Gelato di Firenze - Ice Cream in Florence - A Map and Advice on Where To Go

As someone who tends to live his life through guidebooks and travel and food websites, relying regularly on the opinions of others, I have learnt to take reviews of gelaterias in Florence with a pinch of salt. Take any gelateria in central Florence that has been around for a year or more and there will be a list of glowing reviews stating 'this is the best gelato in Florence. No, in Italy'. Underneath will be a review that states 'no, this is not as good as it used to be, xxxxxx round the corner is way better now'. (See the Trip Advisor forum on 'Where is the Best Gelato in Florence')

My favourite is a lengthy post on Chowhound about gelato in Florence. Someone visited Cavini on their last day. They got there when it opened and proceeded to eat nearly all of the 40 odd flavours on offer. At the end of this session they declared it to be the best gelateria in Florence. They had been directed to it by a local (read: 'if the locals go there it must be good') and few tourists knew of  it (bingo! the holy grail when looking for good food in Italy!). But really it was just another good gelateria in Florence. There are lots of them. It's no better than the famous Badiani up the road or the other famous ones in central Florence.

It may be that some people can visit a couple of gelaterias in the morning, another couple in the afternoon and more the next day and then order them by merit at the end of the trip. For me, having visited most of the recommended ones, I have eaten mediocre gelato in the same place I have eaten outstanding gelato. Some days it has been pretty ordinary, some days sublime. Is that to do with the gelato? or me? the time of day? or the position of the moon? I don't know. It's the same with wine. One day a particular Chianti will blow me away. Another day the same Chianti will taste dull.

There is no shortage of great gelato here in Florence. In fact, I would say of all the food we eat over here, the gelato is the most consistently good. They may not know how to make bread here, but they certainly know how to make gelato. We are overwhelmed with great ice cream in Forence.

When I drive into Florence I usually park at the mercato Sant'Ambrogio. From here there is a direct route to the Duomo at the center of the city. In the 8 months or so we have been here, three new gelaterias have opened up on this sub-1km route from Sant Ambrogio to the Duomo. It's almost become a gelato trail. As I write, a new one is about to open on piazza dei ciompi to accompany the other 5 already on this straight. Experience tells me it too will be great gelato.

The end of May sees the Firenze Gelato Festival. Almost as if there were room for any more gelato in Florence.

What follows is a list of places to get good gelato with a map. These are places I learnt of from guide books and from our travels in  the city. Some days I will take the baby into town just to visit a gelateria. I don't think I have ever been recommended a place by a local. This city's top food spots have been so well picked over ex-pats and tourists that I don't believe there are any places that only the locals go to any more....

If you are looking for the best gelato in Florence, or the best gelato in Firenze, you could do worse than start with this list. If you have found better gelato in Firenze then let me know.


An Abbreviated List of Good Gelaterias in Florence

Vestri - Vestri is first and foremost a chocolate shop with another branch in Arezzo (and one in Miami!). They do however carry a good selection of gelato and the chocolate gelato here is superb, as is the hot chocolate. It's a nice place to sit and watch the world go by too.


Gelateria Il Sorriso This is one of those places that you can impress your friend and fellow gourmet travellers with. It's out in the suburbs. It has that ace 'no tourists' factor and the all important 'off the beaten track' cache that will impress any less adventurous gastronauts. Joking aside, the gelato is excellent. Though in look and feel the place is a little more scruffy and urban,  the gelato reminded me of Badiani. Again, soft, luxurious, and generous portions. Opposite the COOP, next to a good pizzeria and a tripe stand. Gastrotastic.

Gelateria Cavini Looking a bit run down on the busy car-bound piazza delle Cure, Cavini is cetainly worth a visit. A great range of flavours, some pretty good gelato but not good enough for me to wax lyrical about. Unlike this guy who tried 35 out of the 40 flavours on offer: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/262205 (though this was over 5 years ago).


Gelateria Santa Trinita Just in the oltrano next to the Santa Trinita bridge. Referred to by one friend as, wait for it, 'the best gelateria' in Florence. Obviously it's not!


Gelateria Carabe' This Sicilian gelateria is just down the road from the Academia where Michaelangelo's David lives. For that reason alone it should be one of the most popular gelateria's in Florence. For some reason it's not. It's rarely busy. But it is good. It's small unpretentious, family run. Focus is on Siciallian flavour such as Almond, lemon, pistacchio, but they have your usual, chocolate etc. I have had mediocre gelato from here in winter time when it was really quiet. In the summer, when the turnover is higher then it is consistently good.

Vivoli This is perhaps the most famous gelateria in Florence. Every guidebook and website mentions it. Especially the riso flavour. In fact, the first place we came when we got to Florence was this place. As recommended by my wife who used to bring tour groups here. Is it the best? I don't think so but I have been only twice and have eaten a lot of gelato since. But it's good. In my experience, the staff are surly but that is never a major problem. It is a small, dark, old fashioned looking bar/gelateria and would be easy to miss if it wasn't so busy.

Bar Latteria Tre A The gelato for sale here at the latteria 'Tre A' in the main piazza in Settignano is produced at 'L'Erta Del Bau' This is not fancy, luxurious, or exciting gelato but it is very good. As we pass the latteria in Settignano on the school run, I have eaten more of this gelato than any other in Florence. I think my kids are actually 67% L'Erta Del Bau gelato now. We are very lucky to have such good gelato available in such in an unpreposessing place.

L'Erta Del Bau This gelateria, I think, used to be based in Settignano. Either way, the gelato produced here is available at the latteria 'Tre A' in the main piazza in Settignano. This is not fancy, luxurious, or exciting gelato but it is very good. As we pass the latteria in Settignano on the school run, I have eaten more of this gelato than any other in Florence. I think my kids are actually 67% L'Erta Del Bau gelato now. As a final note, it's worth pointing out that this gelataria is close to the kid friendly Museo Stibbert.

Rivareno Gelateria Rivareno appeared out the blue in early 2010. It has the modernist look of Grom but even more so. However the atmosphere is a little more relaxed and the staff a little friendlier. They are a franchise. The gelato is closer to Badiani's luxurious creaminess than Grom's austere flavour explosion. They seem to serve it a little softer too. Softer (ie. wamer) is good for me as the flavours work better. The mango, morena, blood orange, and chocolate are all excellent. Really, well worth visiting.

Grom - Grom is where things get serious. If you go here to get your gelato then you shouldn't let pleasure get in the way of your intellectual enjoyment on your gelato. The staff here are helpful if you want the perfect flavour combination or details on the ingredients. But it always feels a bit joyless to me. The gelato is, of course, top notch. The salted caramel is wonderful but you get the impression that your opinion is of limited importance to them. Grom is a chain but the they work very hard not to compromise on the quality of their gelato. They even have a store in NYC now.

Festival del Gelato - Festival del Gelato is the toy shop of gelaterias in Florence. If you've got young kids bring them here. They have a huge range of gelato made with chocolate (candy) bars, nutella, different fruits, they have waffles too.

Perche' No - Perche' No has a Slow Food sticker in the window. It aspires to Slow Food ideals. Quality ingredients, no mass production. It's gelato is excellent with some interesting flavours. I like the chocolate and rum. I also had a great cheesecake their. Their pistacchio is excellent too. The shop is small and the staff are friendly.

Gelateria Badiani  - This, to me, is the queen of the gelaterias in Florence. The gelato is wonderful. It tastes decadent, rich, and expensive. The shop makes you feel under-dressed when you go into it. The staff are impeccably turned-out and not particularly friendly. But the gelato is luxurious.

Gelateria dei Neri - This place is often listed as one of the best, if not the best gelateria in Florence. I've only been once and was not that impressed. It was good but not great. But that may be because I was tired and cold or it was the wrong time of day, or I picked the wrong flavour. Or maybe the moon was in the wrong place.....

Mordilatte - This gelateria has opened up just down the road from where we live. It opened two days after I wrote this post. Initial impressions after our first visit for a free tasting were good. Rich and well made. A bit too cold though! They were having trouble serving it....

My Map of Good Gelaterie in Florence
[Those I know or want to know as of May 2010]

View I Gelati di Firenze in a larger map



More Info and Links:

Part way through compiling this list I came across this top 10 gelaterias in Florence.
Then Faith Willinger's piece: http://www.faithwillinger.com/travel/florentine-gelato-crawl
And of course Judy aka Divina Cucina also has a page: http://www.divinacucina.com/newsletter13.html

There are of course loads of online discussions about gelato in Florence:
 Chowhound: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/262205
 Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187895-i68-k592000-Where_is_the_best_Gelato_in_Florence-Florence_Tuscany.html
The Food Section: http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/2004/06/firenze_summer_.html
Virtual tourist: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/6d48e/#TL