Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

Prague, Vienna, Amsterdam

~alex~

By ~alex~
in Traveling with Celiac Disease

Recommended Posts

~alex~ Explorer
~alex~
Posted

My husband and I are planning a possible Europe trip this summer. We're planning on hitting Prague, Vienna, Amsterdam, and possibly Brussels. Does anyone have experience traveling to these places and using the gluten-free dining card at restaurants? How did it turn out?

I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing but I don't want to let celiac disease get in the way of an awesome experience. We backpacked through England, France, and Switzerland before I had celiac disease and it was such a crazy time it's hard to imagine adding the whole gluten-free thing into the mix but I'm sure many celiacs have done it successfully. We're planning on staying in hotels part of the time but also hostels sometimes and it scares me to imagine dealing with being glutening while staying in a hostel! If anyone has any other tips/ideas from their gluten-free travel experiences, it would be very helpful.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


psawyer Proficient
psawyer
Posted

Hi, Alex! Good to see you around. I can't offer any advice on your question, though. I haven't traveled outside North America since my diagnosis.

GlutenFreeAl Contributor
GlutenFreeAl
Posted

Do any of the hostels have kitchens? I've stayed at some truly horrid hostels, but I've also stayed at a few that had really nice, really well equipped kitchens, and I convinced my hubby (well, then boyfriend) to cook some meals ourselves. That cuts down on my anxiety A LOT and usually winds up being cheaper!

I unfortunately don't have any more specific advice than that. We were going to go to Vienna and Prague on our honeymoon in '07, actually. And we didn't. Partially because flights got sooooo expensive and partially because I was worried about finding food I could eat. I don't know if you can do dairy, but Eastern Europe is pretty cheese-centric. And sausage-centric. Yuck! We went to England and France and I did pretty well in those countries, England especially.

Keep us posted! I do hope you get to go on your dream trip!!!

Jestgar Rising Star
Jestgar
Posted

A couple years ago I did Eastern Europe gluten-free. I had no problems. I mostly ate cheese and meat and fruit from the markets. And lots of chips :P

I also stayed in hostels, but I bought a small cheap pot while I was there, and used that to cook in.

Don't let worry about food mess with your plans. It'll all be fine.

NJKen Rookie
NJKen
Posted
We're planning on staying in hotels part of the time but also hostels sometimes and it scares me to imagine dealing with being glutening while staying in a hostel!

If you are planning to stay more than one night in any location, then look into renting a vacation apartment. This will allow you to prepare your own meals (and you won't have to share the kitchen). The prices are comparable to hotel rooms.

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

I've been to all of those places (except Brussels) I don't think you'll have too many problems. I usually rely on grocery stores/markets over restaurants and try to keep things simple. In the summer there are really nice markets with fruits and veggies and it usually isn't too hard to find the basics. Usually when I travel to a new city in Europe, without even trying, I'm able to find a health food shop which carries all sorts of gluten-free products. You can find quite a bit in the major drug stores as well (gluten-free bread, pasta, cookies, rice milk if you don't do dairy etc.).

I have quite a bit of knowledge about Prague so if you end up taking the trip and need more info. about the food etc. feel free to PM me and ask. :)

I agree though about not letting food mess with you your plans. If you really want to travel there are definitely ways to do it :)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Join eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):



    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):



  • Recent Activity

    1. chrisinpa
      - chrisinpa commented on Scott Adams's article in Skin Problems and Celiac Disease
      2

      Celiac Disease and Skin Disorders: Exploring a Genetic Connection

      Maybe they can attribute certain skin conditions to either being susceptible to getting Celiac......or the other way around....but I have to ask if certain people are prone to Celiac because of genetics and some people aren't. It's kind of the same thing as what came first.....the chicken or the egg.?
    2. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to xxnonamexx's topic in Post Diagnosis, Recovery & Treatment of Celiac Disease
      3

      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

      @xxnonamexx, There's labeling on those Trubar gluten free high fiber protein bars that say: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, milk, soy, fish, WHEAT, sesame, and other tree nuts." You may want to avoid products made in shared facilities. If you are trying to add more fiber to your diet to ease constipation, considering...
    3. trents
      - trents replied to sha1091a's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      1

      Issues before diagnosis

      Welcome to celiac.com @sha1091a! Your experience is a very common one. Celiac disease is one the most underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed medical conditions out there. The reasons are numerous. One key one is that its symptoms mimic so many other diseases. Another is ignorance on the part of the medical community with regard to the range of symptoms that celiac...
    4. trents
      - trents commented on Jefferson Adams's article in Other Diseases and Disorders Associated with Celiac Disease
      6

      Celiac Disease Patients Face Higher Risk of Systemic Lupus

      What kind of practitioner did the blood test? Was this a medical doctor, a naturopathic doctor, a GI doc? I would certainly follow up with them and ask why they advised you not to eat red meat. I mean, it could be something like they, themselves, are a vegetarian and give that advice to everyone. Have you had an endoscopy with biopsy of the small bowel...
    5. knitty kitty
      - knitty kitty replied to EndlessSummer's topic in Food Intolerance & Leaky Gut
      2

      Dizziness after eating green beans?

      @EndlessSummer, You said you had an allergy to trees. People with Birch Allergy can react to green beans (in the legume family) and other vegetables, as well as some fruits. Look into Oral Allergy Syndrome which can occur at a higher rate in Celiac Disease. Switching to a low histamine diet for a while can give your body time to rid itself of...
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):

  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      132,691
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    4Nic8ion
    Newest Member
    4Nic8ion
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.5k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • knitty kitty
      My journey is it gluten or fiber?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @xxnonamexx, There's labeling on those Trubar gluten free high fiber protein bars that say: "Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, milk, soy, fish, WHEAT, sesame, and other tree nuts." You may want to avoid products made in shared facilities.   If you are trying to add more fiber to your diet to ease constipation, considering eating more leafy green vegetables and cruciferous vegetables.  Not only are these high in fiber, they also are good sources of magnesium.  Many newly diagnosed are low in magnesium and B vitamins and suffer with constipation.  Thiamine Vitamin B1 and magnesium work together.  Thiamine in the form Benfotiamine has been shown to improve intestinal health.  Thiamine and magnesium are important to gastrointestinal health and function.  
    • trents
      Issues before diagnosis

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to celiac.com @sha1091a! Your experience is a very common one. Celiac disease is one the most underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed medical conditions out there. The reasons are numerous. One key one is that its symptoms mimic so many other diseases. Another is ignorance on the part of the medical community with regard to the range of symptoms that celiac disease can produce. Clinicians often are only looking for classic GI symptoms and are unaware of the many other subsystems in the body that can be damaged before classic GI symptoms manifest, if ever they do. Many celiacs are of the "silent" variety and have few if any GI symptoms while all along, damage is being done to their bodies. In my case, the original symptoms were elevated liver enzymes which I endured for 13 years before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. By the grace of God my liver was not destroyed. It is common for the onset of the disease to happen 10 years before you ever get a diagnosis. Thankfully, that is slowly changing as there has developed more awareness on the part of both the medical community and the public in the past 20 years or so. Blessings!
    • knitty kitty
      Dizziness after eating green beans?

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      @EndlessSummer, You said you had an allergy to trees.  People with Birch Allergy can react to green beans (in the legume family) and other vegetables, as well as some fruits.  Look into Oral Allergy Syndrome which can occur at a higher rate in Celiac Disease.   Switching to a low histamine diet for a while can give your body time to rid itself of the extra histamine the body makes with Celiac disease and histamine consumed in the diet.   Vitamin C and the eight B vitamins are needed to help the body clear histamine.   Have you been checked for nutritional deficiencies?
    • sha1091a
      Issues before diagnosis

      By sha1091a · Posted

      I found out the age of 68 that I am a celiac. When I was 16, I had my gallbladder removed when I was 24 I was put on a medication because I was told I had fibromyalgia.   going to Doctor’s over many years, not one of them thought to check me out for celiac disease. I am aware that it only started being tested by bloodwork I believe in the late 90s, but still I’m kind of confused why my gallbladder my joint pain flatulent that I complained of constantly was totally ignored. Is it not something that is taught to our medical system? It wasn’t a Doctor Who asked for the test to be done. I asked for it because of something I had read and my test came back positive. My number was quite high.Are there other people out here that had this kind of problems and they were ignored? 
    • trents
      Dizziness after eating green beans?

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to celiac.com, @EndlessSummer! Do you react to all vegetables or just specific kinds or families of them? What you describe with green beans sounds like it has an anaphylaxis component. Like you, walnuts are a problem for me. They will often give me a scratchy throat so I try to avoid them. Does it matter if the vegies are raw or will-cooked in how you react to them?
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.