Gelato recommendations

Years ago in Rome I found grand mariner. I haven't been back to Rome since but I have not been able to find it in other parts of Italy.

Grom is a chain that's even in USA and Japan now. Their quality is great, and they have special creations each month. Look for them when unsure.

Crema di Nonna

Not unusual but I can never pass by pistachio. Once we found red plum at Gelato del Teatro in Rome. That was darn good!

Small producers make seasonal flavors, too -- in late spring go for the apricot, in autumn the various red fruit berries. In northern Italy you might find rhubarb!

Fruit flavors can rotate according to which fruits are in season at the time so, say, if peach is in the cooler, then peaches are in season so it's a good time to have that one, Other flavors like cioccolato fondente (dark chocolate), limone (lemon) and nocciola (hazelnut) are in stock all year.

Avoid gelaterie with neon-hued creams as while they're attractive in the case, they're using artificial coloring. The best are often not brightly colored so a really good pistachio is more often a soft grey-green and not the color of Kermit the frog.

I've had Grom and it was great but we've just stopped by random shops and had just as good. One I remember well was a trailer-type stand outside Milano Centrale train station: yummy! It was recommended by the receptionist at our hotel who said that was one of her fave go-to places.

At San Crispino in Rome several years back, saw a flavor called Speculoos, which I had never heard of. I asked what the flavor was, and was told "ginger" and I gave it a try. It was very good, but only later did I find out it was named after a cookie flavor and that ginger wasn't exactly what it was...but it was close enough!

U can get Kermit gelato ??

My favourites down here are ...
•Coconut & lychee
•Blood orange & Campari
•Apple pie - with distinct flavour hits of apple, cinnamon, pastry and cream.

Just go with the flow and see what's available. Over 2 trips, I've had - melone (cantalopes), cinnamon/ginger, various berry ones (blackberry is my favorite), honey/sesame/ginger (that one is one flavor by itself), pear/port wine (again, single flavor), banana,etc..
Better to get tips on what to look for and which places. What cities will you be in? Trastevere by any chance? Great gelato place there.
Look for words on signs like artisanal, fatto in casa, something like "fatto Manu." These words mean roughly homemade.
If the gelato looks "fluffed up," brightly colored with chunks of fruit on top - it is the equivalent of store bought grade gelato. Looks pretty - but not the highest quality. Attractive in window displays for tourists walking by.
The best quality has a flatter profile - usually in a metal rectangular pan, and paler colors. The consistency of premium gelato is such that it cannot be "heaped" up. Also, natural foods have more muted colors. Bright colors are achieved by food dyes. Example - pistacchio should be a pale, dull green - not an attention getting bright green.

So many flavors - so little time! The fruit ones are great.

U can get Kermit gelato ?? <<

Watch what you wish for. Some of the artisanal gelaterias offer some 'interesting' flavors. I haven't seen this yet but it might just be a matter of time. :-)

There are endless flavors...you'll never taste them all. I'd be more concerned with quality...few bright colors, metal containers and if it's piled high you should wonder how it stays frozen without additives(it doesn't). It should be covered and you can look for a sign that says homemade but if you don't see the equipment .....I'd still wonder.

My most memorable gelato ever was the nocciola (hazelnut) at Grom in Venice. Incredibly wonderful.

Rice gelato, ricotta gelato, fruit or coffee granita.

Pistacchio is my absolute favorite, especially in Sicilia!

While at the gelato place, don't forget to try an "ice" if they have it. I had a watermelon ice at Perchè No in Florence that tasted better than real watermelon!!

So many flavors, so little time! Hey, you are on vacation so nobody can tell you that you can't have a gelato break at noon, midafternoon, after dinner and before heading back to your hotel room! Keep a list of favorites and celebrate with them on your last day. Of course you may not want to get back on an airplane and head home to 'ordinary' ice cream! Gelato - proof that life is good!

Honey fig
Pistachio
Strawberry

Look for places that serve artisan gelato made at the location.

Where will you be going? I know of some great places in Bologna and Torino.

There is a lot of stuff out there especially near tourist paths with giant piles of brightly colored product topped with slices of fruit that is just average supermarket ice cream. You do need to find good places that use 'real ingredients' and make it on site. We found Rome to have a lot of terrible gelato but we stumbled on a hole in the wall with amazing fruit flavors and could never locate it again -- sort of the Shangri La of gelato places.

Perche No in Florence near Piazza Signoria has interesting sort of spicy flavors; they have different specials and a fairly small array of flavors we got some really good ones there with cardamon and similar spices. Vivoli has tons of flavors; I love pear gelato -- a flavor I love but that is not very available in the US; their chocolate with orange rind is really good as well. Caribe near Academia specializes in granita although they also have a few flavors of gelato.

mille grazie! During our prior trips to Italy we have tried quite a few flavors but thank you for the additional suggestions, particularly for the regional or less well-known.

Licorice! Had it at the little spot by the port in Vernazza, fantastic.

If you find any with honey - I would recommend that. My go-to gelato is Pistachio!
Avoid the super sweet sugary flavors and go for local fruit and nut flavors!
Avoid Champagne... sounds exciting... I was not a fan.

There's a little place on Via Spadari in Milan (near the Duomo) that makes Limone i basilico (lime and basil). It is hands down, the best gelato I have ever had!

I believe "limone" would be lemon, not lime. It does sound like an interesting flavor!

In Bologna, "Due Torre" at the shop across from the Two Towers that are a symbol of the city. Some kind of chocolate with chocolate chunks.

In San Gimignano, I had blackberry & lavender. Heaven. Recently in Florence at My Sugar, I had the sea-salt caramel. So good - I'm thinking of moving to Florence!

I had Mojito flavour in Florence. There was a sign saying it had no alcohol in it; but it was very refreshing on a hot day!
Also I've had fig and ricotta together , also in Florence.
When in Italy, I believe it is mandatory to have a minimum of three gelato breaks per day.

U can get Kermit gelato ?? <<

Tastes like chicken.

Limone e basilico is lemon and basil, lots of places make it.

Speaking of refreshing on a hot day, cold milk with mint syrup, or a mint granita are excellent.

I had a zenzero (ginger) in Venice that was not good. If you're into candied ginger, make sure they are using candied ginger and not raw.

Otherwise, my rule of picking the local/seasonal special or the oddity never failed me, though every now and again a fruitti di bosci never hurts.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations! We also subscribe to the "anytime is a good time for gelato" theory, and have assembled quite a list of flavors to try. Mille grazie!

My recommendation -- the first gelato shop I see!

All I can say is, the limone i basilico was green. Maybe it was kermit flavor after all. ;) lol. Can't wait to have it again when I return this summer!! Lemon, lime...who cares. It's AWESOME!

All I can say is, the limone i basilico was green. Maybe it was kermit flavor after all. ;) lol. Can't wait to have it again when I return this summer!! Lemon, lime...who cares. It's AWESOME!

Also had lime and basil in Milano. Awesome. Husband really likes pomegranate that he had four years ago in Firenze. Finally found another version in Milano - good but not as good.

I kept all of our gelato spoons during our last trip and lined them up on our kitchen counter to post our Facebook photo that we had a great trip. - 30 spoons (two of us)!

I tried lavender in Torino, and there's some creative flavors now. My favorites are still pistachio and coconut.

when we were in Florence, Perche Non near Piazza Signoria had interesting spice flavors that were very good. Vivoli had a chocolate with orange peel that was my favorite and dozens of other flavors. Note that the places with big tubs of brightly colored gelato topped with fruit slices often in tourist walkways have for the most part supermarket quality ice cream. And Rome in our experience has terrible gelato unless you seek out really good places. We actually threw some of what we bought away. so it pays to get a list of good places. We found a hole in the wall in Rome that was wonderful but alas loss track of where it was. I am not fond of chains but Grom sort of converted me. They have a chocolate sorbet with dark chocolate bits called chocolate noir in France and recently had a lemon merinque with lemon zest; both were really quite amazing. My husband likes pistachio and there area lot of good places for that in Italy.

when we were in Florence, Perche Non near Piazza Signoria had interesting spice flavors that were very good. Vivoli had a chocolate with orange peel that was my favorite and dozens of other flavors. Note that the places with big tubs of brightly colored gelato topped with fruit slices often in tourist walkways have for the most part supermarket quality ice cream. And Rome in our experience has terrible gelato unless you seek out really good places. We actually threw some of what we bought away. so it pays to get a list of good places. We found a hole in the wall in Rome that was wonderful but alas loss track of where it was. I am not fond of chains but Grom sort of converted me. They have a chocolate sorbet with dark chocolate bits called chocolate noir in France and recently had a lemon merinque with lemon zest; both were really quite amazing. My husband likes pistachio and there area lot of good places for that in Italy.

Fragola e Amarena!(strawberry and cherry)!!!

Another name brand location with excellent gelato, similar to Grom, is Amorino. I've had their gelato in various locations in France, and I see they're located in Milan & Verona. If you order a cone, they shape the gelato as a flower with flower petals.