Confidently Traveling to Europe With Food Allergies
Welcome to my blog! I help food allergy families keep their kids safe, without missing out on life. That includes traveling to Europe with food allergies, but I help with a lot of other things too.
For example…
If you have a child that is 0-2 years old, grab the Newly Diagnosed Checklist HERE.
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Can you relate?
I believe that a big part of life is experiencing other cultures and languages. This is why our family, LOVES to experience international locations. In fact, my hubby and I intentionally decided to prioritize international travel for our family when our kids were quite young.
If you have young kids STICK WITH ME HERE because even if you’re not planning on traveling to Europe with food allergies anytime soon, what you learn from our experiences in France or other European countries will help you travel ANYWHERE.
You can take these ideas and apply them so you know how to travel with a severe food allergy on a camping trip, road trip, or even at Disneyland or Disney World.
Where We’ve Been
In this blog, I’m focusing on our trip to France, but we’ve also been to other European countries with food allergies, like Spain, Italy, the UK, Ireland and Portugal. We’ve also been to non-European countries like the Bahamas, Mexico, all over the USA, and Canada (we’re from Canada, but we’ve traveled to many locations across the country).
I’ve helped thousands of food allergy mamas and families travel with food allergies, and I have a trusted and popular Food Allergy Travel Workshop where I share ALL our travel secrets!
*If you click the link or button above you’ll go to the page where you can get more information and buy the Food Allergy Travel Workshop. I completely trust and recommend this workshop!
Now that you know you can trust this blog post, let’s get to these essential tips!
3 Tips for Traveling to Europe With Food Allergies
How do you travel to Europe with food allergies?
The short answer to this is quite simple; you need to plan. A lot. Here are a few ways that we planned for our France trip.
Tip 1: First, we did some research on restaurants in Paris and France.
Unfortunately, there were a few challenges with this though.
We found that many of the blogs and posts were outdated.
Also, Paris is a HUGE city with restaurants EVERYWHERE. It was hard to find reliable food allergy reviews of the restaurants in exactly the area we were staying or site-seeing in, without having to travel far to get there (we didn’t have a car and didn’t want to spend our whole time taking transit or Uber). Lastly, the research was also made more difficult due to the language barrier.
We did the best we could with the information we had and found a few restaurant ideas.
We then decided to double-vet each place when we arrived, and never eat there if we didn’t think it was safe.
For more information about how to vet each restaurant either before arriving OR when you arrive, check out my Dining With Food Allergies Workshop where I go through our exact process.
Remember, even if you find allergy-friendly restaurant recommendations, IT’s VERY IMPORTANT to re-check them every time, because things can change quickly. Maybe the manager has changed or maybe their training has changed. Either of these could cause an allergy-friendly restaurant to become unsafe. So don’t just rely on recommendations, but instead, vet every restaurant for yourself before dining.
That said, we didn’t let the lack of information stop us. Instead, we focused on other ways to eat allergy-safe while we were in Paris.
Tip 2: We got accommodations with a small kitchen so we could cook our own meals.
I know that cooking meals on vacation may not seem restful. I mean you’re likely hoping to take a BREAK from cooking on vacation. But sometimes, cooking yourself is the most ALLERGY-FRIENDLY way to travel (not to mention how much money you save!)
I want you to know that cooking on vacation doesn’t have to be as hard as you think! I actually teach a strategy for making food allergy cooking a LOT quicker and easier while on vacation so you can feel like you’ve had a break too. I teach it in the Food Allergy Travel Workshop. Be sure to check it out if you want allergy safety and to feel like you’re having a break from cooking while on vacation.
P.S. In case you’re looking for a hotel with a kitchen in a great location in Paris, the name of our hotel was called Citadines Saint Germain-des-Pres. It was in the Latin Quarter near The Louvre.
Tip 3: We packed all the essential foods like pre-packaged snacks, baked goods, pasta, and food for the plane.
I know what you’re thinking.
That’s a lot to pack, right? But the last thing you want to do when you’re traveling to Europe is constantly searching for safe foods. And, by packing your own you won’t have to worry about fully understanding their labeling laws because all of the foods with labels will be items you know and trust. The only thing you’ll need to buy at your destination are perishables like vegetables, fruits, and fresh meats.
In my Food Allergy Travel Workshop, I teach you exactly how to pack what you need PLUS how to decide WHAT to bring so you don’t run out of food or feel like you can’t feed your child safely. I have all the packing lists, planners, and checklists you need to plan and pack without forgetting anything.
What are the best countries to visit if you have food allergies?
Yes, some countries in Europe (and anywhere) are more allergy-friendly than others, and I found that France was not as allergy-friendly as other countries we’ve been to.
Even so, we had a great time and enjoyed it very much. We just used the tips above to make our destination safe for us. I encourage you to do the same and instead of asking which countries are best to visit, focus on ways to make ANY vacation safe for your allergies. This way nothing can stop you from traveling to your dream destination!
How do you travel on a plane with allergies?
Again, planning and preparing is the BEST way to travel on a plane with allergies. Of course, always bring several of your epinephrine injectors in your carry-on, AND bring your own food for BOTH directions of the plane. I‘ve never found an airline to have safe foods, and flying high above medical care is not the time to take a risk.
For more strategies about how to travel on a plane with allergies, check out my Food Allergy Travel Workshop.
Did Food Allergies Hold Us Back in France?
Here’s the thing.
It is easy to find many reasons that you can’t travel with severe food allergies. And, yes, we did find France to be a bit of a challenge when it came to food allergies. But, if you’re like us, and creating memories while learning about different cultures, languages, and history is important to you, then it’s a priority to MAKE it happen. The bottom line is that traveling to Europe with food allergies is possible if you take the right precautions!
Here are a few of the memorable moments we had together as a family on this trip to France.
Riding some of the BEST versions of Disney rides at Disneyland Paris.
Taking a bike tour through Paris and seeing some of the most popular sites.
Seeing the Eiffel Tower during the day and at night. In fact, we were in Paris for Bastille Day (without knowing it until right before our trip), so we even got to see the famous fireworks in front of the Eiffel Tower too!
Seeing The Louvre and the amazing exhibits there.
Feeling the energy of Paris while watching buskers in the small, charming streets.
How Do You Deal With Food Allergies Abroad
As you can see, yes, we had to spend a lot of time prepping for safe allergy travel, but it really was WORTH it. We made some of the BEST memories as a family that we will be talking about for years.
If you’re still wondering about how to deal with food allergies abroad, you can get all my BEST tips in the Food Allergy Travel Workshop, I share everything I’ve learned from traveling all over the world (Italy, Ireland, UK, Spain, Mexico, Bahamas, USA, and Canada). I also have a complete workshop about how to dine out with food allergies which is so helpful when you’re traveling to Europe with food allergies or ANY destination.
*If you click on the link or button above, you’ll go to the page where you can buy the Food Allergy Travel Workshop. I completely trust and recommend this workshop!
What tip for traveling to Europe with food allergies will you try? Let me know in the comments below!
