Best Gelato in Modena: Artisan Gelaterie and What to Order
Modena's best gelato comes from small artisan gelaterie, from Bloom's natural sorbets to Diecigusti's few, precise flavours. Here is where to go and what to order.
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The best gelato in Modena is a small-shop affair: Bloom for natural, additive-free gelato and unusual botanical sorbets, Diecigusti for a handful of precise flavours, and the Antica Gelateria Modenese for the classic gelato and semifreddo tradition. Between them sit family names, neighbourhood institutions and a couple of newer cremerie, so a cone can anchor a walk through the centre or a stop on one of the outer boulevards. This guide covers each shop, the flavour to order and how the counter works.
Modena rewards eating on foot. The historic centre is compact, the arcades and coloured palazzi make for an easy loop, and a gelato in hand is part of how the city takes its evening walk, which is why the local selection of gelaterie leans towards small artisan production. Pair a scoop with a plate of tortellini or a plate of gnocco fritto at one of the best restaurants in Modena and you have a full day of eating planned around a single neighbourhood.
Why Modena takes gelato seriously
Gelato in Modena is a daily ritual rather than a treat for visitors. The city's gelaterie sit alongside trattorie and barred windows of balsamic barrels, and locals treat a cone as the natural close to a walk through the centre. Small artisan shops sit beside chains here, and the distinction matters when you are deciding where to spend your appetite.
The useful sorting question is whether a gelateria makes its own gelato in small batches or buys it in. Modena's own listings separate the small artisan shops from the chains, and the artisan shops get named for their ingredients and house flavours rather than their marketing. Use that as your filter: a short list of flavours, a visible laboratory and seasonal fruit are better signs than a long display of brightly coloured mounds.
Bloom: natural gelato and botanical sorbets
Bloom is the shop to seek out if you care about what goes into the base. Gianluca Degani's project grew from an ingredient-first philosophy, with no additives, preservatives or artificial flavourings in the gelato, and seasonal fruit sourced with attention to small producers. It is the only shop in the province reported to hold the Tre Coni, the top rating in Gambero Rosso's Italian gelaterie guide, with the award recorded for 2025.
What to order: the botanical sorbets are the conversation piece, with varieties made from acacia, calendula, chamomile, chestnut, lilac and wisteria. If those sound too adventurous, start with a fruit sorbetto made from whatever is in season, then work towards the herbs and flowers. Bloom has two addresses in Modena, one on Via Vignolese and one in Piazza Martini.
Diecigusti: few flavours, precise technique
Diecigusti is a very small shop on a pretty central street, built on the idea that fewer, fresher flavours beat a wall of options. The recipes are Emilian in origin and lean on a high proportion of solid ingredients, which gives the gelato a fuller texture than many versions elsewhere in Italy, and it is made without hydrogenated fats or added flavourings. Fruit flavours are made from carefully selected raw ingredients and blended with mineral water rather than milk.
Order the Kumasi chocolate, a single-origin African cocoa gelato that is lactose-free and mixed with mineral water, or a fruit sorbetto, which at Diecigusti rotates with the seasons while the shop selects Piedmont hazelnuts and Sicilian pistachios for its creams. It is also completely gluten-free, which makes it a straightforward stop if you are eating around dietary restrictions.
Antica Gelateria Modenese: gelato, semifreddi and celebration cakes
If you want the classic Modena gelato experience, this is the address. The shop has been running since 1994 on Viale Buon Pastore, just outside the centre, and it built its reputation on traditional gelato and semifreddo, the frozen mousse-style dessert that sits between gelato and cake. It is the sort of place where the torta gelato, an ice-cream cake, is a birthday institution.
Order a classic cream flavour and, if you are with a group, a semifreddo or a gelato cake to take away. The shop makes personalised ice-cream cakes and semifreddi in traditional and more inventive flavours, which makes it a practical stop before a picnic or a celebration. It is a short detour from the centre rather than a walk-by, so plan it as its own stop.
Gelateria Borghi: the family name and its signature flavour
The Borghi family brought gelato to Modena in the 1960s and the shop still has a loyal following; Simone and Chiara took it over in 2017. The gelato is made with fresh milk and cream from Alto Adige, and the counter mixes classic cream flavours with fruit. In summer, look for the cremolata, a granita-style slush with a creamier texture than the usual crushed ice. The shop also sells decorated gelato cakes of all kinds.
Order the house Borghi flavour: amarene, the sour cherries, with kirsch and chocolate. It is the clearest example of how Modena's gelaterie fold local flavours into the freezer, and it is the reason a plain-looking counter can be more interesting than a flashy one.
Gelateria K2 on Corso Canalgrande
K2 has sat on Corso Canalgrande, one of the main and handsomest boulevards of the centre, for more than 40 years, and generations of locals have grown up on it. A recent renovation gave the shop a more contemporary look and a refreshed offer, but the address remains a classic stop on a central walk.
Order the K2 flavour: mascarpone with hazelnut cream. It is the shop's signature and the most popular cup in the house, and it is a good measure of how a Modena gelateria treats the boundary between gelato and dessert.
GIOELIA Cremeria: contemporary flavours in the centre
GIOELIA Cremeria sits in the heart of the historic centre and works a contemporary register, with cream bases built for a velvety texture alongside familiar classics. Its Dubai Chocolate flavour, a milk chocolate gelato with a pistachio swirl inspired by the viral chocolate bar, is the one to look for if you want something current rather than traditional. In the warmer months, the fruit sorbetti, from lemon to mango and berries, are the lighter choice.
This is a good stop if your group is split between classicists and novelty seekers, since the case holds both a textbook crema al latte or pistacchio and the newer, sweeter combinations.
SLURP and Gelateria Vignolese: everyday scoops and old-school classics
SLURP is one of the most frequented gelaterie in town, and the appeal is straightforward: generous portions, a broad range that covers vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free needs, and a pastry section of gelato and semifreddo cakes. It is an everyday shop rather than a destination, which is exactly what you want mid-walk.
Gelateria Vignolese is the historical counter, decades old and rooted in its neighbourhood on Via Vignolese, with classic creams and fruit sorbetti rather than trends. Go here if you want the gelato of a generation ago, made well, without a concept behind it.
How to tell real artisan gelato
A reliable test is the display itself. Artisan shops tend to keep a short list of flavours, with fruit colours that look muted rather than neon and cream mounds that sit soft rather than peaked into perfect spirals; a shop that makes gelato in small batches turns its stock over faster. If the case runs to dozens of flavours in bright colours, you are probably looking at a chain or an industrial base.
Taste is the second check: a clean finish, without a coating of fat or a cloying aftertaste, suggests real ingredients and a balanced recipe. The shops worth your time in Modena tend to say so themselves, naming their milk, nuts and fruit origins, and several are explicit about being additive-free.
Sizing, ordering and paying at the counter
Ordering works the same way across Modena's gelaterie: choose a cone (cono) or a cup (coppetta), pick a size, then point at the flavours. Most shops allow two or three flavours in a small cup, and cream flavours are served with a spatula rather than a scoop, so the portion can look smaller than it tastes. Say 'un cono piccolo' with your choices, or hold up fingers if the counter is busy.
You pay at the till, usually before or just after ordering, and take the receipt to the counter to collect. Tipping is not expected for a gelato, and card payment is now common, though a few small shops still prefer cash. If you are combining a cone with a coffee, note that standing at the bar is cheaper than sitting at a table, a rule that applies across Modena and the rest of Italy.
The flavours to try in Modena
Start with the house flavours. The Borghi flavour combines sour amarene cherries with kirsch and chocolate; K2 is mascarpone with hazelnut cream; Diecigusti's Kumasi chocolate is a single-origin cocoa gelato mixed with mineral water. These are the flavours that tell you where you are, and they are the ones to order before the standard pistachio and stracciatella.
Then move to the fruit sorbetti, which in Modena tend to be made from whatever is in season and are the best test of a shop's quality. Bloom's botanical sorbets, from acacia to wisteria, are the extreme version; the everyday fruit cups elsewhere are the simpler one. No single shop has the definitive list, so treat the city's summer selections as a starting point and follow your nose.
Where gelato fits in a Modena food day
Gelato sits at the end of a meal here, and the natural rhythm is a plate of pasta or a plate of tortellini in brodo at lunch, then a walk through the centre and a cone in the late afternoon. If you are planning the whole day, the best pasta in Modena is a better place to start than the gelaterie, and a pastry shop stop covers the morning.
For the headline meal, Osteria Francescana draws the crowd, but the gelato does not need a reservation and works as the palate cleanser after a long lunch or as the thing you walk off afterwards. Build the day around the centre and you will pass several of these shops anyway.
Which gelateria should you pick?
Pick Bloom if you want the best-rated, most ingredient-driven gelato in town; Diecigusti if you want a tiny counter and a short, precise list; the Antica Gelateria Modenese if you want a classic semifreddo or a cake to take away. For everyday scoops, K2 and GIOELIA are handy central stops, while SLURP, Borghi and Vignolese each reward a short walk.
A cone is an easy way to end a day of eating, whether you have spent it on a long lunch or a walk through the centre. If you want the rest of the day planned, start with the best restaurants and work backwards.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most popular gelato flavours in Italy?
The staples are pistachio, hazelnut, stracciatella, cream and chocolate, with fruit sorbetti alongside. In Modena, the local lists put house flavours first: amarene cherries with kirsch and chocolate at Borghi, mascarpone with hazelnut cream at K2, and single-origin chocolate at Diecigusti.
What Italian city has the best gelato?
There is no official ranking, and quality is a shop-by-shop question rather than a city one. Modena holds its own because of a cluster of small artisan gelaterie, with Bloom reported as the only shop in the province to hold the Gambero Rosso gelaterie guide's top Tre Coni in 2025.
How can I tell if gelato is authentic?
Look for a short list of flavours, muted natural colours and cream that sits soft rather than peaked into perfect spirals. Naming of milk, nut and fruit origins, and a clean taste without a fatty or cloying finish, are the other reliable signs.
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