Last time I was there was before I was gluten-free; I had schnitzel at practically every meal, it seemed, but obviously that's out of the question this time!

I especially need to find something I can bring with me on the bus ride from Vienna to Budapest, and on the plane from Budapest to Zagreb, as we will be traveling from mid-morning to mid-afternoon (probably LATE afternoon, I know how these things always go).

Thanks!

I don't have any answers, I just want to know if you have room for one more in your suitcase? I make a great travel companion.

I don't have any specific information just general advice. I packed a two week supply of Lara Bars, Glutino Bars and Enjoy Life bars when I went to England and Paris for two weeks in 2006. I also packed two loaves of Food for Life Almond Bread. It will only last 4 to 7 days without refrigeration depending on the weather. We had a refrigerator available for 8 days of the trip. I also brought along a small soft sided lunch box, plasitc bags, plastic forks, spoons and paper towels. I bought peanut butter and jelly in England, you may want to pack it. With these items I was able to put together lunches by stopping by the store in the train station each day and adding yogurt, cheese, juice and fruit.

I also brought along my salad dressing which does not need refrigeration.

Have a great trip.

I had no problems. I ate mostly from the markets (fruits, veggies and cheese) but even the restaurants were pretty recepive to "no wheat".

I also packed a bunch of bars but really, why munch on processed stuf when you have that big chunk of cheese in your pack?

You crack me up!!!

You would hate this tour--it's travel all day, play rehearsal and concert, collapse, get up early the next day to go to the next city, and do it all over again. No fun

You HAVE to try to have some fun. Maybe get a list of Hungarian cities and try to pronounce them.

Blthchgwcz!

Have a safe trip, Alison!

I haven't been in Zagreb, but last summer I was in Vienna & Budapest (among other places). In the latter two cities, most people in restaurants speak English and seemed to have no difficulty understanding. I had some sheets listing my dietary restrictions in the different languages for every country I went to.

This site has 38 different languages for celiac:
http://www.celiactravel.com/restaurant-cards.html

If you have multiple restrictions, I can look up the site I used. I ended up with sheets in Hungarian, German, & Dutch saying I was vegetarian and couldn't have gluten, dairy, egg or soy. The only problem was in one little bar-type place in Budapest, where the waitress' English wasn't so good. I handed her the sheet, she read it, her eyes got wide and the manager (with excellent English) came over. It turned out they didn't have much for me on the regular menu, but they cobbled together something for me.

I didn't buy food in stores there, so I don't know how easy it is to find gluten-free (and understand the labels).

I try Have a safe trip and take lots of pictures. It is so neat to see the cultural differences outside the US. Last summer my BIL and his mom spent a month in Germany, the pictures were amazing, especially the ones of the houses and buildings the structures had such neat characteristics.

Hi! I just got back from a Gluten-Free trip to India AND Austria, and spent 2 weeks in Austria. It's too bad you have just missed the Christmas market season, because the baked potatoes and roasted chestnuts are a great and very easy gluten-free snack. I would suggest you make your first stop a Reformhaus (health food store)- you can find them at this site:

http://www.reformhaus.de/branche/reformhaeuser.htm

What we did was enter various addresses into Google Maps and make a personalized map with all the nearby reformhaus, and then went on a walk with the locations of about four in mind. It was a good thing we mapped multiples, because the first one had gone out of business!

The premade muffins are especially good, and wrapped individually, so are perfect for travel. I liked the apricot jam filled ones, but the chocolate chip ones are also good. Most of the breads, croissants etc. are not individually wrapped and taste best toasted. I liked the pre-crunchy ones toast bits best that were like toasted bits of bread, but some of the crackers were not that great. The aerated looking ones are particularly blah. You can also buy fairly decent rice cakes in local grocery stores- in fact, I didn't go to any reformhaus in Vienna but just stocked up on chocolate coated rice cakes- the strawberry yogurt coated ones were also good.

I have a blog at www.bookofyum.com that you might find helpful in a week or so, haha. Right now I'm just wrapping up some posts on eating Gluten-Free in India, but I will definitely be posting about Gluten-Free in Austria and including reviews of gluten-free food available in reformhaus and reviews of gluten-free menus.

If you have time for restaurants, you might contact the Austrian celiac society (zoeliakie) and ask for their list of restaurants, also available online somewhere. Oh Pot Oh Pot in Vienna CLOSED last month (DOH) but I went to the Greek restaurant they recommended and there was indeed a big gluten-free menu. (although the food was just ok to my taste, it was safe).

Best wishes and have a good flight! Oh, and at my blog I posted some travel tips for dealing with airline meals that might be helpful. Definitely bring some of your own food- just no fresh fruit, produce or meat past customs.

-Sea

Thank you so much, everybody!

If you are in Vienna try the Art Corner Cafe outside the Belvedere Museum. It's a Greek restaurant and it is fabulous! We had a full gluten-free meal (Greek salad with many sauces, 7 kinds of grilled fish, dessert and drinks). There was 1 thing I couldn't have and they were very clear about that. It's pricey - about 100 Euros but worth it. It's not that often that I get a full meal! The owner is Greek and speaks English so that was an added bonus.

Thanks for the suggestion--I will definitely try it!