The 19th- and 20th-century city beyond the old town — the grand Paseo de la Independencia, the leafy Paseo de Fernando el Católico near La Romareda, and the residential grid where Zaragoza's best ice-cream counters and modern restaurants sit away from the tourist core.
Daytime
(4)A stroll down the Paseo de la Independencia, ice cream at Los Italianos or Ferrara on Fernando el Católico, and the Aljafería palace on the western edge. Contemporary dining at La Prensa.
Los Italianos
A Zaragoza ice-cream dynasty: the Fuoli family, from the Italian Tyrol, have made gelato here since 1931, now into the fifth generation. Los Italianos works to classic Venetian recipes with daily artisanal production, and its name is shorthand in the city for proper Italian-style ice cream. On the leafy Paseo de Fernando el Católico, it is the heritage scoop against which the others are measured.
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Order: A classic Venetian-recipe gelato — the family have been perfecting them since 1931. Whatever the traditional flavour of the day is will be the safe, right choice.Best: A warm afternoon or evening stroll along Paseo de Fernando el Católico. Peak summer is when a heritage heladería like this truly earns its queue.
Palacio de la Aljafería
The finest surviving palace of Spain's taifa era — an 11th-century Islamic fortress-palace built between 1065 and 1081, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Later a residence of the Catholic Monarchs, who added a Gothic upper palace, it has been the seat of the Aragonese parliament since 1987. Its highlights are the intimate oratory with its carved mihrab and the golden coffered ceiling of the Throne Room — the high-water mark of Hispano-Muslim architecture in the north.
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Order: The oratory (mosque) with its mihrab and the golden Throne Room ceiling — the two spaces that make the Aljafería unmissable. The carved plasterwork throughout is extraordinary.Best: Book a daytime visit; as a working parliament building, access is by timed entry, so check opening times and any sitting-day closures ahead.
Heladería Ferrara
An artisan gelato maker with a philosophy of 'calidad accesible' — quality without the premium markup — whose owner trained in traditional Italian technique. Ferrara makes ice cream daily and sells it alongside granizados and horchata, with a devoted following (over 1,400 Google reviews at 4.5) built on inventive flavours: Greek yogurt with passion fruit, Ferrero Rocher, Nutella. Two Zaragoza locations, the Fernando el Católico one nearest La Romareda.
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Order: One of the signature flavours — Greek yogurt with passion fruit, or Ferrero Rocher — plus a granizado in the heat. The appeal is quality gelato at honest prices.Best: Weekday afternoons and evenings (roughly from 15:00). A warm-weather stop, best paired with a walk near La Romareda.
Heladería Presco
A neighbourhood heladería open nearly four decades under owner Pablo Ortega, on the corner of Francisco de Vitoria and Camino de las Torres in the Centro. Presco makes its own ice creams, granizados and crepes, and trades on the loyalty of locals rather than tourist footfall — the kind of unshowy, decades-deep place that a residential district keeps to itself. Open seven days, a reliable everyday scoop away from the crowds.
Inked$
Order: A homemade ice cream or a granizado, or a crepe if you want more than a scoop. This is a daily-visit neighbourhood spot, not a destination — order simply.Best: Afternoons and early evenings, seven days a week (roughly 9:00-14:00 and 16:15-20:30). A calm, local alternative to the central heladerías.
Evening & Night
(1)Quieter and more residential than El Tubo, but the Centro holds the city's serious restaurants and its calmer terrace cafés — a change of pace from the old-town crush.