The world's best pizzeria may be in London - but OF COURSE Italy is still the place to go for pizza! The eight must-visit spots, according to an expert

It's official: the world’s best pizzeria is in London – and it’s not a Domino’s or Pizza Express. 

The Italian-owned Napoli on the Road in Chiswick is riding high in the flat, dough-based dining arena after being awarded top spot in the prestigious 50 Top Pizza World rankings earlier this month.

And yes, it is very good indeed – with a big congratulations in order.

But you can’t really beat Italy’s home-fired pizza especially in the south, where the dish was born, first appearing as an 18th-century street food in Naples.

Across the country, you’ll find regional variations, each subtly and deliciously different. From soft Neapolitan pizza with its pillowy crust to Sicily’s oregano-topped slabs of sfincione, and (my favourite) Roman pizza, with its wonderful wafer-thin base, wherever you go locals add their own culinary touches.

In the 50 Top Pizza World 2026 awards, Italy’s best pizzeria was adjudged to be Confine in Milan, a place so upmarket it offers gourmet tasting menus. 

But there are thousands of world-class offerings in Italy and oftentimes the more lowkey they look, the better they turn out to be. Here are eight of the very best.

Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba, Naples

Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba is the best spot in the home of Italian food, Naples

Pizza began as Neapolitan street food. Locals have been flocking here, under one of the ancient city gates, for steaming hot slices since 1738. 

The Mastu Nicola is one of the world’s first pizzas: tomato-less, it’s topped with lard, ricotta, pecorino and basil, then dusted with pepper. 

There are myriad world-class pizzerias in Naples, but this is where you taste the history (anticapizzeriaportalba.com).

I Masanielli, Caserta

I Masanielli in Caserta came fourth in the awards this year, run by Francesco Martucci (pictured)

Top of last year’s leaderboard for 50 Top Pizza World awards, and tied fourth this year, Francesco Martucci’s iconic Caserta restaurant catapults pizza into gourmet cuisine (pizzeriaimasanielli.it). 

You’ll find steamed, fried and baked dough, all in the same pizza, and you can expect five kinds of buffalo mozzarella. 

Caserta is a 50-minute train ride from Naples and home to the bombastic Reggia, an 18th-century Bourbon royal palace.

Pizzeria ai Marmi, Rome

Pizzeria ai Marmi has been open for almost 100 years in the Italian capital

‘The morgue’ may not be the most enticing nickname for a dining venue, but ‘L’Obitorio’, as Pizzeria ai Marmi is fondly known due to its marble slab-like tables, is perhaps the best place to try Roman pizza. 

Baking crispy, slim crusts to perfection since 1931, it has been run by the Panattoni family since the 1980s. 

Great grandad’s dough recipe is paired with classic toppings – here, a simple margherita becomes divine (facebook.com/aimarmi).

I Tigli, Bonifacio, Veneto

Head to Bonifacio in the Veneto region for the next top pizza spot

While Confine crowns the leaderboard of 50 Top Pizza World, Italian gourmet bible Gambero Rosso gave the top spot in its own ratings to Simone Padoan’s restaurant, 30 minutes by train from Verona. 

This may be gourmet fare, but Simone’s motto is ‘Keep it simple, stupid’ – so you’ll find twice-baked bases (soft inside, crispy outside) topped with high-class ingredients, from a simple margherita to red-snapper ceviche with carrot chutney and samphire.

 His smaller portions mean you can try a few (pizzeriaitigli.it).

Panificio Graziano, Palermo

Sfincione, a sort of oven-baked focaccia, is Sicily's take on pizza, served at Panificio Graziano

Sfincione is Palermo’s take on pizza: thick, doughy rectangles that inspired New York’s famous ‘Sicilian pizza’. 

You’ll find it more readily in bakeries than classical pizzerias, and Panificio Graziano is one of the best, a café-bakery where their wonderfully spongy sfincione is topped with tomato sauce, onions, anchovies and grated caciocavallo cheese (facebook.com/panificiograziano).

Pizzeria Osée, Manciano, Tuscany

Pizzeria Osée in Manciano, Tuscany might not be utra-glam, but the food is outstanding

To eat well in Italy, follow the truckers. That was the rule I followed when I noticed a pizzeria at a petrol station near Tuscany’s famous Cascate del Mulino thermal springs. 

I walked into a wonderworld – a circus-themed pizzeria whose ringmaster, Antonio Simonini, was once voted the world’s second-best pizza-maker. 

Circo-Pizza was that vote-winner – topped with local ricotta, wild boar, lamb’s lettuce and a truffle cream – though I love the Briaca, with four cheeses, radicchio and wine-soaked pears (facebook.com/inimitabilepizza).

Bonci Pizzarium, Rome

Bonci Pizzarium serves pizza by the slice, with high-quality ingredients

When you want food on the go, you need a hole-in-the-wall serving pizza al taglio – by the slice – rather than a classic pizzeria. 

This was rated Italy’s finest for 2026 by Gambero Rosso. Bonci’s 72-hour-fermented dough, airy but thick crust and seasonal ingredients make it as gourmet as sit-down joints and the toppings are equally inventive. 

Think salami, scrambled eggs and sauce-slathered meatballs (bonci.it).

Isabella de Cham, Naples

Isabella de Cham in Naples is famous for its fried pizza dishes

Naples’ other doughy tradition is pizza fritta – fried pizza, traditionally made by women (a la Sophia Loren in the film L’Oro di Napoli). 

No one does it better than Isabella and her all-female team in the boisterous Sanità district. Traditional pizza fritta sees the ingredients stuffed in the dough and then fried till it puffs up. Hers is feather-light, airy and full of flavour. 

The ‘Complete’ – oozing with provolone cheese, tomato, ricotta and pork scratchings – is a thing of wonder (sanita.isabelladecham.com).