Located in the Bay of Naples, Sorrento is high on many holiday makers’ dream destination list. It’s a lovely town and the surrounding Amalfi Coast area and islands in the bay are shrouded with romanticism and picture postcard landscapes.
Whether you plan on a island-hopping, coastal exploring holiday or simply want to sit in shady squares sipping on Limoncello, Sorrento can be a brilliant base for your holiday.
In this gluten free Sorrento guide I have rounded up some gluten free friendly eateries and other spots we discovered on our recent holiday to the area. I’ve also added some accommodation ideas, to help you find hotels that can cater for coeliac guests.
Where to Stay
We stayed in the hills above Sorrento, which I personally preferred. Sorrento town itself is quite hectic and can be bustling with tourists in peak season. We enjoyed being able to pop down for dinner or to have a wander in the town, then retreat to our peaceful hillside home. It was also a good location for exploring the rest of the Amalfi coat (more on that later). We enjoyed discovering some beach coves that were off the regular tourist trail.
I would recommend AirBnB for independent travellers, but I have also included some hotel options located in Sorrento itself. It can be equally lovely to be located in the town, especially if you don’t have a car.
Hotels
- Michelangelo – restaurant at the hotel can cater for coeliacs, gf bread, pasta and even fresh gf desserts
- Hilton Sorrento Palace – coeliac friendly, offer bread pizza and pasta gluten free and even a dedicated fryer.
Self Catering Options – AirBnB
If you have not used AirBnB before, I would highly recommend it! We use it pretty much every time we travel and you get to stay in loads of beautiful homes in great locations. If you click here to join and you will receive £34 credit – £25 off your first home booking and £9 towards any experience booking!
There are lots of lovely places in Sorrento itself, but if you have a car I would recommend staying up in the hills. You can find places with stunning views and even swimming pools, yet prices are much cheaper than in town.
Gluten Free Friendly Restaurants in Sorrento
Many of the restaurants in Sorrento can cater well for coeliacs, but there are also a few duds in the mix. Here are a few that I either tried myself/enquired at personally or have seen well-recommended:
- Foreigners Club (Circolo dei Forestieri) – a place lots of you recommended and somewhere I would not have gone otherwise. With its English name and hotel style entrance you don’t realise about the beautiful views, terrace and gluten free menu offered within. They are AIC accredited and have a great gluten free menu, with extensive choices. We tried homemade ravioli, gnocchetti, calamari, house salad and profiteroles. All were delicious!
- Ristorante La Fenice (temporarily closed) – accredited by the Italian Coeliac Socity (AIC), this restaurant is well set up to cater for coeliacs and gluten free diners. They have a gluten free (coeliac) menu available, with a good range of choices.
- Benvenuti in Casa – highly review restaurant with gluten free options available.
- Stoviglie – a good choice for gluten free vegetarians and vegans, as this restaurant can cater for both diets.
- Ristorante Pizzeria Tasso – gluten free pizza, pasta and other dishes. Staff told me the pizza was suitable for coeliacs, as they use separate trays for cooking (note cooked in the same oven). Beautiful entrance, through a tiled archway and up some tiled steps into a cool courtyard.
- Ristorante Sorrento – everything here can be done gluten free, aside from the lasagne. Homemade pasta, pizza,desserts and more. Including cheesecake!
- Ristorante O’Parrucchiano La Favourita – part restaurant, part garden paradise, this restaurant would be a wonderful date spot. I spoke with staff who confirmed they can cater for coeliac diners, with menu options including gluten free pasta, fish dishes and more.
- Ristorante Fuoro – full gluten free menu available and lots of positive reviews from coeliacs who have eaten there.
- Cafe Latino Sorrento – set in sweet little lemon garden, this restaurant offers a coeliac menu.
- Ristorante San Antonio Pizzeria – various gluten free dishes available including pizza, plus they have a nice outdoor terrace if you can bag a table there. I saw a positive review about this place from fellow coeliac The Gluten Free Fridge – she mentions gluten free bread and good staff awareness of coeliac requirements in her review.
- L’Antica Trattoria – this well-reviewed restaurant has a gluten free menu and is coeliac friendly, with most dishes being able to be made gluten free.
- Pizzeria da Franco – a pizzeria with gluten free pizza options, suitable for coeliacs according to reviewers.
Gluten Free Gelato
Lots of ice cream shops in Sorrento sell sealed gluten free cones. Many places will use a clean scoop if you tell them you are coeliac. I was still a bit nervous of cross contamination so opted for frozen yogurt (from a Mr whippy machine) on my cone. You could always ask them to scoop from the untouched end of the flavour if you think this will be cross contamination free.
- Il Duomo Bar & Gelateria – located on the on the main street, I had my gluten free cone with soft serve ice cream from the machine here (pictured below, melting very rapidly as it was such a hot day!
- Antica Gelateria Sorrentina – this spot also serves gluten free cones and has a soft serve machine. Lots of gluten free (and some lactose free) ice cream flavours too if you are happy to brave the scooping.
- Fresco Sorrento – individually sealed gluten free cones. All but one ice cream flavour was gluten free when we popped in. I didn’t try it myself as was already full from my earlier ice cream.
Beach Bars
The sea off Sorrento is beautifully clear and lovely for a swim. The beach front is mainly dominated with beach clubs, which you pay day rates for. However, there is also a small public beach. You can either take the lift down of walk down the steps (not particularly strenuous, but not wheelchair or pushchair friendly).
- Marameo Beach Bar Restaurant – we didn’t eat down by the beach, but this might be a good place to try if you are looking for a beach club for the day. They had gluten free choices marked on the menu, including pasta and pizza.
Other Eateries on the Sorrento Penninsula
- Ristorante Pizzeria Emilia – I absolutely have to include this local gem we discovered. It was in the same village as our AirBnB, a small village called Massa Lubrense. It’s a simple local restaurant (with al fresco dining and a small childrens playground), but I had some of the best gluten free pizza OF MY LIFE here. Accredited by the Italian Coeliac Society (AIC), their gluten free bases are homemade. The bases were so good that Dave actually chose to have gf pizza instead of regular on our second visit. Soft and pliable, yet crispy and honestly like no other gluten free pizza I have even had. They also have coeliac friendly chips and loads of other gf dishes too. Highly recommended!
I hope you’ve found this gluten free Sorrento guide helpful. If you have visited the area and have any coeliac friendly recommendations you would like to share, please email me (Laura) at mygfguide@gmail.com.
For more travel inspiration, check out my other gluten free travel guides while you are here:
- Rome Gluten Free Guide
- Florence Gluten Free Guide
- Puglia Gluten Free Guide
- Barcelona Gluten Free Guide
- Bali Gluten Free Guide
Happy travels! x