Guide to Eating Vegan in Tuscany, Italy
Vegan gelato in gluten-free cone in Montepulciano
Two weeks in Italy is what the heart needs, but that doesn’t mean that the stomach won’t ride along. This country has always been beloved for many reasons, but one of the most popular ones is their love and lust for food.
I had been to Italy twice before, the second time as a vegetarian, but only the third time as a vegan. This made me face the Italian culinary experience with brand new eyes. I liked the challenge and embraced it fully, particularly the odyssey of finding vegan and gluten-free (because I’m a celiac) pizza and pasta, my two favorite meals of all time.
I arrived in Rome and spent three days there with a longtime friend, which you can read about in my eco-guide to Rome. After those days in the Eternal City, we went to Brescia, where she lived, spent a night, and met my Italian friend. The three of us did a road trip to the Dolomites, a mountain range in northeast Italy that is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. When Monday came and my Italian friend had to go back to work, we headed back to Brescia, with a still latent thirst for the Dolomites (they are still on my bucket list because I need to return!). My other friend, the Argentinian one, worked remotely and sporadically, since she was taking a semi-sabbatical year. I asked her what she thought about traveling across Umbria and Tuscany with me, and she said “just tell me you want me to come and I’ll go”. And so, two Argentinians started driving across yellow and green fields, listening to Italian playlists on Spotify, eating, walking, and sipping loads of coffee.
During those days we visited many Tuscan towns, one more amazing than the other. In Umbria we visited Assisi and Gubbio, and in Tuscany we had the pleasure of going to Pitigliano, Cortona, Montepulciano, Pienza, Val d’Orcia, Montalcino, Sienna, Monteriggioni, Volterra, San Gimignano, Montefioralle, and Firenze, where I finally dropped my friend off, since she had to go back to Brescia, and I continued traveling solo for 2 days, until finally going back to Rome and taking a flight to Miami.
This guide to eating vegan in Tuscany took shape in all those places that served me as exploration spots for finding ways to eat like Italians know how, in a way that is friendlier to the environment and the animals.
My friend in the streets of Pienza
HOW I MANAGED TO EAT VEGAN IN TUSCANY, ITALY
FIRST: TIPS TO EAT VEGAN IN TUSCANY
The first thing I searched for everywhere I visited was if there were vegan or vegan-friendly restaurants in the area. As most of these towns are super small, chances are you won’t find a specifically vegan restaurant, although I recommend a few below.
The easiest way to find nourishing vegan food in Tuscany is to peruse a restaurant’s menu, and search for typically dry pasta, like penne rigatti, with classic marinara sauce, or to focus on the sides. Regarding the first option, just in case, ask the waiter if they use butter or any kind of dairy in the pasta. Most probably they won’t. The second suggestion is a great way to make a full and varied vegan meal. I had great lunches and dinners with this method. For instance, you can find roasted potatoes, beans, and artichokes, as sides, and you could also ask for bread to make it a fuller meal. These are the exact sides I ordered in a restaurant in Cortona–which I list below–and everything was beyond delicious.
In addition to the bigger meals, you can find vegan snacks across Tuscany. The most obvious choice would be fruit. When I visited it was apple season, and they were everywhere, including delicious apple juice at restaurants and hotels. Another local vegan option would be olives, which are abundant in Tuscany. For convenience, look out for vegan snacks at the supermarket. I remember trying the Veggy Good crackers– which were made with rice and lentils–, lentil and chickpea snacks that are like Hippeas in the U.S., and Fior di Loto hazelnut cookies.
In between walks and snacks, you will probably want to drink some (or loads) of coffee. You will be surprised at the price of coffee in Italy. Sometimes all you need is one coin to pay for it. To make it a safe affair, order espresso (un caffè, per favore), or americano. Some places do offer plant-based milk, so ask away!
Another place in which I found comfort as a vegan was the supermarket. There are tons of vegan options for you to cook, if you have access to a kitchen, or to grab something quick to have a picnic, which we did with my friend. I bought a vegan gluten-free rosemary focaccia, tofu, and tomatoes, and we parked in an unpaved street in the Val d’Orcia. No restaurant can match up to that view, which we had for ourselves. For more details on the vegan products you can find in Italy, check out this post.
When your meals, snacks and coffee are taken care of, all we have left is dessert. A lot of gelaterias in Italy offer vegan options, but if you’re focusing solely on Tuscany, these become scarcer. Below, I recommend one that offers vegan gelato, but my advice is to ask personally if they offer vegan alternatives. Sometimes, water-based gelato will be accidentally vegan!
Additionally, if you are staying in a hotel that offers breakfast, make the most out of it! There are some vegan foods you will most likely find in a buffet, or negotiate with the staff if you have a set breakfast. Orange juice, fruit, corn cereal, jams, bread, and coffee are some ideas.
The vegan food freezer in a supermarket in Perugia
vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in tuscany
On several occasions, I found exclusively vegan restaurants, or restaurants that offered vegan options. In case you’re visiting one of these cities, add these recommendations to your Maps, and head straight that way!
VEGAN RESTAURANTS IN FLORENCE
A cute little spot in Florence that serves a wide range of raw vegan food and is located near the Pone Vecchio and Giardino di Boboli. I visited in the morning, and had some trouble choosing one cake of all the options I had available, but I finally decided on an apple cake that was really good. They have various items for different meals of the day, including pizzas, wraps, burgers, smoothies, acai bowls, pokes, and drinks.
Quinoa is a gluten-free restaurant in Florence with a few vegan options. Because I’m a celiac, I was relieved I had that aspect covered during this meal, and then I was glad to find out they have items on the menu that are also vegan, including a vegan burger, pad thai, and vegan pasta, which was my choice. They also gave me gluten-free bread, and I ordered a gluten-free beer. The restaurant also has a big and beautiful patio, that’s surrounded with arched windows, which is where I sat. Afterwards, I went for a night walk across the city, and ran into a few talented street musicians. Una seratta perfetta!
VEGAN RESTAURANT AND HOTEL IN VOLTERRA
You will love this one! Life Bistrot is a plant-based restaurant & hotel in the picturesque Volterra, one of the most recommendable towns to visit in Tuscany.
The restaurant was built on an archeological site–I remember an Etruscan wall and a Strada Romana, protected by a glass–which makes the indoor seating area feel like a museum. The menu is a typical Italian one, which is divided by Antipasti, Primi, Secondi, Pizze, and Dolci, and each item has its allergen information. Gladly, I have the restriction of being celiac, so my choices were reduced to the gluten-free options in the menu, otherwise I would have had a lot of trouble deciding! I ordered the pea risotto with almond cream, and the eggplant parmesan with tomato, almonds, and pesto.
The restaurant is part of a hospitality group that has apartments and villas whose mission is focused on sustainability, which is why they use vegan cleaning products, and use renewable energy, among other practices.
My vegan risotto in Life Bistrot, a vegan restaurant in Volterra
VEGAN SPOTS IN SIENA
Oasi Verde is a market in Sienna that sell packaged products as well as ready-to-eat food, with various vegan options. They sell organic fruit and vegetables, pastry, bakery, salads, pizza, bread, snacks, and ice cream, as well as food you can prepare if you have a kitchen, including pasta, grains, vegan cheeses, vegan burgers, and vegan cookies.
Another restaurant that offers an entire gluten-free menu with some vegan options. It has an outdoor seating area with incredible views of Siena. I ate there twice. The first time I ordered vegan pizza, which was amazing! It had black olives, cherry tomatoes, pears, basil, and either mushrooms or artichokes (don’t remember which). The second time I ordered pasta with olive oil and veggies, and a gluten-free beer.
VEGAN OPTIONS IN CORTONA
This is the restaurant in Cortona I suggested before, because even though it’s not a vegan place, I managed to put together a complete meal with the sides they offered, which were accidentally vegan. Sides are called contorni in Italy, so make sure to check out that part of the menu in every non-vegan restaurant you go to. You’ll probably get lucky.
In this case, my friend and I found this elegant-looking restaurant a few steps from the square. An English man started talking to me while I was perusing the menu and he said it was an amazing restaurant. As the contorni list looked promising, we went ahead and requested a table. I ordered roasted potatoes, cannellini beans, and artichokes with garlic and parsley. They were incredibly good. Sometimes I still look at the picture of these three gastronomic musketeers, and I wish I was in Italy, doing my vegan-food quest again.
VEGAN GELATO IN MONTEPULCIANO
This gelateria in beautiful Montepulciano (another town in Tuscany I think you should prioritize), offers a few vegan flavors, as well as a gluten-free cone.
The apple cake I ate at Raw Vegan Firenze, the raw vegan restaurant I visited in Florence, Tuscany
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS- TOURISTY GUIDE TO TUSCANY
Now that I have made sure your body is well-nourished, let me move forward with other recommendations in Tuscany that will nourish your soul!
Librería Antiquaria Magnanet, Montepulciano
The friend I was traveling with had visited Montepulciano with another friend just weeks before. Since she was living in Brescia, and we were going to visit dozens of other towns she hadn’t visited yet–and also, of course, to enjoy my company–she was perfectly fine with going back to this beautiful Tuscan town.
Luckily for me, she had discovered this vintage bookstore that houses 30,000 volumes of Italian literature, travel, medicine, politics, philosophy, among many others, as well as old maps and prints. It’s the kind of store where you must spend a few hours to be able to browse through everything. Maps and prints are laying in piles on several tables, and you never know what world or piece of the past you may discover. The store is also aesthetically beautiful and cozy, and has a very peaceful vibe.
I don’t usually stay at incredible hotels like this one, but since I had to get closer to Rome to grab my plane and get back to Miami, I decided to stop somewhere halfway, to have a last taste of Tuscany.
I found Antica Fattoria La Parrina by pure serendipitous luck, an old factory located right on the border of Tuscany, very close to the coast. The hotel is surrounded by vineyards, and made a beautiful background for my sunset and morning running sessions. The place also has a market, a wine cellar, a restaurant, a coffee shop, lots of cats, nice patios, romantic rooms, and a picture-perfect breakfast area. I paid about $130 for one night, which is way more than what I had been paying during the rest of my trip, but not bad for what it offered, especially comparing it to hotel prices in the U.S. Make yourself a favor and look at the pictures in their website. A dream I’ll try to relive one day.
Piazza della Repubblica, Cortona
Cortona is one of the prettiest towns in Tuscany, even though it’s tiny as most of the towns I mentioned in this post. My friend and I arrived just before sunset, checked in at the hotel and went for a walk. We watched the sun hide behind the horizon from a lookout, and then started to walk around town until we hit the Piazza della Repubblica, a square that was so alive it drew us in like a magnet. Kids were playing around, locals were socializing with their neighbors, and tourists were sitting at the café tables, drinking alcohol in every form. All we needed was to exchange gazes, and it became clear that we wanted to join in and be a part of the cortonese dolce far niente experience. We sat at an outdoor table, almost right in the middle of the square, ordered wine and coffee, and we talked about life, our trip, and looked around, trying to imprint that picture in our memories for the rest of time.
Caffè Poliziano, Montepulciano
This is another spot I’m very excited to share, because it made all my Italian coffee dreams come true, and I know I wouldn’t have found it without the help of my friend, who had been there on her last visit to Montepulciano. She gave me the bookstore and this coffee shop. Thank you Delfi!
Caffè Poliziano is a typical historic caffè that stands out because of its elegance. The indoor area makes you feel like you are an Italian from another era, and it has the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to read a newspaper or a Machivelli book. The outdoor area is where we sat. There was a narrow balcony with classic white garden chairs and a couple of flowerpots, all cute and inviting. But the biggest and most remarkable thing was the view. I decided to add a photo of it to this post, because sometimes words can’t describe the full scope of beauty. Once again, we sipped coffee–and my friend also munched a biscotti– with a breathtaking view of the Tuscan fields, while being kissed by the invigorated pre-noon sun.
Caffè Poliziano in Montepulciano. My friend Delfi is walking in to the indoor area, since we had coffee outside in the white chairs, admiring that breathtaking view.
Pienza streets
Pienza is a town that is beautiful in its smallness. I recommend you walk around–it probably won’t take you more than an hour–and check out its secondary streets, some of which have been named after love words, like Via dell Amore (Love Street) and Via del Bacio (Kiss Street).
The Duomo di Firenze, or Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, is simply one of the most majestic and beautiful pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen in person during my lifetime. When you see photos of it online, you will certainly tend to underestimate its size. Once you are standing there, you can start comprehending what an outstanding creation it is.
Located in the Piazza del Duomo, this gothic-style wonder started to be built in 1296, and its exteriors are made with polychrome marble panels in shades of green, pink, and white. The cathedral complex includes the Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile, and they are part of the UNESCO Heritage Site. You can tour the complex, but make sure you arrive early, because lines are insane, as it is one of the most popular attractions, not only in Tuscany, but in Italy and Europe in general. You can otherwise just admire it from the outside, but make sure to stretch your neck afterwards.
Caffè Giardino, San Gimignano
Another serendipity moment in my Italian trip was when I was in San Gimignano–which is located up in a hill–and I wanted to find somewhere to drink coffee and somewhere to watch the sunset. Luckily, I found this spot that offered both just outside the town’s walls. It was empty, since most people go there for lunch or dinner. I grabbed the table at the back that’s right next to a medium-sized window (a very Italian window), from where you can see the Tuscan fields turning pink with the sunset. Confession: I didn’t want to leave, because the moment was so perfect, so I drank two full cups of coffee. Best coffee junkie moment of my life.
Another attraction I recommend visiting is the Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena), that has an Italian gothic style, just like the one in Firenze. It has also made the list of my favorite architectural spots in the world. I bought the OSA SI PASS, which includes access to the Cathedral, the Piccolomini Library, the Crypt, the Baptistery, the museum, and the best part: the facciatone, which is the highest part of the complex, from where you have a panoramic view of Siena, including the Cathedral. Other types of tickets included access to the Porta del Cielo, but I decided not to do it. My ticket was good for 3 days, and I used it only for two, so before leaving Siena, I grabbed a random person at the ticket line, and gave them my ticket so they could use it and save themselves a few bucks.
View from the Facciatone, in Siena
Hopefully, this Guide to Eating Vegan or Plant-Based in Tuscany, Italy will be useful and inspiring to you, and that it helps you eat all the Italian favorites in an environmentally-friendly way!
Also, I suggest watching Under the Tuscan Sun and Letters to Juliet in preparation for your visit to beautiful Tuscany!
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Hi, I’m Melina,
I’m the creator of Sustainable Rookie, and my goal is to share what I learn throughout my sustainability journey, so that I can help other people live a more conscious life.
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