Gluten Free Guide to Cinque Terre, Italy (Cinque Terre Senza Glutine) + La Spezia

🚨Tap into the places to get more info about them & tap the map view at the top right corner to see the places on a map!

So you're going to Cinque Terre...yay! I'm so excited for you! It is such a beautiful area of the country and well worth a visit.

If you can believe it, it took me 4 years of living in Italy to make it to Cinque Terre! I know...crazy! I really held off because of the negativity I'd heard from my Italian friends about the amount of tourism and the lack of GF options. But, as The Celiac in Italy, I felt it my duty to scope out the situation and I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised. I found more options than I was expecting and I was blown away by how beautiful and unique each of the towns are.

Also, in full transparency, I had to have more conversations with people about cross-contact than any other place in Italy. I have a hypothesis: First, there aren't any AiC certified spots in Cinque Terre (apart from a gelateria) so there isn't the presence of a governing body to standardize the cross-contact procedures. I think we forget just how remote the towns actually are and the fact that they're surrounded by a national park. But more importantly, the amount of tourism (especially from America) has definitely influenced the way cross-contact is managed. I suspect that restaurants are accustomed now to getting diners who are GF by choice (as is common in the States) so they haven't needed to exercise their cross-contact skills much. 

All of this said, Cinque Terre is a wonderful place to visit and you are not, by any means, going to starve. I want to equip you with the skills and knowledge to go into the experience with optimism along with a healthy level of skepticism so you’re sure to stay safe while dining here.

Keep reading to hear about my fav spots and top tips!