Eating gluten and dairy free in Italy

The gluten free is pretty common nowadays compared to the past and easy to find. Look for the words senza glutin on the menus posted outside of the restaurant We ate at a restaurant in Orvieto gluten free bread and pasta.

A friend of ours wh cannot eat gluten, eggs or soy took a trip recently to Italy. She carried a card in Italian stating specifically what she could not eat. She reports that the food was delightful and that she had no problems finding delicious food that met her dietary restrictions.

Menus have first courses, second courses, side dishes. I found there were a variety of dishes without dairy when choosing from the second course selection. For example, one meal I had lamb with olive oil and fresh herbs. Many side dishes are vegetables in season prepared simply. Some restaurants had gluten free pasta choices.

I'm allergic to corn, almonds and wheat. I've been all over with these limitations. Go - you'll be fine. Be warned that Benadryl is not for sale anywhere in Italy so bring plenty with you. Likewise, I carry a couple of EpiPens and make my own allergen card to hand out in restaurants. I've never had a ton of luck with the allergen card but I do carry one. Mostly, I eat carefully - from grocery stores where I can read the labels. Also, lots of fresh grilled chicken and fish type dishes work well. I carry nutrition bars from home and try to locate a jar of peanut butter and some crackers to have on hand.

a lot of restaurants have a guide showing the various allergens.
if you are looking for gluten free breads etc and can't find them in the supermarket, try the pharmacy, as they often stock a range of gluten free bread, cakes etc.
hope this helps.

Italy actually has some gluten-free food shops. It seems to be one of the easiest places to travel if you must avoid gluten, because the awareness level is very high

I think the non-dairy bit will be easier in the south, where the focus is on oil rather than butter, but it should be manageable even in northern Italy with proper notification to restaurant staff. I am mildly lactose-intolerant (managed by popping a Lactaid pill or two), and I am fairly often surprised when a dish I ordered appears to contain milk, cream or cheese, so I would not rely solely on menu descriptions.

By all accounts, Italy is one of the most gluten-aware places around. There a many threads on this. Here's what a forum search turned up; if you read all the threads you'll see a lot of duplication, but also some different information (like specific restaurants): https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&filter=Travel+Forum&query=gluten+italy&utf8=%E2%9C%93

Italian menus are usually a la carte. Each part - primi (first courses), secondi (second courses), contorni (vegetables), antipasti (various starters, including soups and sausages), dolci (desserts), etc - is ordered separately. So, it's not hard to skip specific items if you want, and just order other items instead. You do not have to, and are not expected to, order an item from every section - that would be way too much food!

For dairy, I agree that secondi (often meat, poultry, or fish) would rarely have dairy, and even more rarely have hidden dairy. But I've definitely encountered unexpected cheese in primi. For antipasti, you can get just sausages if you want, and any cheese will be separate and easy to see; however, watch out for soups made with Parmesan or other cheese for flavor. Contorni are usually not made with dairy unless specified. And for dessert, you can almost always get plain fruit or fruit with liqueur, rather than chancing something that might have dairy (and frankly, often isn't that good - desserts are definitely not the best of Italian cuisine, at least in restaurants).

thanks and outstanding comments so far :) take all we can get. I'm just about convinced we can do this :)