Pastry Shops in Bellagio: Where to Go for Sweets

Which pastry shops in Bellagio are worth your morning

Both shops sit within a few minutes of the ferry landing, so either fits neatly before a boat across the lake. Sancassani is in the centre on Piazza dei Canestri, while Bar Sanremo faces the water on Via Lungo Lario Manzoni near the ferry and taxi-boat embarkation.

The trade-off is straightforward. Sancassani gives you a traditional pasticceria with an adjoining gelateria and indoor and outdoor tables, while Sanremo adds a covered portico and a shaded garden looking across to the Tremezzina, Menaggio and Villa Carlotta. Pick Sancassani for the pastry counter itself and Sanremo for the setting.

Pasticceria Sancassani: a pasticceria, caffetteria and gelateria in one

Sancassani has been a pastry shop since 1978 and expanded in 2016 to become a café and gelateria as well. The pastry chef, Cesare, works from recipes passed down from his father Angelo, and everything is made in the shop's own laboratory without preservatives, using sourdough starter and milk, butter and cream from the Latteria di Bellagio.

The counter runs from mignon pastries, cakes, biscuits and tea pastries through to seasonal colombe, panettone and Easter eggs. There is a savoury side too, with pizza, focaccia and salatini, which makes it workable for a quick lunch as well as a coffee stop.

You can eat at tables inside the shop or outside on the piazza, or take everything away; the shop also sells its own extra-virgin olive oil, produced as D.O.P. Laghi Lombardi. If you are sorting out the rest of your day's eating, the best restaurants in Bellagio are worth a look before you commit to a lunch stop.

What to order at Sancassani: croissants, cannoncini and custard

Start with the croissants, made by Cesare from the recipe his father Angelo created, and the cannoncini, pastry tubes filled with the shop's signature custard cream. The puff pastries are the other house staple, and a cappuccino alongside one of these is the standard local start to the day.

If you want something to carry onto the ferry, ask for a box of mignon pastries, the small mixed pastries in fruit, cream and chocolate; they travel far better than a filled cannoncino. For a fuller picture of where to eat breakfast in town, see our guide to breakfast in Bellagio.

Pan Mataloc and Miascia: the Bellagio sweets to try

Two local sweets are worth ordering by name. Pan Mataloc is the typical sweet bread of Bellagio, a rich loaf packed with walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, candied fruit and dried figs, while Miascia is a Lombard cake that historically stood in for panettone, made with yellow flour, dried fruit and apples and pears.

Both are the kind of thing to buy whole and eat later rather than at the counter. Around Christmas the shop also makes a panettone-gelato, a gelato version of the classic cake.

Gelato made with milk from the Latteria di Bellagio

Sancassani's gelato is made with milk from the Latteria di Bellagio and seasonal fruit, churned in the same laboratory as the pastries. The flavours shift with the season rather than staying fixed, so ask what is on the day you visit.

It is a useful stop after a hot walk up from the ferry, and you can sit inside or out rather than eating on your feet. For more options across town, our guide to the best gelato in Bellagio covers the wider picture.

Bar Sanremo: pastry, confectionery and a garden on the lungolago

Bar Sanremo is a bar, pasticceria, gelateria and confetteria, meaning a sweet shop selling confectionery, set directly on the lakefront a short walk from the ferry embarkation. The covered portico and the shaded garden give you a view across the water to the Tremezzina, Menaggio and Villa Carlotta.

It is the better choice when you want to sit down properly by the water rather than stand at a pastry counter. Expect a broader spread than a pure pasticceria: the range runs across pastries, gelato and confectionery rather than one tight pastry selection.

Sitting at a table or taking it away: how the two compare

At Sancassani you can sit at tables inside or outside, or order takeaway; the shop offers table service, outdoor seating and free Wi-Fi, so a sit-down coffee is a comfortable option alongside the pastry counter.

At Sanremo, the draw is the garden and the outlook, so the sitting itself is the point: you go for the lake rather than to buy a box of pastries and leave. If your priority is a fast takeaway pastry before a boat, Sancassani's location in the centre is easier.

Coffee and a pastry: the Bellagio morning routine

The routine is simple: order a coffee and a pastry at the counter, eat standing if you are short of time, or sit down if you want the view. In Italy coffee is normally paid for at the till before or after ordering, so look for the cassa first rather than waiting at the bar.

Sancassani puts real weight on its coffee alongside the pastries, which suits anyone who wants both done properly in one stop. The café and gelateria were added to the shop in 2016, so the seating side is a deliberate part of the offer rather than an afterthought.

Which one to pick on a rainy day, a sunny day or a ferry morning

On a wet day, Sancassani's tables inside give you a dry place to sit with a pastry and a coffee. On a bright day, Sanremo's shaded garden and portico are the reason to walk a little further along the lungolago.

For a ferry morning, Sancassani wins on convenience: it is in the centre a few minutes from the landing, and you can take a box of mignon pastries with you. If you are on the water at aperitivo hour instead, the guide to aperitivo in Bellagio covers where to stop.

Sancassani or Sanremo for your morning pastry?

Choose Sancassani if you want a serious pasticceria with coffee, gelato and a proper counter in the centre, and take a box of mignon pastries for the ferry. Choose Bar Sanremo if the setting matters more than the selection, and you want your coffee with a garden and a lake view.

Either way, go before the mid-morning ferry rush if you want a table. If the afternoon is still open, the guide to the best pizza in Bellagio and the best pasta in Bellagio can fill the rest of the day.