The best pastry shops Lacs italiens

For more than 40 years, this artisanal pastry shop has excelled in its house specialty, margheritine, small light and melting cookies first made in 1868 for the Queen of Italy, Margherita. They are now the pride of the city. You can't leave Stresa without tasting them. The cookies can be bought by the gram. To make a gift, they are packed in a pretty cardboard box with the representation of the city in engraving. Other tempting sweets: panettone, filled mini-croissants, tarts...

Did you know that it is in Verona that the pandoro is produced, this sweet star-shaped bun sprinkled with icing sugar, a must for Christmas? Well, the Barini pastry shop has been making it its speciality for over 50 years. Just a few steps from the bullring, Barini is also a cafeteria where you can sip a creamy cappuccino or a strong espresso and bite into little cakes with names as bewitching as their flavour: Romeo's Kisses (with almond and butter cream), Juliet's Kisses (with hazelnut and chocolate cream).

Gourmands, forget your diet before approaching this Ali Baba's cave. A French-style pastry shop in the heart of Verona that concocts mille-feuilles, macaroons (try the one with cappuccino) and mont-blanc, as well as Sicilian cannoli, fruit tarts and brioches filled to perfection. Available at any time of the day, from breakfast to aperitif. At the back of the store, a small tea room allows the impatient to taste these delicacies accompanied by hot drinks.

The Zamberletti café-pâtisserie is one of those addresses that seem to have no sense of time passing by. Under the arcades of the central corso , it is the ideal stop for a little black ristretto at the counter, a brioche jam at breakfast or a glass of prosecco around 6pm. Zamberletti is also an obligatory stopover in Varese to bring back sweets in your basket, including Dolce Varese, the local speciality. The pastries make us all envious, it's a feast for the eyes and the mouth. The plus: online shop.

The Zanardi patisserie owes its reputation to reginette . Since 1937, the patented recipe for this little cookie has been attracting the finest gourmets. For 23 years, Mr. Sacchi was the original cookie maker, before stepping down. Simple, almost wafer-like, reginette are made with eggs, flour, sugar, butter and a little chocolate cream. They are sold in an attractive tin, wrapped in aluminium foil. The Zanardi patisserie is also recommended for its artisanal ice creams.