Checklist for European Travel: Research, Dining Card, and a Spirit of Adventure

Celiac.com 08/20/2021 - I recently spent two weeks traveling through Austria and Italy.  As always, my motto was “Be prepared, but stay flexible.” It was a fabulous trip and I thought you might like to know what I did to make it successful.

Plan Ahead: Do an Online Search Before You Leave

I knew the cities we planned to visit, so I did an online search for health food stores that stocked gluten-free products.  I went to “Google” and then typed in “gluten free products” with the city name.  I found many stores and took this list with me, using maps and guide books to determine which stores were closest to our hotel.  

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My research paid off.  In Vienna the very next morning we walked to the nearest health food store which was about a mile away from our hotel.  I bought enough bread, cookies, cereal, and crackers to last two weeks.  We rented a car so I had room for all this food in the trunk, but carting all this food around Europe might not have been practical if I was traveling by train.

There were two main brands of gluten-free foods in this Vienna store: Dr. Schaer and 3-Pauly.  All of the breads were packaged in aseptic containers, so they didn’t require refrigeration until they were opened.  Some of the health food stores in Austria (and Germany) are called Reformhaus and there were some additional products with this name on them.  I had brought along heavy duty plastic bags so I could transfer the bread to these bags once I opened the packages.  Nights were chilly so I stored the food in the trunk of the car, which was like a refrigerator.

While I was in this store, I noticed a hand-written chalkboard message by the bakery.  With my limited German, I could translate enough of the words to figure out that one could order fresh-baked loaves of gluten-free bread, ready for next-day pick-up during weekdays.  Wow––I was impressed.  Later in the trip, I found an excellent Reformhaus health food store in Salzburg, Austria––steps away from Mozart’s birthplace––with a great selection of gluten-free packaged foods.

Use Dining Cards in Restaurants

I used information from the web site of the Celiac Society of Austria to develop my German (Deutsch) dining card and edited it with the help of my daughter-in-law’s Austrian parents.  I used the cards frequently.  However, most restaurant workers speak English in the larger cities such as Vienna so we could converse in English about my needs.  I already had an Italian Dining Card from my previous trips to Italy, so that proved useful in Italy.

This was a terrific source of help and there are also dining cards on the web site as well.  The European celiac web sites are not written in English (German in Austria and Italian in Italy) so you will need someone to help you translate them.  On the Italian web site, there are gluten-free restaurants listed by city.  

Stay Flexible and Open to New Adventure

One day around lunchtime on our way back to Vienna, we noticed a sign that said “Gasthaus” and followed the road, which went on and on for miles up the mountain, eventually leading to a forest.  We both thought “this is either going to be very good or very bad.” As it turned out, we eventually found a lovely Gasthaus at the top of the mountain and we were its only luncheon guests.  The owner understood what it meant to avoid gluten and spoke good English.  She, like most other persons we met on this trip, was aware of the gluten-free diet.  She likened it to an allergy, pronouncing it with a hard, rather than a soft “g” but she understood the importance of avoiding gluten.  

She served us a wonderful Pumpkin Soup and Pork Roast with Red Cabbage.  She proudly gave us a tour of the Austrian Gasthaus, showing us all of the guest rooms and explaining how she came to be a Gasthaus owner.  It was fascinating because we had never been behind the scenes in an Austrian Gasthaus.  It turned out to be one of the most delightful experiences of our trip.

Gluten-Free on the Autobahn

Being receptive to pleasant surprises also helped me while driving the Autobahn in Austria’s and the Autostrada in Italy, Europe’s equivalents of the Interstate highways in the U.S.  They have gas stations and restaurants along the way that are similar to ours in that they sell coffee, soft drinks, packaged food, and souvenirs.  I was amazed to find clearly marked, gluten-free packaged foods at these stops in both Austria and Italy.  In fact, I found the best gluten-free bread I’ve ever tasted in one of the Italian truck stops called Auto-Grill or Fini Grill.  The bread was manufactured in Milan, Italy by CoPharma and the package bore the name of Giuliani.  The package was clearly marked “senza glutine”(without gluten) and also marked “senza latte” (without milk) as well.  In Austria, I found clearly marked “gluten-frei” almond cookies that I used to make Tiramisu when I got back home.  

Memorable Meals

One of my favorite questions after a big trip like this is “What was your favorite meal?” Unquestionably, my favorite meal was the roasted goose on our first night in Vienna.  We had just arrived in late afternoon and immediately searched for a good restaurant, which wasn’t hard.  Vienna is full of excellent restaurants.  Most restaurants post their menus outside the front door so we could determine if the dishes seemed appropriate.  I had heard about the famous Pumpkin Soup (Austria is known for pumpkin products) and wanted to sample it.  Our Viennese waiter spoke excellent English and seemed to understand my dining card so he suggested the Pumpkin Soup, which was absolutely outstanding.  And, then he said, “By the way, in addition to our other specials today, we have Roasted Goose with Red Cabbage.” It was simply prepared, but outstanding in flavor.  I had to forego the customary huge dumpling that is typically served with this meal because it contains flour, but I was very content with my goose and cabbage.

The runner-up meal happened the next night in Vienna.  We needed a quick supper since we were headed to a Mozart concert (his 250th birthday in 2006 so there were lots of Mozart events).  We found an Austrian restaurant and the only thing that was acceptable for me was the Pumpkin Risotto, which turned out to be absolutely fantastic.  Again, the dining card was very useful, but the waiter also spoke English.  It was perhaps the best risotto I’ve ever eaten.  And, the concert was one of the very best we’ve ever attended.

Then, there was the fish in Italy, along the Adriatic Coast.  Again, the waiter quickly understood my dining card and recommended the whole fish, which was filleted and roasted to perfection.  In fact, I often ordered grilled or roasted fish in many restaurants because it was the safest item on the menu and it was fabulous every time.  I didn’t order dessert very often because I seldom found anything that was safe and I never risk eating dessert when I travel unless I’m certain that it is gluten-free.  But we found many gluten-free chocolate bars and I had Pamela’s biscotti to dunk in the very strong European espresso, so I never lacked for sweet endings to any meal.  

Breakfast in Europe

Most European hotels include a breakfast buffet of cold meats, cheese, wide selection of cold cereals, breads, pastries, fresh fruit, and yogurt.  Everything but the cheese and yogurt was off-limits, so I toasted my special bread (using the white toaster bags I brought along for this purpose) and ate gluten-free cereal I had purchased in Vienna.  Sometimes, we could order poached eggs so I did this whenever I could.  

I hope my experiences help you if you’re planning a trip to Europe.  Do your homework, be open to adventure, have fun and be well.