pleasantly surprised, but they will have a websites too and like airlines, you may need to order in advance or bring your own food.

Look for celiac associations for the countries your travelling to.  The often have good tourist info.  The Italian Celiac Association website is very good and they also have an app.

Enjoy!  This sounds like the trip of a lifetime.

[lucy power]

On 10/22/2023 at 10:04 PM, Kurlykaitlyn said:

I can only speak for air travel and being the UK. 
i always pack my own snacks and meal to carry on. I haven’t had problems bringing my own but I have kept it limited. Bars and nuts are great for an extra snack or supplement of calories. 
i found it to be quite easy to eat in the UK! I traveled a few weeks and did become sick once and that was a risky chance with a restaurant. Better safe than sorry! Listen to your gut and don’t risk it, otherwise you may end up on a hotel toilet that hopefully has a fan to block out sounds. 
i found great success in going into grocery markets and keeping a load of snacks and easy things to carry around. Things like a jar of pesto and gluten free crackers to enjoy together. Also nut butter and bananas. This worked for me so that I had food in my bag everywhere I went. I wasn’t very picky when I was there because I cared more about having fun and exploring the country while not falling sick. Tasty food was low on my list. I was able to eat in a couple restaurants that were very reassuring about celiac safety. Hotels only had bananas or some other fruit which isn’t enough. 
Use your judgement, trust your gut, and focus on calories and nutrition over taste. 

thank you i'm glad the grocery stores had stuff!

On 10/25/2023 at 12:58 PM, patty-maguire said:

Wow!  Sounds like an amazing trip!  Enjoy!

I've travelled in Italy, France and UK.  Italy is amazing for gluten-free.  France and UK are very good too.

Others mentioned printing off dining cards.  Definitely do that.

On overseas flights you can usually order a gluten-free meal.  Check the airline's website.

I always bring food on the plane.  Nuts, cheese & crackers, granola bars, sandwich or wrap.  Be careful of liquids or gels, they must be under 100ml or 3.4oz.  I had hummus confiscated once.  You can bring an ice pack to keep your food cold so long as it's under the liquid allowance.  Bring an empty water bottle.  You can fill it up after you go through security.

I also recommend the Find Me Gluten Free app.  They cover many cities around the world.  If your tour group is booking the restaurants you can check to see if there are any reviews. If you can't influence the restaurant choice, at least you'll know what to expect and if you need to eat in advance or bring your own food. 

You may be pleasantly surprised about hotel meals.  Check their websites and email in advance so you know what to expect. 

Same with trains.  You may be pleasantly surprised, but they will have a websites too and like airlines, you may need to order in advance or bring your own food.

Look for celiac associations for the countries your travelling to.  The often have good tourist info.  The Italian Celiac Association website is very good and they also have an app.

Enjoy!  This sounds like the trip of a lifetime.

thank you i didn't even think about trains! i was worried about francs