Best Pizza in Sirmione: Where to Eat It Around the Old Town

Why Sirmione's pizza splits between the old town and the lakefront

Sirmione is a narrow peninsula, and the historic centre packs its restaurants into a few lanes behind the Scaliger castle, where tables are tight and the walk back is short. Outside the walls, the shoreline and the villages of Colombare and Lugana spread the dining rooms out, which usually means more space and a longer stroll after dinner. Choosing between them is mostly about where you are staying rather than which pizza is objectively better.

The second split is menu style. Several addresses are ristorante-pizzerias, meaning a kitchen that turns out lake fish, pasta and grilled meat as well as pizza, which suits mixed groups and families. Dedicated pizzerias exist too, but the strongest known names on the peninsula lean hybrid, so ordering a pizza and a plate of lake fish at the same table is normal rather than awkward.

Fine-dining and everyday tables in and around the old town

La Rucola 2.0 sits in one of the centre's lanes beside the Castello Scaligero and is known for an elegant room and creative cooking that leans heavily on fish. It is a fine-dining table for a special occasion rather than a pizza stop, but its position makes it the obvious choice if you want to eat within sight of the castle and are happy to skip the dough.

La Speranzina pairs a high-end kitchen with a privileged view over the lake, which makes it the other headline address inside the centre — again a serious restaurant rather than a pizzeria. Osteria Al Torcol, in the heart of Sirmione, runs a menu built on carefully chosen ingredients and a wide list of local and national wines. Tavernetta Maria Callas sits within the castle walls and takes a seasonal approach to its raw ingredients.

For a more everyday table, Ristorante Risorgimento on Piazza Carducci has served traditional Mediterranean cooking for over a century and is known for durum-wheat pasta from the Benedetto Cavalieri pasta works in Maglie, which is worth ordering whatever else is on the table. Ristorante Pizzeria San Vito sits close to the historic centre with a terrace looking over the lake and a menu that mixes lake fish with international dishes.

Lakeside and terrace tables with a view

The lake-facing tables are what people picture when they book Sirmione, and Villa Pioppi delivers it from a Liberty-style villa built in the early twentieth century on the lake shore, with a contemporary Mediterranean menu that puts local produce first. San Vito's terrace, just outside the centre, aims at the same romantic atmosphere with lake fish and international plates.

A little further along the water, the Casa dei Pescatori kitchen favours local, seasonal and organic produce and pairs traditional Mediterranean cooking with more contemporary combinations. These are the tables to ask about when you want the view at sunset, since the water-facing seats are the first to go and the walk back into the centre is pleasant either way.

Village pizzerias outside the peninsula, from Colombare to Lugana

Colombare, on the approach to Sirmione, holds Ristorante Pizzeria La Foresta, which has a leafy veranda and a wood-fired oven alongside seafood specialities, making it a straightforward pizza-and-fish combination outside the walls. It is a sensible pick if you are driving in, staying in Colombare, or simply want more room around the table than the centre allows.

Arcimboldo on Via Vittorio Emanuele is the other name to know for pizza in the centre, an easy family-style room mixing traditional Italian cooking with gourmet pizzas. A fuller survey of Sirmione kitchens, including the dining rooms that do not bother with pizza at all, sits in our guide to the best restaurants in Sirmione.

Pizza in this corner of the lake is judged less by a single ranking than by the kitchen behind it. La Foresta is the address here where the oven and the seafood kitchen are both on show, and Arcimboldo pairs its pizzas with a traditional Italian menu.

What to order: pizza alongside lake fish

Order one pizza per person as a main, or share a couple as a starter if you are also having a secondo of lake fish, the signature protein of the peninsula. Lake fish appears grilled, fried or cured on many menus, and it is the dish to take when half the table wants pizza and half does not.

At Arcimboldo on Via Vittorio Emanuele the offer is traditional Italian cooking with gourmet pizzas in a family-style setting, which sums up the hybrid model well. If your group is split, order a pizza to share as an antipasto and follow with fish or pasta.

How pizza is served in Sirmione

Pizza on the peninsula is restaurant food, served as one course on a full menu rather than as cheap street food, so the setting — old-town lane, lakefront terrace or village veranda — shapes the meal. Expect a cover charge per person, known as coperto, added to the bill along with bread.

The lakefront tables give you the view, the lanes behind the castle put you in the thick of the old town, and the village pizzerias in Colombare are the easiest to reach by car. Match the table to how far you want to walk afterwards rather than to a price hierarchy.

Ordering and booking: what to sort out before you go

Book ahead for any table with a lake view, especially at weekends and in high season, because the water-facing seats are limited and the best-known addresses fill first. At Arcimboldo you can reserve by phone on +39.030.916409, and the restaurant is closed on Wednesdays, so plan around that if it is your first choice.

Order like a local: choose the pizza as your main, add a shared antipasto of lake fish or cured meat, and ask for the house wine by the quarter or half litre rather than working through a list. Pay at the table at the end, and carry a card listing any dietary needs so the kitchen can confirm what it can do with the dough.

Finish the evening with a cone from one of the gelaterie along the lake, and if you are planning the next morning, our pick of The Best Gelato in Sirmione for a Lake-Side Cone and our guide to cafés in Sirmione cover the two ends of the day.

Which pizza table should you book?

Book La Foresta in Colombare if you want the wood-fired oven alongside the seafood kitchen and a leafy veranda with room to breathe. Inside the walls, Arcimboldo is the address that pairs gourmet pizzas with a traditional Italian menu, while La Rucola 2.0 and La Speranzina are for the night you want to eat seriously without pizza.

If you are still deciding where to base your evening, our guide to Best Restaurants in Sirmione widens the field beyond pizza, and for a lighter stop before dinner there is aperitivo in Sirmione along the same waterfront.