Is it possible to do a hut-to-hut trek through the Dolomites when you are gluten free?

In a short answer: Yes! It’s totally possible. In fact, the “senza glutine” (Italian for “gluten free”) dinner options were absolutely delicious.

If you have to eat gluten free (GF) and are wanting to know if you can stay overnight at the rifugios (backcountry huts) in the Italian Dolomites, here are a few things you should know:

• If you have a severe gluten allergy, you may find it difficult to communicate the standard to which you need to avoid cross-contamination.
• There are three courses served for dinner: the first course – usually a pasta, soup (GF*), or risotto (GF) option; the second course – usually a heavier meat or vegetarian dish; and a desert – usually a yogurt or other dairy* option.
  • Some of the rifugios had a GF pasta option, which was lovely, but usually I had to opt for a risotto or polenta dish.
  • Not all of the soup options were GF, but they all at least offered a GF vegetable soup.
  • *I can’t speak to other dietary restrictions, such as dairy-free or vegan, as I certainly was not avoiding dairy or meat, but I found the staff to be incredibly gracious and accommodating to all dietary needs.
• The gluten free breakfast options were much more limited than the dinner options. Luckily, I had the foresight to pack several heavy-calorie bars and other protein snacks to supplement the breakfasts.
• For each rifugio we visited on our trek, there was always staff that spoke at least rudimentary-level English, but utilizing the Italian phrase “senza glutine” was very helpful in communicating that I needed food options without gluten.
  • The Dolomites are located in Northern Italian near the southern border of Germany and therefore had a heavy German influence. There were staff at each rifugio that spoke Italian, German, English, and likely French as well.
• I was notbeing strict about cross-contamination, therefore I did feel some effects of cross-contamination.

I do not have Celiac Disease. The reason I eat gluten free is actually because of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I treat my gluten avoidance with generally the same strictness as someone with Celiac because the effect gluten has on my RA totally sucks. It causes extremely painful inflammation in my joints, which is very unideal for an enormous physical objective like the Alta Via 4. However, if it comes to not eating to avoid cross-contamination or dealing with some cross-contamination, I will always pick the latter and deal with the light inflammation.

My personality is pretty conflict-avoidant and I hate to be difficult with my dietary needs, so I gladly accepted the GF options the rifugios had and didn’t make a fuss beyond that. To the staff’s credit, most of them warned me about cross-contamination and their inability to completely eradicate it, but they were generally willing to try. I basically told them not to worry too much about it (because I’m a people-pleaser…), but this approach definitely resulted in more inflammation in my joints than I usually deal with it. In the end though, I was just happy to be full at the end of the night.

For your own gluten-avoiding sake, I recommend trying to communicate the severity of your allergy as best you can, but expect that you will likely run into some cross-contamination. If that is tolerable to you, then you will have an incredible time and eat very well while trekking hut-to-hut through the Dolomites!

See what I ate for each of the four nights and mornings I spent in the rifugios along our Alta Via 4 route:

• Night 1 – Rifugio Lavaredo
  • 1st course: risotto and mushrooms
  • 2nd course: turkey and vegetables
  • Dessert: flan-like cake
  • Breakfast: cups of yogurt
• Night 2 – Rifugio Citta di Carpi
  • 1st course: vegetable soup
  • 2nd course: polenta and melted cheese
  • Dessert: yogurt with blueberries
  • Breakfast: prosciutto and sliced cheese, yogurt & granola
• Night 3 – Rifugio Alfonso Vandelli
  • We arrived early enough in the day that we treated ourselves to some lunch: polenta and bratwurst (11 euro)
    • Dinner 1st course: vegetable soup
    • 2nd course: turkey kabobs with potatoes and roasted zucchini & red peppers
    • Dessert: yogurt with blueberries
    • Breakfast: GF breakfast crisps with nutella, gluten free bread + prosciutto and cheese (my most robust breakfast by far)
• Night 4 – Rifugio San Marco
  • This was not our originally planned destination for the night, but after an incredibly long, strenuous, and wet day we were lucky enough to find 2 bunks available for the night.
    • 1st course: GF penne pasta with ragu (ground beef, but with no sauce – to my surprise)
    • 2nd course: “beef stew” – not actually a stew, but a large piece of beef covered in gravy (that I assume was GF…) with potatoes and collared greens
    • Dessert: yogurt
    • Breakfast: GF rice crackers with jams