Lake Como has a way of slowing you down if you visit it in the right season or in a “quieter” way. Last year, we spent a few nights on Lake Como during the long weekend around April 25th, traveling as a family and with one very clear priority: get the sense of the area (spoiler: it’s such a varied area, much like the Dolomites where we live and it needs more than a few days to really experience it the way it deaserves to be) eating well and gluten free, without stress.
This article is not a restaurant guide in the classic sense. It’s more of a personal Lake Como gluten free travel diary, written for those who love to explore Italy slowly, who care about food quality.
Why Lake Como Works Well for Gluten Free Travelers
If you are used to traveling in Italy gluten free, you already know one thing: compared to many other countries, Italy is surprisingly advanced when it comes to celiac awareness. Lake Como is no exception.
During our stay, we noticed:
- Good general knowledge of gluten intolerance and celiac disease
- Clear menu markings in many restaurants
- Staff who understood cross-contamination concerns
Our Stay on Lake Como (Late April)
We visited Lake Como at the end of April, during the Italian national holiday. The season was just beginning: spring colors, a couple of grey days and another couple of sunnier and milder ones and a lively but not overwhelming atmosphere.
This time of year is ideal if you:
- Prefer fewer crowds than summer
- Enjoy walking villages and lakefront paths
- Want to combine food, nature, and short drives to nearby regions
Staying a few nights allowed us to slow down, repeat places we loved, and not rush meals which is especially important when traveling gluten free.
Eating Gluten Free on Lake Como – Real Experiences
Before I name out the places where we had food during those days, I want to quicly sum up the experience.
In different towns and villages, you can find:
- Gluten free pasta options offered without hesitation
- Naturally gluten free Italian dishes (risotto, fish, grilled meat, vegetables)
- Gluten free bread or adaptations when requested
Italian cuisine, when done simply and with quality ingredients, is often gluten free by nature. On Lake Como, this simplicity is a real advantage.
So, where did we eat gluten free at lake Como?
Let’s start reverse, with our last gluten free meal on lake Como before going back to the Dolomites. It’s also probably the less expected one, you don’t even find it easily: the Bottega del Maiale in Lecco. Normally eating gluten free implies eating a bit fancier than the average, cause more pricey locations often means more skilled and experienced staff. This was one of those places that made an exception to the rule. Being a coeliac for almost ten years now, I’ve collected a number of experiences about this and for once, this was a place where I felt normal. If you have some kind of gluten sensitivity you know what I’m talking about. The place resembles an old italian alimentari (a grocery shop with a little bit of everything). To order your meal you go and see at the counter everything there is, both cold and warm food. Price is very affordable, we had lunched outside and the dished where served on simple paper plates. Everything tasted genuine and delicious! Almost everything is gluten free, all bread is too (pretty tasty as well!)
After lunch and a walk we went to get a gelato here, which actually turned into a wonderful true sicilian granita.
Another place we went to, which I can highly recommend, where we spent more of what we normally do on such trips, is Ristorante la Baia, in Cremia.
I feared the kids would turn the place upside down, luckyily the place is vast and there’s a playground right outside. After dinner we enjoyed the sunset and blue hour walking alongside the lake.
Food pictures are taken with a Realme smartphone, everything else on two different film cameras.
At La Baia you really get the sense of a more “luxury-level” kind of service, everything is very curated. Working in the branding field as well, I was really struck about how well they’re doing that all around, from the booking service, which leads you to remain connected with them, to the extreme care they put in describing how they prepare gluten free products, the featured parfume and drinks they have in collaboration with other local vendors, to the brioches for the day after they serve upon paying (the only little lack about the gf experience was of course a gf version was missing).
Final Thoughts: Is Lake Como Gluten Free Friendly?
Yes, absolutely. We self catered the majority of our meals, we had two kids + a newborn, so that made more sense to us to not being too tied to be somewhere at a certain time. We ended up not having too many occasion to try other gluten free restaurants, but when I research before I tried, I saved a bunch of places that clearly state they have particular care for gluten free. Moreover, in such context of heavy international tourism, I think local restaurants have come to the conclusion that they should always keep some gluten free pasta in stock and be aware what eating gluten free safely is about.
Yes, absolutely. We self catered the majority of our meals, we had two kids + a newborn, so that made more sense to us to not being too tied to be somewhere at a certain time. We ended up not having too many occasion to try other gluten free restaurants, but when I researched before our trip, like I normally do in places I don’t already know well enough, I saved a bunch of places that clearly state they have particular care for gluten free. Moreover, in such context of heavy international tourism, I think local restaurants have come to the conclusion that they should always keep some gluten free pasta in stock and be aware what eating gluten free safely is about.
In conclusion, remember to always be very clear about what your needs are and I’m pretty confident everything will go smoothly.
Personal considerations about visiting lake Como in a meaningful way
Ferries get packed, even in intermediate season, like when we visited. Be prepared for long queues especially with the most sought after villages.
Lake Como is surrounded by mountains, a lot of the paths are easily accessible, while others are trickier. We stayed in a very small village, with its own charme, which wasn’t the easiest for shopping groceries but I think it was a beautiful setting to breathe, relax and the view on the lake was simply astonishing.
The last bit of this frame, on the right, is actually not lake Como but in the Dolomites a few weeks later at the end of May, in a very special place I’ll write about.
If your Italian journey brings you from Lake Como to the Dolomites and you are looking for authentic experiences, intimate landscapes, or photography inspired by real moments, you can explore more stories and visual journeys here on the site.
If you’re visiting the Dolomites too and you eat gluten free, then I highly recommend the WilDolomites map I created, with my favourite places to eat safely and deliciously :)
Last thing, there are so many walks to do and things to experience and places to visit, a must for me is Villa Carlotta gardens, if you’re into this kind of stuff, it’s one of the best garden experiences in Italy.
