We didn’t spend much time in the city, but we stayed our first and last nights here. It is pricier than a regular car, but Costa Rica has very few regular roads…when you are driving up a steep hillside on a newly-flattened dirt road, you will be glad for that extra traction! Equally, there are no road names, very few signs and generally lots of surprises along the way – best to be prepared and everything will then be much smoother.Īlso, definitely hire a 4×4. We never usually bother, however phone internet coverage in Costa Rica is almost non-existent and you cannot connect to maps on your handset. If you decide to self drive (which I recommend, we had a great experience) definitely rent a sat nav too. Having our own transport made everything much easier and meant we could stock up on some gluten free Costa Rica adventure essentials from supermarkets and keep them in the back of the car. I genuinely missed it when we left!Ĭosta Rica has much better infrastructure than the guide books give it credit for, however we wanted to pack a lot into our two weeks so we hired a 4×4 jeep to drive ourselves around (we hired from Sixt San Jose – they were brilliant, even when our incoming flight was delayed by 4 hours they stayed open late for us on a Sunday night). It’s a very filling breakfast and would keep me going long into the afternoon. Give staff your gluten free restaurant card to make sure there’s nothing gluteny going in with the rice and beans, but I had this every single day and didn’t get glutened at all. Asking for “ desayuno tico sin pan o tortilla” (traditional breakfast without bread or flour tortillas) gets you gallo pinto (rice and beans stirfried with various spices), scrambled eggs (“ huevos revueltos“) and fried plantain, often with a side serving of fresh fruit. Gluten free bread is not readily available in many parts of Costa Rica, but that’s not a problem as the traditional Costa Rican breakfast is rice-based and is delicious. Having print outs, rather than just displaying the text on your phone, makes life a lot easier as staff can take a copy back to the chefs in the kitchen. I rely heavily on these when abroad and it’s very useful to have a few with you to give to restaurant staff when you don’t speak the local language. Take some Spanish language restaurant card print outsĭespite my husband’s reassurance that he speaks Spanish, it quickly transpired that he had over exaggerated somewhat and we stumbled our way through the language with the help of my trusty coeliac gluten free restaurant cards from Celiac Travel. I had no problem at all as a coeliac travelling around Costa Rica and I would go back in a flash. It often helps at breakfast to stress that you don’t want any toast with your meal, as they sometimes add it on even if not on the menu. Many meals centre around rice, beans, meat, vegetable and fresh fruit, all of which are naturally gluten free. Generally it is very easy to stick to a gluten free diet in Costa Rica. Gluten Free Costa Rica Overview – being coeliac or gluten free in Costa Rica Here are my top tips on how to THRIVE as a coeliac in Costa Rica, along with some gluten free restaurant suggestions and travel recommendations. I had no idea how I would get on as a coeliac in the country, but with a suitcase full of gluten free snacks we set off for a two week adventure. This tiny country in Central America has so much to offer: from volcano trekking and white water rafting, to sandy palm-fringed paradise beaches and lush tropical rainforest teeming with wildlife. I loved Costa Rica and in this guide you will find my gluten free Costa Rica top tips.
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