Best Gelato in Arezzo: Cremeria Cecconi & More Spots to Try

Which Arezzo gelaterie are worth seeking out

Two Arezzo shops reached Due Coni when the 2021 Gambero Rosso gelateria guide was published: Cremeria Cecconi and Sunflower. Punto Gelato sat one tier lower with an Un Cono in the same edition. None of the three appears among Tuscany's top-rated addresses, where the guide gave its Three Coni to shops in Florence, Pisa and San Gimignano.

The picture held in the 2027 guide, where Cecconi and Sunflower are again listed at Due Coni among 23 Tuscan shops. Punto Gelato also returns, among the Un Cono group.

What this tells you is that Arezzo has depth at the second tier rather than a destination gelateria worth a detour from Florence or Siena. If gelato is one part of an eating day in the city, plan it as the afternoon pause between a long lunch and dinner. The best restaurants in Arezzo are a separate decision, and most sit within a short walk of the historic centre.

Cremeria Cecconi: the Two Coni regular

Cremeria Cecconi is one of Arezzo's two Due Coni addresses, holding the rating in the 2021 guide and again in the 2027 guide. A Due Coni rating means the guide's tasters place it above the bulk of Italian gelaterie but below the small national elite. Treat that as a reliable signal for a good cone rather than a reason to travel across town.

Order the way Italians do: pick a cup (coppetta) or cone (cono), choose one or two flavours, and pay at the till before handing the receipt to the person scooping. Small is usually enough after a Tuscan lunch, and a two-flavour cup lets you pair a cream with a fruit.

Sunflower: the other Arezzo name to know

Sunflower held Due Coni in the 2021 guide and kept its place in the 2027 list, sitting alongside Cecconi as one of Arezzo's two rated shops. Two shops at the same level in a city this size means the choice is really about which end of your walk you finish on.

If you want one sweet stop in the late afternoon, gelato fits neatly before an aperitivo in Arezzo. A small cup of gelato is the lighter choice ahead of dinner.

Punto Gelato: a third Arezzo option

Punto Gelato carries an Un Cono, the guide's entry-level rating, in the 2021 edition, and it appears again among the Un Cono shops in the 2027 guide. An Un Cono is not faint praise: the guide only covers shops its tasters consider worth naming, so a listing puts the shop ahead of most gelaterie in Italy. It does mean the tasters placed it a step behind the city's two Due Coni addresses, Cremeria Cecconi and Sunflower.

Use it as the flexible option when Cremeria Cecconi or Sunflower sits away from your route. Treat the rating as a guide's judgement rather than a promise about any single visit.

What the Gambero Rosso cones mean

Gambero Rosso is an Italian food and wine publisher whose gelateria guide rates shops from one to three Coni (Due, Tre and Un Cono), the ice-cream-cone symbols printed beside each entry. Three Coni is the top band; Due Coni marks a strong, consistent shop; Un Cono means a place the guide considers worth a visit.

The ratings are the guide's judgement, reached by its own tasters, not a public vote or a shop's own marketing. In Tuscany the 2027 guide keeps Three Coni for La Gelateria della Passera in Florence, De' Coltelli in Pisa and Gelateria Dondoli in San Gimignano, with the rest of the region spread across the lower tiers.

Read a listing as a starting filter, not a verdict on your own taste. A Due Coni shop can still be the wrong stop if you want a particular flavour or a seat, and a listed shop may simply be the one nearest your walk.

How to tell good gelato at the counter

Judge the counter before the shopfront. Gelato should sit flat and dense in its tub rather than piled in soft swirls, and natural colours matter more than bright ones: pistachio should look muted green-brown, not lurid.

Ask for a taste (un assaggio) before committing, and watch whether the staff scoop from covered tubs kept cold rather than scraping a melting surface. If a shop gives no tastings at a busy moment, order a small cup of one flavour rather than a large cone of two.

Flavours to order in Arezzo

Crema, the egg-and-milk base, is the fairest test of a gelateria, followed by pistachio (pistacchio) and stracciatella, milk gelato streaked with chocolate. In Tuscany, look for seasonal fruit such as peach and fig in late summer and chestnut in autumn; the guides list shops, not individual flavours, so choose from what looks freshest.

If you want a pastry instead of a scoop, split the decision. Arezzo's pastry shops suit a sit-down coffee and a slice of cake, while a gelateria is the quicker stop on a walk.

Gelateria or pasticceria: which stop for a sweet break

Gelato is the better choice when you want to keep moving: a cup eaten outside takes ten minutes and costs little. A pasticceria rewards a slower pause with a coffee at the counter, but it is a sit-down ritual and a bigger interruption to a day of sightseeing.

Both work as bridges between meals rather than as meals themselves. If your lunch ran long, a small gelato in the late afternoon leaves room for dinner, while a slice of cake and a coffee does much the same job in winter. A light scoop after a plate of pasta is the better fit for lunch in Arezzo on a warm day.

For a savoury pause instead, Arezzo's trattorias cover the sit-down end, and the city's street food in Arezzo covers the quick bite. A gelato afterwards is the natural close to either.

Which Arezzo gelateria should you pick?

Start with Cremeria Cecconi or Sunflower, since both hold Due Coni in the 2027 guide. Choose Punto Gelato when it is closer to where your walk ends, accepting its Un Cono as a lower tier than the city's two leaders.

Due Coni shops are the upper end of Arezzo's gelato, but none of them is a national top-tier address, so let your route decide. One good cup in the afternoon is the honest way to eat gelato here.