"Italy is always a good idea". That's what me and my friend thought when we were thinking about where to spend a long weekend in May. The choice fell on Bergamo, a city in the Lombardy region, about a 1-hour train journey from Milan.
And the choice was a good one: Bergamo is a great city. Compared to its sister city Milan, it is small and cosy, less crowded and ideal for simply strolling around and going from aperitivo to aperitivo. The famous Dolce Vita. And the fact that Bergamo actually consists of two towns (an upper and a lower town) makes it even more special. Bergamo is certainly one of the most beautiful cities in Italy and a trip there is definitely worthwhile!
Here are a few tips for a city trip to Bergamo before I let the photos talk:
- Getting there: It takes around 4 hours by train from Zurich to Milan and a another hour to Bergamo. A flight would therefore not be worthwhile. The train ride was easy and without any problems.
- Duration: Bergamo is small, so 2 days should be enough. Well, at least when you don't want to try out ALL the nice restaurants. If that's your plan, you should book several weeks in Bergamo, there are sooo many tempting restaurants!!
- Overnight stay: We stayed at the ‘De Pardis’ hotel. The accommodation only has 3 rooms, but is very cosy and ideally located in the lower town. Highly recommended!
- What to do:
- Bergamo is divided into a lower town (Città bassa) which is a bit more modern, but nevertheless also beautiful and great for shopping. But you should definitely walk up the hill and explore the upper town (Città alta), which is the really old part of the city. There you find a lot of things to see, many great restaurants and bars, museums and shops. Because the city is so small, you'll automatically find all the sightseeing spots without even looking for them.
- The most amazing thing in Bergamo is just to stroll around in the narrow streets, look at the shops and stop by for caffè and an Aperol Sprizz from time to time. It's the perfect city for Foodies and those who like to celebrate the "Dolce vita". :-)
- To get to the upper town, you can either walk or take the Funicolare. It costs about 1,30 Euros and brings you up in 5 minutes.
- Make sure you climb up the Torre Civica next to the Piazza vecchia, the city's main square. From up there, you can see the narrow streets of the old town centre, it's wonderful!
- Don't miss the spectacular church of Santa Maria Maggiore - probably one of the most golden ones you've ever seen.
- There is a great view if you take the Funicolare San Vigilio from the upper town and ride up the former castle hill. The view from up there is spectacular! You can easily walk down, you'll pass beautiful gardens and houses.
- Where to eat: I had the feeling that in Bergamo you cannot find a bad restaurant, they all look amazing. You find cheap Pizza places but also quite a lot with Gault Millau sign on the door. I would recommend you to get inspired during the day and then make a reservation for the evening. We had experienced that the good restaurants are often fully booked and it's sometimes difficult to find a table if you walk in spontaneously. If you want to taste a local dish, don't miss the Polenta. And as a sweet, make sure you grab a ‘Polenta e Osei’ cake, which has nothing to do with the well-known polenta apart from the colour. The sweet version is a sponge cake with a chocolate and nut filling and a sugar crust. AMAZING!
