Best Gelato in Bologna: Where to Go and What to Order
Where to find the best gelato in Bologna, from Cremeria Santo Stefano to Stefino, plus what to order and how to spot a proper artisan gelateria.
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Start with Cremeria Santo Stefano, Cremeria Scirocco, Stefino and Maritozzi e Gelato di Barbara e Renato: these four Bologna gelaterie carry the Gambero Rosso Tre Coni recognition in the 2026 guide, the highest of the guide's one-to-three-cone scale. This guide walks through each of them, the creameries sitting one tier below and the flavour choices that separate a good order from a forgettable one.
Bologna eats savoury for most of the day, so gelato works best as the pause between a long lunch and an evening aperitivo. The shops cluster in the historic centre and just beyond it, which makes a scoop easy to fold into a walk rather than a separate expedition.
Which gelaterie in Bologna are worth seeking out
Treat the Coni as a filter, not a gospel. Gambero Rosso awards them to gelaterie judged on quality, creativity and fidelity to tradition, and Bologna's 2026 crop of four Tre Coni shops is unusually strong for a city this size. That gives you a shortlist worth crossing town for, with a second tier of Two Coni names for when you are already nearby.
Cremeria Santo Stefano and Stefino sit within easy reach of each other in the southeastern quarter, around Via Santo Stefano and Via Domenico Zampieri, so they pair naturally on one walk. Scirocco sits further out on Via Barelli to the south, and Maritozzi e Gelato di Barbara e Renato adds a pastry angle the others do not have. Space them across your stay rather than trying to tick all four in an afternoon.
Cremeria Santo Stefano: dark chocolate and creams on Via Santo Stefano
Via Santo Stefano 70/c is the address for the most traditional of the top tier, a Cremeria known for classic flavours handled with care. If you order one thing, make it the dark chocolate or a cream flavour: this is where the shop's reputation was built, and creams show a gelatiere's technique more clearly than fruit does.
The location is a gift for timing. You are on the street that runs from the Two Towers towards the Santo Stefano complex, so a cup here slots neatly into a late-afternoon loop of the centre.
Cremeria Scirocco: experimentation and organic ingredients on Via Barelli
Scirocco is the opposite temperament: ingredients with an organic and sustainability-minded bent, and flavours that deliberately stray from the classics, ginger and honey among the combinations it is known for. It is the shop to choose when you want to be surprised rather than comforted, and it rewards ordering outside your usual two or three flavours.
Its address on Via Barelli sits south of the historic centre, a little off the main tourist circuit. Build it into a wander that takes in the streets beyond the centre rather than squeezing it between two sights.
Stefino: natural and vegan-friendly scoops on Via Domenico Zampieri
Stefino built its following on natural and organic ingredients plus a broad range of vegan and lactose-free options, which makes it the obvious Bologna stop for anyone travelling with a dairy intolerance or eating plant-based. The fruit and chocolate flavours are made without compromise, so nobody at the table is getting a lesser scoop.
The shop is on the eastern edge of the centre, close enough to reach on foot from the university quarter. That position makes it a sensible final stop after a plate of tagliatelle al ragù, when something cold and sharp is exactly what the afternoon needs.
Maritozzi e Gelato di Barbara e Renato: gelato alongside Bologna's maritozzo
The name tells you the format: gelato served alongside maritozzo, the sweet Roman bun split and filled with cream that has become a familiar breakfast and mid-morning habit across Italy. Bologna's fourth Tre Coni shop pairs the two, which makes it the stop for anyone who wants pastry and gelato in one sitting rather than choosing between them.
Go earlier in the day than you would for a pure gelateria, since maritozzo is traditionally a morning thing, and order a cream flavour to match the bun's filling. It is a heavier stop than a cone, so plan lunch accordingly.
Cremeria Cavour: a historic-centre stop on Piazza Cavour
Piazza Cavour 1/de puts Cremeria Cavour in the middle of the historic centre, which makes it the practical choice when you are sightseeing and want a good scoop without a detour. The shop has been trading for more than a decade by its own account and makes everything on site daily, including classic and special flavours, gelato cakes, biscuits and moretti, small meringue-like biscuits.
Its own customers single out the fruit flavours, which change with the season, and note that the queue moves briskly because the staff work it in an organised way. Take that as a signal to join the line rather than walk past when the counter looks busy.
Two Coni names: Sorbetteria Castiglione, Il Gelatauro and more
Below the top tier, Gambero Rosso's 2026 list gives Two Coni to Delizie Bolognesi, Sorbetteria Castiglione, Galliera 49, Il Gelatauro, Sablé Gelato and Schiavon Gelato. These are not consolation prizes: a Two Coni shop is still a serious artisan gelateria, and several are handier to the centre than the Tre Coni addresses.
Use them as your default when you are in a neighbourhood for other reasons, and save the Tre Coni shops for a deliberate walk. The single-cone tier is worth noting too, with L'Emporio del Gelato and Matteo De Simoni among the names listed.
How to tell an artisan gelateria from a tourist one
Three signals do most of the work. Artisan shops tend to make their gelato on the premises daily from fresh ingredients, keep a manageable number of flavours rather than a wall of forty, and store creams in flat metal pans rather than piled high in mounds, because real gelato is softer and needs gentler handling.
Flavour names help as well: a shop selling seasonal fruit that changes through the year is working with real produce, while a counter offering strawberry and watermelon in January is not. The artisan places here are also the ones whose reputations rest on ingredients rather than on a location next to a major sight.
What to order: fruit scoops in season versus creams and chocolate
Order fruit in season and creams when you want technique. Late spring and summer belong to peach, apricot, fig and berry flavours, which should taste of the fruit rather than of sugar; autumn and winter are the moment for chestnut, pear and citrus. Creams, chocolate and nut flavours are available year-round and are where a gelatiere's skill shows most clearly.
Cremeria Cavour's regulars make the same point, recommending the fruit flavours precisely because they are seasonal and taste genuine. At Santo Stefano the dark chocolate and creams are the signature. Scirocco rewards a gamble on something unfamiliar, and Stefino covers dairy-free versions of the classics.
How to order and pay at an Italian gelateria
At a counter-service gelateria you choose a size, then point at flavours; small, medium and large are usually priced by the cup or cone, not per flavour, though the number of flavours allowed rises with size. Ask for a cup, una coppetta, if you want to walk and eat, or a cone, un cono, if you plan to stand still.
Payment is normally at the counter at the end, by card or cash, and some shops take payment first and hand you a receipt to present at the gelato counter. If a shop uses that two-step system it will be signposted; otherwise pay where you order. Read the size board before choosing.
Where gelato fits in a day of eating in Bologna
Bologna's food day is front-loaded and rich: a morning coffee standing at the bar, a long lunch of tagliatelle al ragù or tortellini in brodo, then a lighter evening. Gelato fits best as the late-afternoon pause around four or five, when lunch has settled and dinner is still hours away. For the sit-down side of lunch, our Trattorias in Bologna guide is the place to start, and Tagliatelle al Ragù covers the city's signature pasta in more detail.
If you are planning a cooking class or a market morning, put gelato on the other side of the day so you are not too full to enjoy it. And if lunch was a plate of Mortadella Bologna IGP with bread, a sharp fruit scoop afterwards works better than a cream.
Which Bologna gelateria should you pick first?
If you only have time for one, make it Cremeria Santo Stefano for the dark chocolate and creams, or Cremeria Cavour if you want a good scoop without leaving Piazza Cavour. With a second visit, add Stefino for its vegan range or Scirocco for the experiments.
The four Tre Coni shops are close enough to spread across two days without effort, and the Two Coni tier fills in the gaps when you are exploring a neighbourhood anyway. Our Trattorias in Bologna guide covers the savoury half of the day, so you can build a plan where lunch and gelato do not compete.
Explore more Bologna food guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Is gelato in Bologna better than in other Italian cities?
Bologna has an unusually strong showing in Gambero Rosso's Coni, with four gelaterie holding the top Tre Coni recognition in the 2026 guide. Whether it beats Florence or Rome is a matter of taste rather than anything measurable, but the concentration of high-quality shops in a compact centre makes Bologna easy to eat well in.
Do I need to book a gelateria in Bologna?
No. These are counter-service shops where you queue, choose a size at the till and point at your flavours. The only planning worth doing is knowing which shop sits on your route and avoiding the busiest times, such as just after dinner.
Can I get dairy-free or vegan gelato in Bologna?
Yes. Stefino is known for a broad range of vegan and lactose-free flavours made with natural and organic ingredients, and fruit-based scoops are dairy-free at many artisan gelaterie. Ask at the counter if you are unsure which flavours contain milk.
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