A beautiful little shop! A great place for gifts to take home. And I'm not talking about cheesy,…read moreairport like gifts. You can take the Chocolate Home in a box of finest Florentine paper. The Italians haven't always had chocolate, but thank the South American gods, they do now!! And you know once Italian's get their hands on some thing, they perfect it. Also a nice place to stop, look around and have just one chocolate to give you the energy to walk another 10,000 steps.

You'll feel like you've stepped into a sweet shop made by Mr. Willy Wonka himself. This place is…read morejust too cute for words. Capitalising on old world designs, this place will make you feel like a child again. Migone Confetti is decorated with bags of lollies wrapped with ribbons and tall glass jars standing to attention filled to the brim with sweets. You'll be tempted to buy everything that your eyes land on. You'll find lollies, chocolate, mazapan fruits, gummies, and decorated plates, teapots and porcelain animal figurines worthy only of grandma's house. I must admit when there were a few other customers in the store things began to get a little claustrophobic. The staff don't really speak English here, at least the ones we met, so brush up on your Italian.

This chocolate shop is beyond fabulous. The chocolate makers are true artists. You will find all…read morethings chocolate here and all beautifully created. Everything we tried was so beautiful to behold you almost didn't want to eat it. But once you bite into anything here, you swoon. There is candy, pastries, cake, cookies all made with exquisite care and the best ingredients. This is a wonderful place to pick up a few gifts to bring back home. I don't know too many people who wouldn't feel like they've died and gone to heaven after sampling some of the chocolates made here. I was so taken with the chocolate in the shape of attrezzi (tools) and nuts and bolts....so cool! Even the coloration of the chocolate was made on some pieces, to suggest a hint of rust. The owners of the shop are helpful and kind. This is a beautiful, old-world chocolate shop with delicious and gorgeous products. The shop itself is in an ancient building within the walled city of Lucca. Everything about it, like all of the walled city of Lucca is just dreamy. Go!

Some very good chocolate. There were these circle chocolate topped with nuts that I saw the…read moreprevious customers bought, so I decided to give them a try as well. They were quite good. Might have been peanuts...not sure. Chocolate with raisins were well balanced. Would definitely stop by again when we're in town!

What an absolute treat! From cookies to gelato, and featuring a variety of coffee options,…read morePasticceria Giovannini is worth the stop. The cookies are all crumble in your mouth fresh, with an attention to quality that is immediately apparent. Each offering has a unique style and flavor, and everything is very reasonably priced. The staff is super friendly, especially if you're making an effort to communicate in Italian. And as you'd expect, this cafe has a neighborhood, local feel. It's stylish and lively, but not overwhelming. One of our favorite spots in Montecatini.

Words don't do this place justice! Amazing pasticceria!!! Friendly staff, super affordable, amazing…read moreespresso and the desserts are out of this world. My mother and I were on vacation in Montecatini at a hotel that was a 1 minute walk away (dangerous). Our morning routine was to get a cappuccino and un caffe. The espresso was strong and full of flavor. Most days we came back later in the day and tried other varieties - all great. Now about the desserts....nothing like I've ever tasted in America! Everything was so clean, had unique tastes with a perfect amount of sweetness - just mouthwatering. The prices were super low too. One visit we got 5 pastries for 8 euros. Giovannini makes me want to vacation there again ASAP!!

The owners of this wine shop/bar/restaurant make this experience unforgettable. They are very…read moreknowledgeable about the wines in their shop and have great recommendations. The small appetizers for food are restaurant quality and delicious. They serve wine by the glass, food and you can buy a bottle from shop and drink it there for a very low corkage fee. Great for both travelers and locals. We will be back!

Love this place! From the outside it is very inviting but is nothing compared to the atmosphere on…read morethe inside. The walls are stocked full with Italy's most famous and classic sweets and they even have their own in house, Florence made chocolates. The shop owners were so kind and helpful and they gave us a great deal on the things that we purchased, knowing that we were visitors. Highly recommend!

From the owner: La bomboniera, secondo la tradizione, deve racchiudere gustosi confetti. La Confetteria Firenze…read morerinnova questa usanza, offrendo agli ospiti del vostro ricevimento le sue raffinate confezioni. Articoli offerti L'azienda conquisterà gli sposi con i deliziosi gusti dei suoi confetti. La mandorla d'Avola è la protagonista assoluta che si può combinare con vari sapori alla frutta come il limone, l'arancia, la pesca il tutto avvolto dal cioccolato fondente o bianco. I tipi più estrosi potranno scegliere le forme di confetti più originali o optare per quelli a base di cocco, di caffè, di pistacchio, di gianduia o di nocciola. La Confetteria Firenze mette particolare cura anche nella presentazione delle sue creazioni, i tradizionali sacchetti sono realizzati nei tessuti che più si adattano alle decorazioni dei vostri ricevimenti. La seta, il velluto o il cadì per le pochette, il raso per i nastri, i fiori per chiudere le confezioni: nessun dettaglio è lasciato al caso, e molti degli elementi delle confezioni possono essere riutilizzati con fantasia. Si può scegliere di impreziosire i sacchetti anche con piccoli gioielli in cristallo o in argento. Per i più creativi l'azienda mette a disposizione un vero e proprio wedding kit formato da confetti e accessori per creare da soli le proprie confezioni personalizzate.

I'll be honest this wasn't one on my list to try however I'm so glad we did. Being American it's…read moreintimidating to order when honestly Italian is not something I'm good at. Anyhow the service was nothing short of wonderful. They welcomed us and walked us through the whole thing. This gelato was so creamy, smooth, with the flavors being on point. Prices I thought were very reasonable considering what it was and compared to the US. Don't hesitate to try even if they say it's a chain.

Going to venchi in Italy is like going to Panda Express in China... overpriced and not that good.read more

Nino and friends is my happy place. I purposely came back to Florence only to purchase candy and…read morecellos from the store. It is such a joy to shop there. The store had wall to wall goodies. Goodies that you get to taste. As soon as you enter there are staff members offering all kinds delicious treats filled with tasty goodness. They have coconut balls with lemon cream inside, green covered chocolates with limoncello inside, they have salted caramel with chocolate, Cappuccino cookies with coffee flavor cream inside, they have limoncello, melon cello, and my favorite peach cello to drink. I bought a lot to take back home, but also I just enjoyed the samples they kept offering me...MY HAPPY PLACE, especially after many Dixie cups of cello sampling. They are still trying to get there online ordering up and working. I tried for the past year to order on line. One great service they offer is mailing your purchase back to your home. The cost is really reasonable too. I mailed a large order back home for 55 Euros. I have mailed a box from California to Boston and it costed me more.

I am having to look back online to remind myself of which Italian place we ate at for which day /…read moremeal. I see that this Florentine place is actually part of a small chain in the area. We found it when looking for a lunch spot near the Duomo. It was well regarded online. This establishment is an amalgam of businesses - a coffee shop, a small bakery / pizzeria, a mini grocery and wine shop, and a sit down restaurant (that was in the back or upstairs, and which opened at some point after we'd arrived and eaten). We ate from the bakery / pizzeria place. A bit of background - this was about a week into our trip. At this point (traveling for 7 days), my reserve of goodwill is usually running low. I just wanted a decent, relatively quick meal. I initially thought about rating this a '3' due to my own frustration, but in retrospect I'll assume that it was more on me than them. I was still looking over options when my wife made her choices and proceeded to pay. All I saw was that she got some sort of paper card from the pizza area and went back up towards the coffee shop to pay. I wasn't sure the paper was even involved. I went up to the same cashier and requested to pay for a slice of pizza. She motioned me back to the bakery. I went back, but the baker lady motioned me back up to the cashier... I picked up one of the pieces of paper and presented it (not understanding why). I was then directed back to the bakery. I ran out of patience and just gave up. I had decided to skip lunch entirely, out of pure spite. I was challenged on this point and convinced it would be easier to eat than argue. So, I went back to the bakery. The baker lady then got involved and actually scribbled something on the paper, which I then took to the cashier. I was thus able to pay for the slice of pizza, which I then obtained from the baker lady (after she heated it). This isn't the most efficient process, but it is at least understandable in retrospect. The pizza itself is a thick, bready yet airy crust topped by tomato sauce and whatever ingredients you chose. It was pretty tasty, actually. I wasn't in the best mood to appreciate dining at that point. I think I'd have enjoyed this much more if I'd understood how ordering worked from the outset. And again, I think part of my exasperation was just being confused by this scenario after seven days of travel. It might have been easier to take on day 1 or 2. If you are hungry and want a light but tasty meal near the Duomo, this isn't a bad choice.

I tried the zeppole, which was delicious. My biggest regret was that I had just eaten and I was…read morenot staying in a place with a kitchen so that I could buy lots of the pasta to cook. Next time, I am going to make sure I have a kitchen so that I can partake of these amazing offerings like the spinach and pork ravioli, the pumpkin and meat tortellini and their tagliatelle. Basically, give me some of everything here. The shop workers were very patient as I investigated every item in the store. It's very close to the main Piazza, so stumbling upon the shop was easy.

Walking through the streets in Bologna, there were so many specialty shops and confectioners…read more What struck me about Paolo Atti e Figli was the wonderful sweets they had on display at the store window. The old-fashioned beautiful display reminded me of the winter holidays and enticed me to go in and try something. I decided to buy some sweet rice cake which was charged by the weight. Forgot exactly what is was called " Torta di Riso" but was something di riso as it has rice baked in it and was simply rich and delicious. They also have the famous certosino. it's a traditional Bolognese cake, which is also sort of like a western fruit cake with honey, candied fruit, stewed fruit, jam, almonds, pine nuts, cocoa powder, dark chocolate and wine syrup. The cake was not cheap but was so delicious and memorable that I vow to return when I visit Bologna again.