To ask how you cope with holidays and Coeliac disease?

[MelanieFrontage]

DH had just been diagnosed aged 55 and this is now a big challenge for us.
Are there any destinations that are easier to holiday in I.e. we love Italy but clearly our usual pasta and pizza meals are now out of the question.

Is Greece any easier or are there other European destinations that we should consider?

Self catering is a last resort for us but I guess that we may have to change our views now.

If anyone can share experiences that would be great. I am googling but real life experiences are much appreciated, it’s all so new to me, whoever knew that some stock cubes contain wheat, what a minefield!

My dad is a coealiac. He travels everywhere (in the last year, he's been to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Canada/US, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Far East and no doubt lots of other places) and has never had an issue. Agree that Italy is very easy - in fact anywhere in the EU has, under EU law, to be able to identify the allergens in the food that they serve so as long as you can explain it in the relevant language, you shouldn't have a problem at all.

They don't screen for coeliac in Italy. What happens is that parents tend to take their children to be screened for every allergy/intolerance going as a matter of course. All my students can recite the 46 obscure plants they're allergic to by heart.

But yes, Italy is fine for providing gluten free.

Many restaurant menus were really good about allergy labelling when we were in Lanzarote recently, and a lot of standard supermarket food was labelled as gluten free, so the Canaries is probably a good option.

Plus lots of Spanish food is naturally gluten free as long as they've taken steps to avoid cross contamination.

I wad diagnosed with Coeliac disease almost 9 years ago and have travelled all over the world with absolutely no issues.
As mentioned Italy is one of the easiest, GF pizza & pasta everywhere. and most have accredidations from the coeliac society as being certified GF. I grew up in Portugal and also super easy - meat, fish, seafood veg, potatoes, rice, chips etc. Chocolate mousse or creme brulee for dessert - YUM!
I do always carry snacks like fruit, bars or crisps that I know I can eat if we get particularly stuck in rural locations but I have never really found it too much of an issue. Petrol stations can be fun abroad but even they usally have chocolate or ice pops I can eat.
Hardest bit can be breakfast in European countries as it is sometimes just pastries, toasties etc but can usually get eggs, fruit, smoothies or else I will just bring a bar & have a coffee. Alternatively pop to a local shop & get microwave oats, fruit & yogurt and ask the coffee shop to microwave the oats for you - I have asked this loads of times in mainland Europe and they will always accomodate for an allergy.
Indian food is also super easy, pretty much everything is GF.
As long as you aren't too much of a fussy eater and are careful, travelling and being GF is super easy and actually delicious. Never feel like you have to deprive yourself and loads of places now have dedicated GF restuarants & bakeries. I recently found a GF bakery in Reading that does the most AMAZING cakes & donuts!

My DH was diagnosed 4 years ago. We went to a TUI SENSATORI all inclusive resort in Crête last year and it was fabulous and very accommodating for dietary requirements. All that range of all inclusive resorts apparently are.

@Howdidido pretty much all of Europe Bar the U.K. has GF MaccyDs.

I've always self catered in France. Larger supermarkets stock gluten free basics. We travel by car so I always take a stash of rolls/pitta/biscuits the more I take, the more space there is for wine on the return journey

Ireland is also very good for coeliac. Even small cafes were very knowledgeable and have gluten free menus.
If you fancy a cruise I can recommend P and O. They were brilliant and would give me the next day's menu so I could order in advance.

In contrast to others, I've found most places manageable but it's totally ruined my enjoyment of a lot of holidays as there's so much planning involved in where/what to eat. Lunches/snacks especially, no more grabbing whatever the local speciality is wherever you happen to be. It's not impossible, but it definitely takes away that relaxed holiday feeling.

Supermarket labelling and availability of food for self catering has been reasonable pretty much everywhere. I've rarely seen labelling on restaurant menus however, other than McDonalds.

Airports tend to be pretty dire as well for gluten free options.

DS was diagnosed 3 years ago.

We travel a lot in Germany & Austria, and while people aren't always knowledgeable, the menus have to be very clearly labelled with allergens which really helps. Not sure if this is an EU wide rule or not.

The Schar brand you get over here is also widely available in supermarkets there (just check the use-by dates!)

All big hotels cater for GF as a matter of course everywhere - there is always a separate area for breakfast.

As many PPs have said, Italy has an excellent reputation.

And try to eat naturally GF as much as possible ... simple meat, fish, salads etc.

Oh and in Canada and Australia we encountered places that were 'Gluten Friendly' that weren't actually suitable for coeliacs as they had shared friers. So things were marked GF for gluten friendly, i.e. no gluten containing ingredients.

I've been diagnosed 22 years, and for the last 20 years I've trailed round the world for work and haven't starved yet even though a lot of the time I have no choice on where we eat. Yes, its not the same as being able to just grab food, or enjoy whatever the local speciality is, but theres always something to eat.
I'm in Australia for work this week which will be a pleasure eating out, but Japan was def more challenging!

My DD is 10 and coeliac. Italy was unbelievably easy. So much choice in Rome. Also Lake Garda was simple. We found Canada pretty easy too. Visited the Rockies and then the West Coast with no issue. Had a pretty easy time in Malta too. Have also travelled to Spain (Barcelona was particularly good) and also Portugal.

We find airports are always a nightmare so travel with food. We also have snacks and bars with us. Also we take breakfast pancakes and cereal but do that everywhere anyway. Get a gluten free language card if you’re travelling where English isn’t the main menu.

I agree about airports not being great.

I always tell DS to grab something at M&S in Heathrow T5, as options are even limited there.

(Otherwise he would just eat crisps)

I always have the nachos from Wetherspoons at the airport and take a couple of GF sandwiches on the plane.

He might struggle if he also is vegan or vegetarian but apart from that he’ll be fine.

My glutened symptoms are absolutely hideous but if I need to cheer myself up about it I always think to myself I’d rather have this than some sort of allergy with the potential for anaphylaxis.

Thanks to everyone who has mention GF MacDonalds in Europe. I lie to myself that I don’t miss it at all anyway as it’s crap but really oh how I would love a sausage and egg McMuffin

Alternatively pop to a local shop & get microwave oats

Only ok if they have gf oats. And local shops don’t tend to do gluten free oats. But you could take some with you.

Thanks to all everyone who has responded, I now have loads of ideas and feel much better about holiday planning. I won’t come back and thank future posts because I don’t want to keep bumping this thread but rest assured that I’m very very grateful to you all. Thank you.