Went to Italy and Germany last fall. Germany was a huge challenge. My friend that lives in stuttgart found a gf bakery but everything was sold out when we got there. There wasn't anything at oktoberfest except wine I could have. Pack snacks when you go out. I didn't and had a very hungry day
AHmazing! More metropolis areas had more options but had to buy a suitcase to get all the breads and pastas home. Not mad, just taking empty one next time
It's been rare I have found gluten free outside of salads in Italian restaurants in Germany, or at least small town Franconia where I stay the most. They haven't caught on to the gf crust/pasta options yet.
Was just on a trip to Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Germany was the most challenging for finding dining options, but had great choices at grocery stores.
It depends on where you go. Berlin was easy, Munich and Frankfurt were okay, more rural places were tough. Most restaurants have allergy guides so even if the allergens aren’t printed on the menu you can ask for the guide and they’ll bring it out. For German food I’ll get the pork shoulder, sauerkraut, potato salad, sometimes sausage if it’s not cooked in beer. Otherwise I’ll get non-German foods that I know to be safe like Indian or Thai food. Grocery stores are pretty good too if you’re patient and take time searching. For drinks, get weinschorle (wine spritzer!) or apfelwein if you’re in Frankfurt!
I grew up there and visited again several years ago. If you go to a dm or Alnatura, you will find a bit more than just the basic options that they have at the supermarket. EU labeling laws make identifying gluten in packaged foods very easy. Plus, all packages should be in multiple languages, including English. Now, restaurants are a different story. I found a few restaurants that were allegedly safe. I didn't get sick, but I don't react to CC, so I'm not sure if they were. We mostly just lived off foods from the store.
Very difficult. I visited four different grocery stores just to end up with a one loaf of bread and a pack of muffins. That’s the only GF baked goods I could find. Worst place I’ve visited in Europe in terms of GF food. Truly abysmal. My advice: bring as many snacks from home as possible.
I didn’t even attempt. The restaurants have menus posted outside and there wasn’t anywhere that looked like GF would be possible. Also in the EU restaurant menus are supposed to have allergens listed for each dish (gluten-containing grains is A) and none of the places actually did that.
Very. I live here and, aside from dedicated gf places of which there are very few, it's very rare. Find Me GF, the app, will give you one or two good options in bigger cities but if I were you I'd get an air bnb or aparthotel and cook while you're here. Bigger grocery stores will have a whole display of gf goods and you can go to DM, which is like a drugstore but without the drugs, and you'll find lots of gf pastas etc.
"Reformhaus" is a health food store with many stores in big cities all over germany. Lots of gluten free options as far as i can remember and the store clerks there seemed much more informed about gf products as well
I live here and I think it's one of the most allergy unfriendly countries in Europe. Yes, you can find gf sections in the grocery store but don't expect to find special gf items on menus like gf bread for your burger. There should be a few gf restaurants in every major city and luckily Vietnamese food is trendy (at least in Hamburg) and abundant.
Go to the grocery store and get yourself some snacks to carry around. Lots of the grab and go restaurants won't have anything for you. If you react to oats/lactose it is also a challenge to find other milk alternatives. It can be done but it won't be easy!
Curry wurst and pommes is always a good, although not the healthiest, option. Many of the meats will be gluten free (except breaded schnitzel) and if they have sauces you can ask if they use flour to thicken. Many use corn starch or nothing at all. I have run into one restaurant that did use wheat flour.
If in doubt, get pommes instead of dumplings on the side. Potato dumplings *should* be gluten free but most will have a solitary chunk crouton right in the middle.
Salads should be gluten free (unlike dumplings, croutons aren't a thing) as should ice cream, if you leave out the cookies or a cone.
Outside of grocery stores, there is also Reform Haus, which always has some gluten free options.
Pommes are often coated and therefore not gluten-free. Also they often use the same fryer for other stuff that's not gluten-free. MC Donalds Pommes are gluten-free though. Still a slight chance of cross contamination.
They will be marked on the menu or you can ask. I have found them to be often gluten free, but maybe it is regional. The croquettes, however, are not gluten free.
They will be marked on the menu or you can ask. I have found them to be often gluten free, but maybe it is regional. The croquettes, however, are not gluten free.
Get the Find Me GF app.
Currywurst and bratwurst without the brotchen tend to be GF.
Menus are labeled well but doesn't guarantee you from cross-contamination or that there will be options. .
How do you like meat, potatoes and sauerkraut? I have celiac and I find Germany pretty easy to navigate for food. But I also love sausages and sauerkraut.
If you're sensitive do not go for Currywurst or Pommes as others recommended. They're often not gluten-free. Bigger cities work better as rural areas. Find me gluten-free can be helpful. DM/Müller/Edeka/Globus/Alnatura are your go to supermarkets. Usually the bigger and/or more expensive the supermarket the better is the variety of gluten-free items. Although everything you can buy in a supermarket has allergens marked on it. Depending on how worried you're about cross contamination Mc Donald's has gluten-free fries and subway offers gluten-free bread. Feel free to ask any questions. Where in Germany will you be?
Berlin will work great, Stuttgart will be fine. In Stuttgart you can go to Isabellas glutenfreie Patisserie for fancy cakes. Bavaria heavily depends on where you're going exactly. But in general make sure to search for restaurants ahead of getting there. Berlin has great gluten-free bread and beer to offer.
Unfortunately eating out is not easy. You'll find places in most cities, but you'll definitely have to do some research ahead of time. Just walking in somewhere and hoping for the best won't work. That being said, there is a wide range of international cuisines available in Germany, so you'll find plenty of alternatives to bread and beer.
The menus were well labeled in my experience. I ate tons of currywurst and pommes, which were delightful. They had dedicated gluten-free grocery stores in the larger cities I visited, as well as really good gluten-free sections in bigger chain stores. I didn't feel like there were tons of options in the restaurants/bakerys, but there was always an option available to eat or drink.
I have no issues on Germany. Kaufland usually has a gluten free scetion and larger places like Berlin are full of gluten free food. If you're in the smaller villages, you may struggle though.
Italy takes celiac very seriously, they have a nationally registered app that shows you safe GF restaurant options. Talk to your waiter or call ahead. Make sure you can speak a little Italian or have a translator/translator app with you
It seems like there’s a lot of disagreement. From my memory, it wasn’t the best variety, but using resources online and my limited German, I got by. We went to Berlin, Munich, Dresden, and Heidelburg. Berlin was the easiest, I had lots of potato and meats
Went to Italy and Germany last fall. Germany was a huge challenge. My friend that lives in stuttgart found a gf bakery but everything was sold out when we got there. There wasn't anything at oktoberfest except wine I could have. Pack snacks when you go out. I didn't and had a very hungry day
How was Italy?
AHmazing! More metropolis areas had more options but had to buy a suitcase to get all the breads and pastas home. Not mad, just taking empty one next time
Can confirm Italy is amazing, spending my last day in Rome before going back to the U.S. ðŸ˜
It is nightmare. Try to find Italian restaurants (I mean restaurants owned by Italians), they usually have gf options.
It's been rare I have found gluten free outside of salads in Italian restaurants in Germany, or at least small town Franconia where I stay the most. They haven't caught on to the gf crust/pasta options yet.
Was just on a trip to Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Germany was the most challenging for finding dining options, but had great choices at grocery stores.
It depends on where you go. Berlin was easy, Munich and Frankfurt were okay, more rural places were tough. Most restaurants have allergy guides so even if the allergens aren’t printed on the menu you can ask for the guide and they’ll bring it out. For German food I’ll get the pork shoulder, sauerkraut, potato salad, sometimes sausage if it’s not cooked in beer. Otherwise I’ll get non-German foods that I know to be safe like Indian or Thai food. Grocery stores are pretty good too if you’re patient and take time searching. For drinks, get weinschorle (wine spritzer!) or apfelwein if you’re in Frankfurt!
I grew up there and visited again several years ago. If you go to a dm or Alnatura, you will find a bit more than just the basic options that they have at the supermarket. EU labeling laws make identifying gluten in packaged foods very easy. Plus, all packages should be in multiple languages, including English. Now, restaurants are a different story. I found a few restaurants that were allegedly safe. I didn't get sick, but I don't react to CC, so I'm not sure if they were. We mostly just lived off foods from the store.
Very difficult. I visited four different grocery stores just to end up with a one loaf of bread and a pack of muffins. That’s the only GF baked goods I could find. Worst place I’ve visited in Europe in terms of GF food. Truly abysmal. My advice: bring as many snacks from home as possible.
Is eating at restaurants difficult as well?
I didn’t even attempt. The restaurants have menus posted outside and there wasn’t anywhere that looked like GF would be possible. Also in the EU restaurant menus are supposed to have allergens listed for each dish (gluten-containing grains is A) and none of the places actually did that.
Very. I live here and, aside from dedicated gf places of which there are very few, it's very rare. Find Me GF, the app, will give you one or two good options in bigger cities but if I were you I'd get an air bnb or aparthotel and cook while you're here. Bigger grocery stores will have a whole display of gf goods and you can go to DM, which is like a drugstore but without the drugs, and you'll find lots of gf pastas etc.
"Reformhaus" is a health food store with many stores in big cities all over germany. Lots of gluten free options as far as i can remember and the store clerks there seemed much more informed about gf products as well
I live here and I think it's one of the most allergy unfriendly countries in Europe. Yes, you can find gf sections in the grocery store but don't expect to find special gf items on menus like gf bread for your burger. There should be a few gf restaurants in every major city and luckily Vietnamese food is trendy (at least in Hamburg) and abundant. Go to the grocery store and get yourself some snacks to carry around. Lots of the grab and go restaurants won't have anything for you. If you react to oats/lactose it is also a challenge to find other milk alternatives. It can be done but it won't be easy!
Curry wurst and pommes is always a good, although not the healthiest, option. Many of the meats will be gluten free (except breaded schnitzel) and if they have sauces you can ask if they use flour to thicken. Many use corn starch or nothing at all. I have run into one restaurant that did use wheat flour. If in doubt, get pommes instead of dumplings on the side. Potato dumplings *should* be gluten free but most will have a solitary chunk crouton right in the middle. Salads should be gluten free (unlike dumplings, croutons aren't a thing) as should ice cream, if you leave out the cookies or a cone. Outside of grocery stores, there is also Reform Haus, which always has some gluten free options.
Pommes are often coated and therefore not gluten-free. Also they often use the same fryer for other stuff that's not gluten-free. MC Donalds Pommes are gluten-free though. Still a slight chance of cross contamination.
They will be marked on the menu or you can ask. I have found them to be often gluten free, but maybe it is regional. The croquettes, however, are not gluten free.
They will be marked on the menu or you can ask. I have found them to be often gluten free, but maybe it is regional. The croquettes, however, are not gluten free.
Get the Find Me GF app. Currywurst and bratwurst without the brotchen tend to be GF. Menus are labeled well but doesn't guarantee you from cross-contamination or that there will be options. .
How do you like meat, potatoes and sauerkraut? I have celiac and I find Germany pretty easy to navigate for food. But I also love sausages and sauerkraut.
Is pork the only meat widely available?
Absolutely not, though it is popular. Plenty of chicken beef, fish, duck.
If you're sensitive do not go for Currywurst or Pommes as others recommended. They're often not gluten-free. Bigger cities work better as rural areas. Find me gluten-free can be helpful. DM/Müller/Edeka/Globus/Alnatura are your go to supermarkets. Usually the bigger and/or more expensive the supermarket the better is the variety of gluten-free items. Although everything you can buy in a supermarket has allergens marked on it. Depending on how worried you're about cross contamination Mc Donald's has gluten-free fries and subway offers gluten-free bread. Feel free to ask any questions. Where in Germany will you be?
Bavaria, Berlin, and Stuttgart
Berlin will work great, Stuttgart will be fine. In Stuttgart you can go to Isabellas glutenfreie Patisserie for fancy cakes. Bavaria heavily depends on where you're going exactly. But in general make sure to search for restaurants ahead of getting there. Berlin has great gluten-free bread and beer to offer.
Unfortunately eating out is not easy. You'll find places in most cities, but you'll definitely have to do some research ahead of time. Just walking in somewhere and hoping for the best won't work. That being said, there is a wide range of international cuisines available in Germany, so you'll find plenty of alternatives to bread and beer.
I lived in Berlin for a bit and it was very very easy. Lots of GF shops.
Berlin is easy—been there on two vacations. I dream about Aera’s grilled cheese.
saaaaameeeeeee !!!!!! oshione is also amazing they have pancake pop-ups
Shar is a German company. So they have a lot in the store. That is all I know sorry. (Source: husband went over there for work)
As far as I know, the original founder was from Innsbruck, Austria, but Schär is pretty readily available in Germany.
Yes, Schär is Austrian/Italian.
My bad
The menus were well labeled in my experience. I ate tons of currywurst and pommes, which were delightful. They had dedicated gluten-free grocery stores in the larger cities I visited, as well as really good gluten-free sections in bigger chain stores. I didn't feel like there were tons of options in the restaurants/bakerys, but there was always an option available to eat or drink.
I honestly gave up trying to eat gf a couple days into our trip, surprisingly didn’t really have any reaction to it.
I have no issues on Germany. Kaufland usually has a gluten free scetion and larger places like Berlin are full of gluten free food. If you're in the smaller villages, you may struggle though.
Italy takes celiac very seriously, they have a nationally registered app that shows you safe GF restaurant options. Talk to your waiter or call ahead. Make sure you can speak a little Italian or have a translator/translator app with you
It seems like there’s a lot of disagreement. From my memory, it wasn’t the best variety, but using resources online and my limited German, I got by. We went to Berlin, Munich, Dresden, and Heidelburg. Berlin was the easiest, I had lots of potato and meats