Spring break season is rolling around once again and many people are looking for warm weather destinations to spend some time in, but what if you’re gluten-free? If you have celiac disease or are required to eat a gluten-free diet, you know that hopping on a last minute flight with zero planning doesn’t always work out for us. Not every city is accommodating when it comes to gluten-free or celiac safe options, and it’s no fun to be stuck eating granola bars and beef jerky, even if you’re eating them in the sunshine.

Find Me Gluten Free has you covered! We cross referenced lists of top spring break destinations with our list of the top gluten-free cities in the world. Keep in mind that some of these cities may not be the best in the world when it comes to the sheer amount of options, but they are definitely in the top 100, and you’ll be able to enjoy some amazing food while you’re there! So with out further adieu, let’s get to it.

1. Buenos Aires, Argentina

We would be remiss not to put Buenos Aires at the top of this list. Buenos Aires is the #1 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 127 dedicated gluten-free places, including 76 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 71 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Slightly warmer in March than in April, you can definitely escape the cold with average high temperatures reaching up to 80°F. With exceptional gluten-free cuisine, great weather, beautiful architecture and amazing culture, this is a destination where you truly do not have to compromise!

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2. São Paulo, Brazil

Our #2 pick for a gluten-free spring break vacation is none other than São Paulo, Brazil. São Paulo is the #8 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 55 dedicated gluten-free places, including 20 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 26 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. The gluten-free options here are plentiful. In March and April São Paulo is making the transition from the hot, rainy summer season into a more temperate and drier autumn. Along with gluten-free food, this destination is brimming with culture and art. São Paulo is also famous as an urban hub of Latin America with accompanying stunning architecture.

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3. Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne is the #12 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 45 dedicated gluten-free places, including 27 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 16 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Although sometimes referred to as having “four seasons in one day”, when visiting in March or April, you can expect some of the most pleasant, mild, and sunny weather of the year. With endless dining options, museums galore and an array of sporting events, there is so much to do and experience in this vibrant coastal city.

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4. California, USA (Multiple Cities)

California is a no brainer when it comes to picking a beautiful, warm weather vacation. However, we couldn’t pick just one city in California for gluten-free dining, as there are multiple which are highly ranked!

Los Angeles is the #15 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 35 dedicated gluten-free places, including 21 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 19 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. The home of Hollywood and the second largest city by population in the United States, Los Angeles is an exciting place to visit. From the city to the beach to the mountains, there’s so much to explore.

San Francisco is the #18 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 26 dedicated gluten-free places, including 20 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 5 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Known for its steep hills, iconic neighborhoods and infamous Golden Gate bridge, San Francisco is truly unique. Enjoy attractions like Fisherman’s Wharf or visit the oldest Chinatown in North America.

San Diego is the #21 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 24 dedicated gluten-free places, including 12 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 10 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. You’ve likely heard of the world-renowned Sand Diego Zoo, but there’s so much more to experience including breathtaking coastal cliffs and sun-soaked beaches. Along with incredible nature and food, San Diego is consistently ranked as having the best weather in the United States with warm and sunny conditions year-round.

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5. Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane is the #20 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 25 dedicated gluten-free places, including 17 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 7 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. If you’re into the outdoors, Brisbane is an excellent choice for your vacation. Explore the islands just off the coast or spend some time in their national parks. Known for over 280 days of sunshine per year, it’s safe to say you’ll get your fair share when visiting.

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6. Austin, TX (USA)

Austin is the #22 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 24 dedicated gluten-free places, including 16 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 6 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Deemed the “Live Music Capital of the World”, Austin, Texas is a music-lover’s paradise with over 250 venues and various major music festivals. Beyond music, you can also enjoy plenty of gluten-free bites, including their famous Texas BBQ. When it comes to weather in March and April, you can expect warm sunny days and cooler evenings.

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7. Sydney, Australia

Sydney is the #29 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 22 dedicated gluten-free places, including 10 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 14 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. A surfer’s dream, Sydney boasts world-class beaches like Bondi beach and Bronte beach. The weather here is slightly warmer than Melbourne but slightly cooler and less humid than Brisbane, offering a nice middle ground for Australian destinations. Although, it is ranked a bit lower when comparing the amount of gluten-free places with those other cities. However, it is still ranked highly globally and offers many safe options to choose from!

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8. Florida, USA (Multiple Cities)

Florida is one of the first destinations that comes to mind when you hear the words “spring break”, and there is more than one city with gluten-free options on our top 100 list.

Miami is the #37 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 18 dedicated gluten-free places, including 12 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 6 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. A classic spring break destination for just about anyone, but also a good option if you’re gluten-free! Beautiful sunny beaches, rich Latin American culture and delicious gluten-free dishes make Miami a great place to spend your time.

Tampa is the #53 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 12 dedicated gluten-free places, including 9 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 4 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Gluten-free options are less widely available than Miami, but still enough to enjoy your time here. Beyond the food, Tampa has some of the most breathtaking beaches in the United States, along with a bustling night life scene.

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9. Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City is the #72 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 10 dedicated gluten-free places, including 5 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 8 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Your safe dining options might be a little more sparse in Mexico City, but there are still more than enough for you to enjoy while you’re there. March and April are some of the best months to visit due to the dry and sunny weather. You may even catch the beautiful Jacaranda trees blooming, turning the city purple. You can also explore the Aztec history of the area along with over 150 different museums.

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10. Bali, Indonesia

Bali is the #89 ranked gluten-free city in the world with 8 dedicated gluten-free places, including 6 dedicated gluten-free restaurants and 2 dedicated gluten-free bakeries. Bali is a beautiful island vacation destination, but we had to put it lowest on this list due to the ranking of gluten-free options globally. You may need to do a little extra planning and exercise more caution when dining out, but there are definitely plenty of options to help you get by and enjoy some tasty meals. April is preferred over March when it comes to less rain and humidity as well as better beach conditions. Outside of the food and nature, Bali offers a rich Hindu culture as well as world-class surfing, diving and yoga experiences.

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So, where are you spending your spring break?

As always, don’t forget to leave reviews for any spots you try during your travels. Every review helps someone else who is planning a vacation.

Ready to book your flight? Don’t forget about some of our helpful features on the Travel Tab in the app (ratings for airlines, options at airports, and translation services to name a few).

Was this list helpful for you? Do you think we should have included another destination? Let us know below!

At Find Me Gluten Free we understand the challenges of dining out because we experience them ourselves. That’s why we are so passionate about the work that we do and about providing an accessible resource for the community. We worked hard to improve the app last year, so we wanted to take a moment to review some of the updates we’ve made, as well as talk about the future of Find Me Gluten Free in 2026.

We’re so grateful for this incredible community and we hope you will continue to support us, and each other, with your contributions on the app. Together, we can unlock new experiences and make more informed choices when dining out!

Updates We Made in 2025

@findmeglutenfree

Find Me Gluten Free on Instagram: "We’re very excited to announ…

1. The Safety Quiz / Safety Badge

We’re always looking for ways to improve the most important aspect of dining out with celiac disease, or as someone who needs to avoid cross-contact. One of the biggest changes we’ve made this year was the introduction of the all new Safety Quiz.

This new feature includes educational reading material and a short quiz on celiac safety. Our goal with the Safety Quiz was to improve the reliability of safety ratings through out the app. That’s why earlier this year we decided no one can leave a Safety Rating unless they have passed the Safety Quiz. You’ll know someone has passed the Safety Quiz because they will have a red heart icon next to their name and on their profile in the app.

As people with celiac, we know that contacting a place once isn’t enough information to safely rely on when dining out. Things change in a restaurant and you may even receive different answers from different staff members. In fact, no amount of information will ever guarantee safety for someone with celiac disease. The best chance of a safe experience is always through consistent feedback from a community of people, and through self advocacy.

We want to empower our community to advocate for themselves, and on behalf of anyone who comes after them. Everyone who has passed the Safety Quiz has an inherent knowledge of celiac safety and cross-contact, making their feedback on safety more reliable. We hope this in combination with our resources on how to advocate for yourself when dining out will be a huge help to our community!

@findmeglutenfree

Find Me Gluten Free on Instagram: "Last year we introduced the …

2. The Travel Tab

Last year we introduced the all new Travel Tab! We added a brand new tab onto the home screen that is dedicated to travel planning and exploration. This tab introduces tons of new features and also brought existing features into the spotlight.

On the Travel Tab you can explore the latest photos of gluten-free food shared from around the world. You can explore the highest rated options by country, or even by city. Check out the best rated hotels and resorts in the “Where to Stay” feature. Browse options at airports, or even further, you can now rate and review Airlines and Cruise Lines for their gluten-free options.

We also created the “Plan a Trip” feature, which is an improved process of creating a new collection. Use it to add custom pins like a hotel or landmark, and then explore nearby options on a map and save them to a collection!

3. Translated Dining Questions

Another huge project we worked and introduced to the community in 2025 is our Translated Dining Questions. No more sending off a card or piece of paper to the kitchen and hoping for the best, put the power back in your hands and get immediate feedback on the information you need!

This feature allows you to turn your phone into a live pocket translator for safety-questions! Choose a language and then select a question. The question will be translated to your server, and they’ll be able to tap a response in their native language, which will then be translated back to you.

Tap the sound icon and have your question be spoken aloud! We even worked with people from the gluten-free community to create these translations. We initially began with just 5 languages and have already expanded to 26 total languages to choose from. We’re looking forward to expanding this list further in 2026!

4. Additional Improvements

Some other improvements we’ve made is the introduction of “Hometowns”. When editing your profile, you can add your home town. We hope to use this feature to improve discoverability of new restaurants and reviews in your local area in the future.

Speaking of recent activity, you may have noticed the new Activity Feed. This feed shows you the latest activity on the app based on your current location. Check out new reviews and photos. You can even filter by best match, newest, or by people you follow. Want to scroll through food photos? We’ve got you! Change the feed to “photos only” and see what’s being served up near you, or change your location to see recent activity anywhere in the world.

We also created a feature where you can ask the community a question about any restaurant. Go to the restaurant’s listing on Find Me Gluten Free and post your question, community members can then answer you.

Coming up in 2026

1. Improved Review Process

Our goal is always to provide the most information as possible to our community. Since most of the data on Find Me Gluten Free comes from reviews, we’ve been researching and working on a new and improved review process. We hope that it will make the review experience better, as well as increase reports on specific restaurant and safety details, such as whether or not a place has a gluten-free menu, or if they have a separate prep space for gluten-free food. This streamlined review process is live now, open the app and add a review to give it a try!

2. Better Insights

Speaking of information, we want to offer better ways to see these details. We’re hoping to provide more call outs to important safety details that the community has reported. With insights you can see important information quickly, like how many people have reported a dedicated fryer in the last year. We hope this will help you get to the information you need quicker. We’ve launched a beta of this feature on iOS for our Premium subscribers and are working to finalize it.

3. Safety Improvements

This year we plan to continue improving safety and safety ratings on Find Me Gluten Free. Some of the ways we’re working on this is by limiting maximum safety ratings on some of the bigger chain restaurants. Also, our new review process will focus heavily on safety reporting and features.

4. Recent Activity

We want to find better ways to show you the most recent activity, new reviews and listings near you. This means improvements to search and discovery, and narrowing down results so you can find what you’re looking for faster. We’ve also recently turned on the ability to be notified when someone you follow posts a new review (limited to Premium subscribers on iOS only for now). Follow friends or Local Guides to keep up with their activity!

5. Encouraging More Reviews

Our community is vast, and many people on Find Me Gluten Free use the app with out ever leaving a review. Sometimes people just don’t realize how much of an impact one review can make! We’re working on new ways to encourage the community to take an active role in helping one another by sharing more reviews.

From The Community

What We’ve Seen

Thanks for tagging us in your videos sharing your experiences with Find Me Gluten Free!

@gluten.gotta.goFind Me Gluten Free helped me be able to eay while traveling. I could tell my family what places I would be able to find food and even went on a date with my boyfriend. Please use this app! #findmeglutenfree #glutenfree #glutenfreerestaurant #celiacdisease #glutenintolerance #chronicillness #foodallergy

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We love this post from @gluten.gotta.go on TikTok! She is encouraging others in the community to leave more reviews, which helps everyone who uses Find Me Gluten Free to have a better experience. We’ve made it a huge focus for 2026 to try and get more community members to take the first step and leave more reviews.

@lisettexavier

Lisette Xavier | Story time: best hike of my life

**NOTE this …

Lisette tagged us in this video on Instagram sharing her experience of having to pivot her plans while traveling. When her hiking plans fell through, she was able to find a dedicated gluten-free bakery to enjoy instead, thanks to Find Me Gluten Free! We hope to create more scenarios in the future where Find Me Gluten Free can save the day or help you have more spontaneous moments while traveling.

Share Your Feedback

We want to hear from YOU! What do you think about the updates we made in 2025, and what would YOU like to see in 2026? You never know, we may just make it happen! Share your feedback in the comments below or send an email to jason@findmeglutenfree.com.

Thanks For Reading

If you’ve made it to the end, we just want to say once again that we are so grateful for your support of Find Me Gluten Free and the gluten-free community. Every contribution you make on the app helps others more than you realize. Whether it’s leaving a review, adding a place, or reporting a change, your impact is endless. We are excited for another year of great food, connections and experiences!

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Acknowledge Your Feelings

The Holidays can be a difficult time for so many reasons. Having a dietary restriction and chronic illness that prevents you from enjoying things the same way as everyone else can make it even harder. It’s normal to feel left out, overwhelmed or frustrated. Acknowledge any feelings you may have and know that they are valid.

Plan Ahead

Having celiac disease means we always have to make a plan in advance. If you’re not hosting, call the person who is and figure out what accommodations can be made for you. Many people want to be good hosts and after a little education (and with a lot of trust) they may be able to help alleviate some of the burden.

Make it Yourself

If you have the means, make yourself a plate and bring it with you. It may seem like a lot of work (and it is) but there are some ways to make it a little easier. One way is to just buy premade products from the store. There are gluten-free dinner rolls, frozen pumpkin pies, microwave mashed potatoes and more! It may not taste exactly like Grandma’s, but if it helps you feel included, that matters.

Set Up a System

If your holiday gathering is serving both gluten-containing and gluten-free foods, it’s best to create a system ahead of time so that cross-contact is minimized. This can look like telling the host you want to be able to serve yourself first, putting the gluten-free items first in the buffet line, or making an announcement or having signage that reminds people not to mix serving utensils.

Break the Rules

We tend to make up a lot of rules about how the holidays “should” be, but these rules can be broken if it means making your life easier. Traditions are important, but sometimes the most important part is sharing a meal and spending time with friends and family. Instead of eating the roasted turkey with everyone, bake some chicken breasts and bring them with you. Instead of having pumpkin pie for dessert, bring your own little pint of gluten-free ice cream to enjoy. Remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect!

Make an Early Exit

It’s natural to feel disappointment around the holidays. They may not feel the same as before you were diagnosed with celiac disease. If something goes wrong, or your patience is gone, remember you have the power to just leave! Especially if you’re not feeling well. You have the option to go home, put on some pants with an elastic waistband, and watch your favorite comfort show on TV.

Take it Easy

Don’t be too hard on yourself, or your loved ones (if they’re trying their best). Navigating life with celiac disease is challenging. It can be even more difficult during events with shared food. Through lived experience and perseverance, it can become easier. Some things may go wrong, some food might not be perfect, but at the end of the day spending time with the people you love is the most important thing.

Leave a Comment

If you have any tips or suggestions for how to survive the holidays with celiac disease, leave them in the comments below!

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