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3 months in Germany/Europe - Gluten free?

Does anyone have any experience being gluten free while in Europe? My son and I will be spending 3 months next summer in Europe, with a friends empty apartment in Wolfsburg, Germany as a "home base", so I will have a kitchen at my disposal. We are still working on the plan for side trips, but so far we have Basel (to visit another friend) with a side trip to Gimmelwald, quite a few day trips in Lower Saxony and a general "France and Italy" request from my son. Cooking while we are local won't be a problem, but I am a little worried about eating while we are on the road.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Posted by
38 posts

Thank you so much, Jo! That website has alleviated many of my concerns.

Thanks again!
Krista

Posted by
3428 posts

Why don't you get the term translated into German, French and Italian (Greek too if headed there) and print it out on cards you could give to waiters/cheifs. It is a common problem, and if you can express it in "their" langauage it will be helpful.

Posted by
38 posts

Jo - Thanks for the tip! I am going to have a friend write a card for me with all of the foods I can't eat. Hopefully that will make it easier.

Andreas - My friend said that there is a Reformhaus just a block or so from the apartment and that Real has a whole GF section. (The last time I was there I wasn't GF and only remember the massive candy isle at Real!)

Thanks for the tips on where to go, too! We will definitely add them to our list.

Posted by
38 posts

Sigh... I am sorry. I meant Toni, not Jo. That is what I get for doing two things at once!

Sorry.

Posted by
2779 posts

In Germany Gluten-free is not that big a problem. At most major grocery stores there is a special section of Gluten free products (the Gluten free logo is yellow-on-purple, often the entire box is purple) and also Gluten free frozen food. Then there are "Reformhaus" stores who've got plenty of Gluten free products. While Wolfsburg itself is not exactly the prettiest of all towns nearby Celle and Hannover definitely are. Do spend an afternoon at the castle and gardens of Hannover. They're same size as Versailles and at least as beautiful. Also day trip or even better stay over in the Harz mountains (Goslar, Quedlinburg, steam train ride to the top of Mt. Brocken, right on the former German-German border where the East Block put up plenty of espionage appliances to overhear the West's telephone conversations etc etc. But go there for the beauty ;-) It's the medieval base of the entire Halloween tradition.). Berlin, Potsdam are also just 90 mins by train from Wolfsburg. Also don't miss Lüneburg. And the Sababurg castle, also doable as day trip, is the original sleeping beauty castle. That's where the Grimm brothers got the idea for that fairy tale. Oh, and spend half a day up in the gardens around the Hercules monument in Kassel. They're one-of-a-kind.
In Wolfsburg do spend a day at the Autostadt VW plant and museum. It's a real theme park. In Wolfsburg you will be brainwashed to become a VW fan. It's birthplace of the 1st VW, the beetle, and still is VWs headquarters and main plant.

Posted by
41 posts

I am also Gluten Free. I travel with cards printed in the language of the country. You can make a donation and download cards from:

Gluten Free Travel Cards: http://www.celiactravel.com

I also have their app for my Ipod Touch and can show the cards in restaurants from my IPod.

Have a great trip!

Posted by
881 posts

The gluten free travel cards Kim suggest are great. We got them - but never even needed to use them in Italy, Austria or Slovenia.

Posted by
38 posts

Thanks Kim and Chris! I will check those out for sure!