Bergamo

Many travelers know Bergamo only from its airport – yet just a few miles away lies one of the most beautiful old towns in northern Italy. The Città Alta, the upper town behind mighty Venetian walls, is a maze of squares, churches, and palaces. A city break in Bergamo is worth it not only as a stopover but also for a long weekend getaway.

Two Cities in One

Bergamo consists of two parts: the medieval Città Alta on the hill and the Città Bassa, the lower town dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. For almost four centuries Bergamo belonged to the Republic of Venice, which built the roughly four-mile-long walls in the 16th century. Since 2017 they have been protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with other Venetian fortifications. In spring 2020, Bergamo became known around the world when the pandemic hit the region hard; today a memorial forest honors the victims.

Sights in Bergamo

The Piazza Vecchia, supposedly praised by Le Corbusier as the most beautiful square in Europe, is the heart of the upper town. Here you'll find the Palazzo della Ragione, the Campanone, whose bell strikes a hundred times every evening at 10 p.m., and a fountain that Venice gave to the city. Behind them come the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, with magnificent inlaid woodwork and the tomb of the composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born here, as well as the Cappella Colleoni with its colorful marble facade. From the Rocca and from San Vigilio hill, which is served by a second funicular, you can see across the Po Valley all the way to the Alps.

Museums and the Lower Town

The Accademia Carrara is one of the most important painting collections in Italy, with works by Raphael, Botticelli, Bellini, and Titian. The GAMeC across the street shows modern art. In the Città Bassa, the Sentierone is the promenade lined with cafés and home to the Teatro Donizetti. Neighborhoods such as Malpensata, south of the train station, show the everyday, multicultural Bergamo.

Eating in Bergamo

Bergamo's cuisine is hearty: casoncelli, stuffed pasta pockets with butter, sage, and bacon; polenta with cheese or game; and cheeses from the Bergamo Alps such as Taleggio, Branzi, or Strachitunt. For dessert there is polenta e osei, a yellow marzipan sponge cake shaped like a mound of polenta and topped with chocolate birds. The city is especially proud of stracciatella ice cream – it was invented in 1961 in a café in the upper town.

Getting Around and Best Time to Visit

Orio al Serio Airport is only a few miles away; buses run to the train station and on to the upper town, and a rail link is under construction. A funicular has shuttled between the lower and upper towns since 1887. Milan can be reached by train in about an hour. The best times to visit are spring and fall, when a walk along the green-covered walls around the upper town is especially rewarding; in summer, concerts are held on the Piazza Vecchia, and in November the Donizetti Opera Festival honors the city's most famous son. If you only have a layover, you can visit the Città Alta from the airport in half a day. Excursions lead to Lake Iseo, the Val Seriana and Val Brembana valleys, and Lake Como.