Gelato in Florence

Our Florence Airbnb host recommended Gelateria dei Neri. He did not steer us wrong.

Festival del Gelato was my friends' go to when they lived there, they steered me towards Grom as well as Perche No!

My tip is to get a flavor that looks good when you see it, because last time I wasn't in the mood for a specific flavor near the beginning, and I when I ACTUALLY wanted it, I had to wait like 4 days until I found it again!

La Carraia was excellent and I’ll vote for Perche No! as well. Sadly we did not make it to Dei Neri.

Last fall, we stayed in an apartment right above Cantina del Gelato on Borgo la Croce, and it was good and had places to sit outside on the pedestrian-only street. HOWEVER right around the corner on Piazza Beccaria was Gelateria De' Medici which we thought was even better. The people who work there are sweet and patient.

Piazza Beccaria is at one of the medieval gates of Florence and is the place where the small electric buses stop (so you'll see buses that say "Beccaria") on the eastern edge of the historic district. Borgo la Croce is a very nice street to walk on and really not far from the central tourist area.

I really like Venchi gelato. All their flavors are very good, but being chocolatiers their chocolate flavors are great. My favorite flavor is gianduiotto, made with their truffle-like chocolates of the same name. They have at least 3 locations in Florence, 2 in the center and 1 at the train station. Gelateria della Passera in Oltrarno (same piazza as 4 Leoni restaurant) is also very good. Caffe Ricchi on Piazza Santo Spirito has good nut and chocolate flavors at lower prices than most other gelaterias, but I found their fruit flavors to be too icy. There's no shortage of good gelato in Florence. Just avoid the puffy gelato, which is almost always commercially made and whipped to make it look like you're getting a larger portion.

We’ve been all over Italy, this was my favorite.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187895-d10370491-Reviews-La_Strega_Nocciola_Firenze_Duomo-Florence_Tuscany.html

If you go to Perchè No, try their watermelon ice. Unbelievably intense watermelon flavor.

I'd focus on getting good gelato based on knowing a little about it. Avoid any place with brightly colored gelato in high mounds, neither of which is natural. Pistachio shouldn't be bright green, it should hardly be green at all.

I think the best for me is
Gelato Ponte Trinita

Carraia, at the foot of the Ponte Carraia on the Oltrarno side.
Good prices, too!

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I will be adding each of them to my goggle map of Florence and will do my best to sample something at each store at least once.

Carraia, at the foot of the Ponte Carraia on the Oltrarno side.
Gelateria La Carraia, is one of my two favorites. If you like chocolate, this place does it really well. Their dark chocolate is nearly black. They have a second slightly smaller location near the Uffizi.

My other favorite is Gelateria Carabe, incredible fruit flavors. Their style is Sicilian but, they hold to the no-frills, all effort put into the product ethos It's near the Academia in a non-descipt building so, good place to stop after seeing David.

If you're near Santa Croce, Vivoli is one of the oldest gelateria in Florence and a favorite for many.

Another vote for Perche No!

Another vote for Vivoli!!!

I vote for Vivoli as well! Love it!!!

B-Ice was amazing. We had their Gelato as well as a few others, but B-Ice was the best! Their pistachio and dark chocolate was incredible.

I second the judgments on B-Ice and Carraia. I like very much Badiani, but it is well out of the city center, near the soccer stadium.

There are so many amazing places in Florence for gelato, but also lots of tourist traps! I personally love Vivoli and Gelateria dei Neri, the pistachio gelato is crazy good. Recently, some friends came to visit me in Florence and did a "Gelato Stroll" with Curious Appetite and they told me they had such an amazing time. Could be an option for you too! https://curiousappetitetravel.com/gelato-food-tour-in-florence

We like Vivoli on Via delle Stinche. We've been going there for years.

Buon viaggio,

Wow.... overwhelmed with the amount of of responses and suggestions that will surely put me into gelato overload...lol
Hope there will be some remaining time for good wine and food....

Found this article by Cameron Hewitt about finding good gelato: https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2018/03/italy-best-gelato-expert-tips/
Awesome information on what to look for when on the hunt for great gelato.

Go and try them all.

Buon viaggio,

RB: I plan to try them all multiple times....