The aroma of fresh baked bread and pastries in the morning, and creamy gelato of every flavor imaginable in the afternoon.
Has your mouth started to salivate yet?
Well, I am going to give you "the scoop" on some of the best options for sweet-toothers like me, who need to have their fresh morning pastry with coffee, and a refreshing gelato to close up the day.
Having lived in Italy for about a month now, I obviously have not experienced absolutely every nook and cranny of this beautiful country, but I have gotten a taste of some very delicious treats.
In eating my way through my stay here, I want to turn the spotlight towards the winners of daily cuisine: pastries and gelato.
Not only are we going to see some of the best treats and shops, but also the cities to which they belong.
So let us begin our sweet journey.
Sweets in Florence
Since I have lived in Florence during my trip, I have spent most of my time eating here.
I go to Antico Forno Ghibellina on a nearly daily basis, and am always greeted with a “Ciao, Arianna!” as the warm welcome from my newly made Italian friend, David.
Within just a week of my stay, we had already learned each other’s names—something you would also be able to experience in the Italian ambience!
All of the other students in my study abroad program who have gone to this bakery have LOVED it.
From fresh breads to pastries to sandwiches, this bakery is always drawing in tourists and locals—and for a good reason. It is in the top 15 Florentine bakeries!
Another hot spot is Ditta Artigianale, which functions as both a bakery and a restaurant, with Italian-American fusion cuisine.
They have a display of scrumptious pastries, such as croissants with pistachio filling, and a sit-down menu for larger meals.
I have eaten breakfast and brunch here, so if you are craving American food from home and still want to experience an Italian twist, this is definitely a go-to place. It is always packed with locals and tourists.
Now it is time to discuss Italy’s most famous dessert: gelato!
This is a difficult dessert to discuss-- there are so many incredible options!
Venchi, Gelateria La Carraia, Perché no! These are among some of the best gelato places in Florence, with good prices and a great variety of flavors, ranging anywhere from Nutella to lavender.
One of the unique spots I found is actually a Sicilian shop called Don Nino.
They are a little pricier, but they have good gelato, as well as cannolis and macarons. It is located by the Duomo in Florence, so it is a nice place to check out after a long day of walking.
Although there are many places that I am missing, these have all been ranked highly as dessert shops and I have personally loved them all!
Sweets in Siena
Shifting over to sweets in Siena, I spoke to Cristina Amberti, my group tour guide, about the best treats there.
She told me about the Panforte, an Italian cake that originated in Siena and is absolutely amazing. I even bought one at La Nuova Pasticceria to take home!
The Panforte Margherita is a white vanilla cake (one of the types of Panforte cake) created for Queen Margherita of Italy.
Amberti's personal favorite is the ricciarelli, which is an Italian cookie that also originated here. This dessert is made of almonds, sugar, and paste.
She believes it is special “because they were made just here… spices came from (the) Middle East in (the) 1200s…”
I definitely recommend buying some bakery treats like these to take with you. They have free samples of these treats, depending on the bakery you visit.
I traveled to Siena and San Gimignano the same day, so I only know about a few places in each area from personal experience, but I made sure to check out the best ones.
Sweets in San Gimignano
You may or may not have heard of the world’s best gelato place.
If you have not, now you know that San Gimignano has been the home of the multi-year winning gelato champion, Gelateria Dondoli.
Yes, WORLD champion. From 2006-2007, and 2008-2009.
To this day, there is still a really long line outside of the small gelato shop, located at the top of the medieval San Gimignano village. The prices are surprisingly cheap.
Sergio Dondoli, the owner of the shop, received the MAM prize, which is the “Living National Treasure” award. He is the only gelato maker to have achieved such a prize.
After having gotten my three scoops of cinnamon, hazelnut, and raspberry-rosemary gelato (yes, all very unique compared to other shops), I only wanted to go back for more.
I walked back towards the shop after doing some exploring in the village, and there he was. Passing out flyers and taking selfies with tourists in line for gelato.
Sergio Dondoli, the legend.
He has the most vibrant personality, encouraging his customers to say “gelato!” with him for their pictures.
It was so surreal to be able to see this gelato master, a world champion who has been the owner of Gelateria Dondoli for 26 years, standing in front of me and engaging with people.
I decided to take my shot to talk to him, and he was more than happy to take a picture with me and my friends.
I asked him about his job as a gelato shop owner and his passion for his work. He told me how much he enjoyed his job and that it was the best thing he could do in his life.
He said, “Everybody comes out with (a) happy face…”
And remember, whatever you do, DO NOT say gelato is the same as ice cream. He jokingly expressed to me his struggle in explaining this to people, saying, “We don’t have ice cream, we have gelato.”
Dondoli then blew me away with what he told me next.
“Gelato is happiness.”
In his eyes, gelato brings people together and everyone comes over to the store already excited to buy some.
His flavors are all so different—he said that there is 60% real fruit inside of the fruity-flavored gelato. They have trademarked 11 different gelato flavors, and they create a new one every year.
And then I asked him what seemed to be a challenging question for him: what is your favorite gelato flavor?
His response was this: “They’re all my kids.”
Each individual creation he treats as his own child, having made it himself.
This was the best answer I have ever received to any question, and I could not help smiling.
If he did have to choose favorites, he prefers one of the chocolate flavors and the “Wild Side,” one of his creations made with truffle.
There you have it—if you are traveling to Florence, Siena, and San Gimignano at any point, these are some of the key places to visit. They are all affordable, delicious, and unique in variety and originality.
Each of these locations has a personality of its own. From grabbing baked treats to gelato runs during the day, I hope this guide gave a good, condensed version of some of the best spots worth sampling. You will definitely find yourself adding on to the list the more you explore!
So sweet-toothers: get ready for eating your way through all the treats Italy has to offer!