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Welcome in a gluten-free world

In this section, you will find pages addressing gluten-free travel.

The articles are sorted by country. The specificities of each country, allergen maps, available dishes, points to consider, and much more will be discussed.

The unique feature of this website is undoubtedly the interactive maps presented for each country, which allow you to filter restaurants according to your preferences. Are you heading to Japan and want to taste their delicious specialities? No problem, visit the « Japan » page on Gluten-free World, then click on the « Interactive Map » section. From there, you can select only the restaurants that offer Japanese cuisine.
To become an expert in using these maps, a tutorial will soon be available.
If you have any information to share about gluten-free addresses (establishments that are not on the map or report changes to an existing establishment), please fill out the form available here, because together we are stronger.

The journey starts now, below you will find the latest blog articles on gluten-free travel as well as my story with gluten. I hope those contents will be useful for your travel because and will show you that travelling without gluten is possible: eat we can.

Gluten-free guides

Who am I ?

My name is Eva and you may have guessed that I love to travel. Since I was 14 years old, I’ve dreamed to explore the world. It was only when I was 22 years old that I took my first step towards that goal with an internship in… Manchester. It wasn’t my dream destination, but it allowed me to test the joy of travelling without getting too stressed: I respect my own pace as someone who likes to move forward step by step. It also gave me the opportunity to improve my English, which was one of my objectives.

It was also around that time that I discovered my intolerance to gluten, which would occupy a significant portion of my free time in the years to come. I learned about the food I could consume and had to relearn how to cook. I bought numerous books and discovered many new diets. I went out with my friends, sometimes successfully, sometimes not especially because I felt isolated or because I learned the hard way about the risks associated with gluten at restaurants.

But most importantly, I researched how to travel gluten-free because I still hoped to explore the world without starving, and one day, I finally did it. It was the beginning of a joyful story that I want to share with you. Planning gluten-free trips takes time, and what I want the most is to make your life easier by sharing my experience with you.

My intolerance to gluten: the long and winding road

It had been years that I was in an endless misdiagnosis regarding my headaches, fatigue, the fog that prevented me from thinking, and my digestive problems. Anxiety and stress were the words used to describe my symptoms. It was during my internship in England that the symptoms worsened and I started throwing up every of my meals. This shocked me and I finally decided to take control of my life.

I had already noticed that more gluten-containing dishes I ate, the more difficult my days became. My first thought was to decrease my gluten consumption to feel better. I started to review my way of eating: when it came to processed food where gluten was the main ingredient I opted for certified gluten-free products; I kept eating products containing gluten if it was used as texturizing agent or conservative; I accomodated myself to the meals that I was prepared when I was a guest. I thought I had found the solution to my problems but it only lasted a few weeks. In fact, I am going from feeling very bad to bad and despite waiting several months, it did not improve further.
I am going back to France where I have the possibility to weight myself. What a surprise when I observe that I have gained weight and not just a little. It probably looks like nothing for you but I was desesperatly trying to gain weight for years but so far all my efforts were unsuccessful: I was stuck at 45 kgs. My iron level increased as well and spoiler alert in the upcoming years I will not suffer from anemia anymore. It sounds to me that I am on the good way to feel better.

I decide this time to go 100% gluten-free. I read books and blogs dedicated to the subject and I understand more and more in which extent gluten is now everywhere. At this point, I think that my food choices will be very limited and that I will not longer enjoy eating. It is all the opposite that will happen. I buy recipe books to learn how to cook without gluten and I am now cooking almost all my meals. I am now able to do the meals as I like them, I discover new flavors and eat helthier by reducing the amount of salt, preservatives and sugar. Goodbye to highly processed ready-made meals, hello homemade food.

Everything is not getting perfect straight away probably beacuse my gut was very irritated. I am patient and after several months and probiotics treatments, I no longer have bowels pain, no more acid reflux, my digestion returns to normal, my constant headaches disappear, the continuous fatigue I felt is replaced by a more energenetic life, my blood tests improve and the weight gained stays.
Grocery shopping becomes less and less tedious because I am starting to know the products I can eat and I no longer have to scan EVERY labels. Unfortunately this learning process involves mistakes and their consequences but it is part of the transition.

My biggest mistake is probably to have started this gluten-free diet before being diagnosed. It took me a long time to understand I needed a gluten-free diet. Before fully realizing it, I occasionnaly succumbed and ate gluten-based products or products with possible traces. Consequences make me stop these slip-ups because it does not worth it.
I will never have the desire to go back to a gluten-containing diet to have undeniable proof of my intolerance: the proof I already have and I don’t need more.