Finding the world's best gelateria with Google Street View

Last year I found this superb ice cream shop in Bologna. The quality and variety of the ice cream was far higher than anything I had previously experienced.


A relative is going to Bologna in July and I suggested they visit this gelateria. The problem was that I could not remember the name of the place, or its precise location. I decided to try and find it with Google Maps.

Step 1 - first did a Google Maps search for gelaterias in Bologna. I knew the one I had visited was in the centre of Bologna, but not precisely where and there are a lot of gelaterias in the centre of Bologna.

Step 2 - the next step was to use Google’s Street View. After a bit of roaming around I found a wall close to the gelateria where we had sat to eat our ice creams.

Comparing the location of the wall in Street View with the map of gelaterias showed that the place I was looking for was

It is very close to the Two Towers.

Unfortunately, the Google camera car had not passed directly by the gelateria so I could not see the precise location in Street View, but it lies within the red square shown on the aerial view.

Added July 2009

 I have just returned form a second visit to Bologna. While there I took the photograph above and had a chance to visit three other superb gelaterias.

Il Gelatauro at Via San Vitale, 98.

Stefino at Via Galliera 49/B

La Sorbeteria at Via Castiglione, 44


Stefino's is close to the city centre. The other two are a little further out. All are extremely good.All three appear to be family owned and all make their own ice cream. In the case of La Sorbeteria you can see into the preparation area and the ice cream making machines.

Some people consider Il Gelatauro supplies the best gelato in the world.  I thought they were all of about the same standard but preferred Il Gelatauro because it is also a cafe and you can sit inside at a table to eat your ice cream in comfort.




See a review of all three gelaterias. It would be nice to have places of similar standard in the UK but , as a general rule, we are not willing to pay for quality.  I do not know of a single place that makes its own ice cream. Everything comes from factories owned by big companies and appears to be made to a price rather than a quality standard.  In the case of ice cream the Italians clearly are willing to pay what is needed to sustain quality producers. In two gelateria I saw locals come in and pay 15-20 euros for a carton filled with a selection of ice creams, obviously for their evening meal.