Food Intolerances in Croatia
On Cruises and Tours
With all our cruises and tours we ask you to fill in our Passenger Info Form well before your arrival. Please let us know any specific food requirements and we will let the cruise and tour companies know so that they can cater for any necessary meal changes for you. We really need to know at least 30 days, preferably 60 days, in advance so that they can prepare for your holiday. Thank you.
Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut allergies, seafood allergies, vegetarian, vegan and almost anything else can be catered for. Please remember that once out to sea a cruise ship only has to hand what is already on board, so forward notice and planning is essential. Thank you. The more specific information you give us about what you can eat, the better.
For vegans, we suggest that you take some kind of protein powder with you as this can be the hardest part of a vegan diet to source whilst on your holiday and the part that most vegans seem to be fairly particular about. If you are starting a cruise in Split or Dubrovnik please make time to visit a supermarket, fresh market or health food store to stock up on your favourite vegan snacks for while you are on your cruise. As almost all cruises are half-board only, then there is one meal a day where you can select anywhere to eat and help fulfil your dietary requirements. Please read the websites/blogs below EatRunSee and Happy Cow and plan your on-shore meals accordingly.
Shops
- Bio & Bio are a chain of shops that cater for gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, vegetarian and natural products (including food, nut and rice milks, toiletries such as sunscreen, shampoo etc). You can use Google maps to find the nearest store (search ‘bio & bio croatia’), they have a couple of stores in most major cities and towns in Croatia.
Websites and Apps
Some of our clients have asked for suggestions on how to find more specific requirements for their way of eating. Here are some suggestions and a few websites that might be helpful to you.
- EatRunSee has a great blog post you can read for vegan options
- Happy Cow vegan/vegetarian restaurant list website has a good list of options all over Croatia
- Gluten Free Guide Croatia App has extra info
- The Croatian Society for Coeliac Disease has a useful page for tourists, including (brief) information on restaurants for gluten-free meals and where to buy products, and some lists and letters to print out to take with you to restaurants
Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants in Croatia
- Makrovega is a vegetarian & macrobiotic restaurant in Split
- Silk Street Food in Korcula Town has some fresh food options
- Pomalo has locally sourced organic ‘not so fast food’ in Split
- Stixberry kiosk near the Old Market Split (near the port) has truly delicious vegan (dairy-free/gluten-free) icecreams, not to be missed! Seriously, get one! Banana is awesome; lemon is, well, we’ll leave that up to you..
- Up Cafe is a organic cafe in Split serving up light meals and desserts
- Art of Raw Food is a vegan restaurant in Zagreb
- Vegehop is a vegetarian restaurant in Zagreb
- Prijatelji Zivotina (Animal Friends) has a very useful list of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Croatia
Gluten Free in Croatia
- Moje Malo Zlato is a small family-run bakery that produces fresh, great-tasting gluten-free (and lactose-free) bread and muffins, with their products stocked in locations all across Croatia. Check out their map to find out where to buy their products.
Special Dietary Requirements in Croatia – Useful Phrases
- vegetarian (as in food, not person!) – vegetarijanski (ve-geh-tarry-yan-skee – with a hard g sound)
- vegan – vegan (veh-gan)
- coeliac – celijakija (seh-lee-ya-kee-ya)
- gluten free – bez glutena (bez glue-ten-ya)
- gluten free – ne sadrži gluten (ne sad-zri glue-ten)
- Male: I am vegetarian… – Ja sam vegetarijanac (Ya sam ve-ge-tarry-ya-nats – with a hard g sound)
- Female: I am vegetarian – Ja sam vegetarijanka (Ya sam ve-ge-tarry-yan-kah – with a hard g sound)
- Male: I am vegan – Ja sam vegan (Ya sam veh-gan – with a hard g sound)
- Female: I am vegan – Ja sam veganka (Ya sam ve-gan-kah – with a hard g sound)
- Male: I am allergic to… – Ja sam alergican na… (Ya sam a-lerr-gee-chan – with a hard g sound)
- Female: I am allergic to… – Ja sam alergicna na… (Ya sam a-lerr-gich-na – with a hard g sound)
- I do not eat… – Ja ne jedem… (Ya ne yeah-dem)
- I do not drink… – Ja ne pijem… (Ya ne pee-yem)
- …eggs – jaja (ya-ya)
- …meat – meso (meh-so)
- …fish – ribu (ree-bu)
- …milk – mlijeko (mlee-yeah-koh)
- …dairy products – mlijecne proizvode (mlee-yech-ne pro-eez-vo-deh)
- …peanuts – kikiriki (kee-kee-ree-kee)
If you find any extra information that you think is useful, please do let us know so we can add it to our website for future customers. Thank you!