Life is too short to eat mediocre gelato. Discover six of the best Milan gelato shops. Each will satisfy your sweet tooth and make your smile.
Milan is famous for so many things including fashion, design, opera, risotto and Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Gelato isn’t one of those things. But, considering the ubiquitous presence of cheese and butter in the city’s culinary scene, it should be.
As evidenced by both the quality and quantiy of the city’s gelato shops, the Milanese appreciate the frozen dessert as much as the Florentines, Romans and Emilians do. So, with that in mind, the question isn’t if you should eat gelato in Milan. Instead, it’s where to eat the Milan food favorite.
Sure, you could order a cup or cone at a cafe like Marchesi 1824 or a gourmet shop like Peck and you’d probably be satisfied. However, the better option is to visit one or more of the city’s many dedicated gelaterias for the full Milan gelato experience.
Discover great Milan bars, coffee shops pizzerias and restaurants for the times when you’re not in the mood for gelato.
Our Favorite Milan Gelato Shops
Eating great gelato cups and cones has been a highlight of our multiple trips to Milan. These are our favorite Milan gelato shops and the ones you shouldn’t miss:
1. Gnomo Gelato
When we say that the seasonal, handcrafted gelato at Gnomo Gelato tastes like butter we mean it, literally. The gelateria’s French butter flavor is simple, unique and spectacular with a slight sour twang that merges with its creamy sweetness. Eating this flavor, along with a scoop of single origin 85% Ecuadorian fondant, is when we realized that Milan’s gelato scene is the real deal.
Andrea Bistaffa, Francesca Acquaviva and Marco Summonte opened their compact Pagano gelato shop in 2025. The simple, unadorned gelateria isn’t near the Duomo and it looks more like a neighborhood shop than a high fashion destination. Hop on a metro or a bus and go anyway. Whether you order a fun flavor like gold cream or a funkier flavor like our sin of gluttony, your reward will be some of the best gelato in Milan and maybe all of Italy.
Pro Tip
Order a cup or cone to eat on the spot and some cookies or bonbons to eat later.
Gnomo Gelato is located at Via Francesco Cherubini, 3, 20145 Milano, Italy.
2. Crema Alta Gelateria
We had a a crema dilemma when we walked into Crema Alta Gelateria, a top Milan gelato operation with a shop in Piazza Napoli. There were so many tempting flavors! And not just the usual suspects like strachiatella and salted caramel. Several incorporated fruit while others featured local ingredients like cheese and rice.
Our heads spinned as we contemplated the dozens of choices. We eventually chose three – pistachio, cinnamon rice & honey and orange & crunchy chocolate. The first two were creamy dreamy while the third was refreshingly vegan.
Since opening the original Crema on Via Giovanni da Procida in 2000, Giorigo Bulgari and his team source ingredients from regions throughout Italy. Prime examples are hazelnuts from Piedmonte, honey from Sardinia, licorice from Calabria and pistachios from Sicily.
Pro Tip
Don’t skip Crema Alta Gelateria if you have dietary limitations. All of the flavors are gluten-free and several are lactose-free. The cones are both gluten-free and lactose-free.
Crema Alta Gelateria has multiple locations. We visited the shop located at Piazza Napoli, 15, 20146 Milano, Italy. The original shop is located at Via Giovanni da Procida, 29, 20149 Milano MI, Italy.
3. Ciacco
Stefano Guizzetti wasn’t a gelato novice when he opened Ciacco in a repurposed hat shop near Milan’s Duomo in 2021. His original shop, located across the street from the Teatro Regio opera house in Parma, was already a critical success. With a degree in food science and a respect for Italy’s eclectic terrain, Guizzetti combines biology with gastronomy to create unique gelato flavors, flaky pastries and spreadable sweet creams.
Ciacco literally translates to pig but you won’t find pork products here. Instead, the shop’s primary focus is artisanal gelato. During our visit, the menu featured 21 flavors crafted with a unique roster of ingredients that included beets, black pepper and green tea. Some flavors were simple while one combined egg yolk and cream with butter, Parmesan cheese and sage.
We weren’t surprised by Ciacco’s menu since we’d previously visited Guizzetti’s original Parma shop. However, we didn’t expect the Milan location’s creative drink menu. The pistachio cream marocchino we ordered was liquid delight.
Pro Tip
Buy a creative panettone or two if you happen to visit Milan during the holiday season.
Ciacco is located at Via Spadari, 13, 20123 Milano, Italy.
4. Artico Gelato
Maurizio Poloni made Isola cooler, both literally and figuratively, when he opened the original Artico Gelateria here in 2012. Now, with a few more locations, including one near the Duomo, he’s spreading that cool factor throughout Milan with gelato cups, gelato cones, gelato sandwiches and gelato milkshakes.
Since we shared a regular cone during our post-lunch visit, we got to choose three flavors. After tasting a few contenders, we settled on salted pistachio, Greek honey yogurt and croquante. The creamy combination was simultaneously sweet, tangy and salty. And, when given the option to add a cookie on top, of course we said yes.
Pro Tip
Sign up for a class at Atico Gelateria’s gelato school if you want to turn your ice cream passion into a career.
Artico Gelateria has multiple locations. We visited the original shop located at Via Luigi Porro Lambertenghi, 15, 20159 Milano, Italy.
5. Pavé – Gelati & Granite
An offshoot of the überpopular Pavé bakery, Pavé – Gelati & Granite has a decor that’s both minimalist and sleek. And, bucking the trend of gelaterias offering a laundry list of flavors, Pavé had just 16 (a dozen gelato flavors and four sorbetti) listed on its succinct menu during our visit. Granita, a sweet treat that’s more common in Sicily than in Northern Italy, was also on the menu.
Those gelato flavors ranged from traditional (fiordilatte and stracciatella) to exotic (banana & chocolate and coffee & cardamom) with a local pastry (sbrisolona) flavor added to the mix. We didn’t order any of those flavors. Instead, we topped our cone with almond & cherry, white chocolate and zabaglione. Made with lime and black pepper, the white chocolate was the most interesting of the three.
Giovanni Giberti, and Luca Scanni opened the original Pavé – Gelati & Granite in 2016, four years after they opened their artisanal bakery, and a second gelato shop in 2021. While the bakery is located in Porta Venezia, the two gelato shops are in Porta Vittoria and Porta Romana.
Pro Tip
Upgrade your experience by ordering gelato in a brioche roll or donut instead of in a cup or on a cone.
Pavé – Gelati & Granite has multiple locations. We visited the original shop located at Via Cesare Battisti, 21, 20122 Milano, Italy.
6. Gelateria Paganelli
Gelateria Paganelli has a history that dates back almost a century to 1930. And, while the third generation central Milan gelato shop has a neighborhood vibe, it raises the bar by serving flavors that are fresh and interesting. Several include savory and spicy ingredients like peppers and tumeric. And, for big kid customers, some of the sorbet flavors are made with wine.
Since we can eat pistachio and hazelnut gelato anywhere in the world, we skipped those flavors and instead topped our cone with dark chocolate and fra’ tonka scoops. The dark chocolate was enhanced with orange and almond while the fra’ tanka was made with Brazilian tonka beans.
Pro Tip
Order tiramisu or cassate if you’re not in the mood for gelato, sorbetto or granita.
Gelateria Paganelli is located at Via Adda, 3, 20124 Milano, Italy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Gelato has more milk and less cream compared to ice cream.
Although Milan isn’t famous for its gelato, the city’s gelato scene compares favorably to Italian cities like Bologna, Florence and Rome.
Top Milan gelato shops include Gnomo Gelato, Crema Alta Gelateria, Ciacco, Artico Gelato, Pavé – Gelati & Granite and Gelateria Paganelli.
No – most Milan gelato shops are highly affordable.
No. Tipping is optional in Italy.
This is a trick question since it’s always a good time to eat gelato in Milan.
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