Travel

A travel guide for visiting Bergamo, Italy

iulie 14, 2021

Are you thinking about visiting Bergamo in Italy? Here’s what you need to know!

Fast facts:

Place: Lombard, Italy (40 km northeast of Milan)
Language: Italian
Currency: Euro

Short story: The Celts (people from Central Europe) founded Bergamo 2000 years ago. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an important historical city of Italy. It is full of historical buildings, the citadel (fort), the church of Santa Maria and the library are just some of them.

A travel guide for visiting Bergamo, Italy

City Guide – Visiting Bergamo, Italy

Bergamo is a city in northern Italy, about an hour from Milan.

Known as the City of Art, it is beautifully beautiful in a rare and unique way.

The only reason we knew about the place and thought of visiting Bergamo was because it was the closest town our flight departed from.

We had originally planned to stay in Milan, but since neither of us really wanted to go there, we Googled Bergamo instead. A guy named ‘Irish Tony’ convinced us straight away – and we’re so glad we listened to his advice ..!

The town

Bergamo is divided into two parts – an old part, Cítta Alta (upper town) and a new modern part, Cittá Bassa lower town. The old town is really special and should be your main destination.

When you step off the little „cable car” that takes you from the newer part of the city to the top of the hill, you immediately feel like you are traveling back in time.

Bergamo has a long history that goes back around 2000 years. It used to belong to the Venetians, so the architecture is very similar to that in Venice.

We were immediately enchanted by the medieval character of this city.

The best way to enjoy Bergamo is to simply walk down the street. The old town is quite small so you will likely see it all if you just walk around.

It looks old but is in very good condition. It is a cozy feeling to stroll through the winding, narrow cobblestone streets and look into small chocolate and cheese boutiques, wineries and cafes that sell their own specialties.

All shops and restaurants fit in well with the houses. They really look like they’ve been there for ages, and a lot of them almost have. There are old photos in restaurants showing the same restaurant in the 1940s and older.

The town is on a hill with a great view over the newer part of Bergamo (Citta Bassa) and (on a clear day we never had) a view of the Alps.

Eating out in Bergamo

The food prices in Bergamo are pretty much the same in all restaurants. Margheritas cost around 4 euros and pizzas with more items around 8. But it’s worth it. I never thought that I would ever think that a pizza tasted fresh, let alone healthy ..!

What wasn’t a great success for me were the cakes … You can see these yellow polenta cakes in all sizes in every café window. They look delicious, but like most cakes and chocolates in Italy, it looks better than it tastes.

Tip: Here’s a great one eat r from Bergamo These range from traditional dishes from rural Lombardy to modern Italian dishes from Bergamo.

Speaking of which, one thing that looks better inside than the outside is their cathedrals.

I’ve never seen so many incredible churches all squeezed into such a small space. Usually a city has a nice church and a lot of boring looking ones. In Bergamo every church we went to was an abundance and an extravaganza of gold, beautiful, really old paintings and architecture that would make anyone religious.

If all you want to do is visit a cathedral, skip it Il Dumo and colleoni’s chel on the Old Square in the old town.

This is a municipal church and inside you will find the architectural features of the different eras that have appeared one after the other since it was built.

They began as early as 600 BC. With the building of a small church, and from then on they built more and more and the church got bigger and bigger.

You can take a walking tour of Bergamo to discover the Upper City of Bergamo and its hidden cultural and architectural heritage. Book here.

Old place

This is the old square in the heart of Citta Alta (the old town). Here you will find the 400-year-old Biblioteca Civica library, the 12th century Venetian Gothic Palazzo della Ragione (Court of Justice) and the 12th century Torre Civica (town tower).

If you Walk up the 230 steps to the top of the 54m high tower and you’ll get a 360-degree view of Bergamo. The 15th century bell rings 180 times every night at 10 p.m. to commemorate the city’s medieval curfew.

Getting around Bergama

It is very pleasant to get around on foot, the walk from the train station to the funicular takes about 15-20 minutes.

Otherwise, bus line 1 goes from the train station to the funicular that takes you to Cítta Alta (the old town). The funicular connects Citta Bassa with Cítta Alta.

You can get a day pass with which you can travel as much as you want on all buses and the funicular for a whole day (24 hours from the date of purchase). The price is not much more than a one-way ticket so it is most likely the best deal.

You can also buy a number of other tickets, such as: B. 3-day tickets or 1-day tickets including airport bus.

You can buy these tickets at the Bergamo Airport ticket office, at the bus station and at ticket machines.

How do I get to Bergama

There is an airport called like ten minutes from town Milan Bergamo Airport.

Budget airlines like Ryan Air and Wizzair fly in here even though they advertise it as Milan – just so you know! Search flights Here.

From the airport, take a 15-minute bus ride (bus line 1C) to the train station in the center of Bergamo’s new town. The ticket is valid for 90 minutes, so you can use the same ticket to take another bus to the Cítta Alta funicular that takes you to the old town.

You can also a Train or bus from Milan, it takes about an hour to get there.

Or, Book a private transfer.

Accommodation in Bergamo

I can really recommend „B&B al Vicolo”. We went there ourselves and it’s a great place. It’s like a large artment with three bedrooms (one with a double bed and the other two with multiple beds).

Two very nice and clean bathrooms on the upper floor and a dining area and TV lounge on the ground floor. You also get a big, good, delicious breakfast!

B&B al vicolo