Is Bergamo worth visiting? Milan Bez Mapy’s tips on what to see

I think Bergamo is definitely worth a visit, even as a trip of its own that skips Milan altogether. The best part is the upper town, Città Alta. Ride up on the historic funicular and walk along the Venetian walls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you have a stopover here, don’t sit in your hotel room. Go into town.

Quick factsby Milan Bez Mapy

My verdict

Bergamo took me completely by surprise; I’d recommend it even as a trip of its own, without a visit to Milan

Where I stayed

B&B Hotel Bergamo near the station, because of an early train; without the rush I’d have stayed in Città Alta or just below it

Airport to the centre

ATB bus line 1 every 20 minutes, via the station all the way up to Città Alta; the €3 ticket is sold at the airport

Funicular

The historic funicular takes you up to Città Alta in a few minutes; at the top there’s a terrace with coffee and a view

Venetian walls

A circuit of more than 6 km around the old town, ideal for a walk at sunset

Visiting Bergamo is definitely worth it. I could end the article right here. Many Slovaks only ever use this smaller city near Milan as an airport with cheap flights to Milan. But do you know what to see in Bergamo? In November 2021 I needed to get to Buenos Aires in Argentina, and I found a cheap flight from Milan. I’d been there several times and never warmed to the city. My tips on what to see in Milan are in a separate article.

Things to do in Bergamo: Milan Bez Mapy’s picks

To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to paying a fortune for a night in a city that does nothing for me. My plan was to watch Netflix in the hotel and look forward to Argentina the next day. Then someone in the comments on my Facebook page suggested: ‘Milan, spend the night in Bergamo. In the morning you’ll have time for a coffee and a beautiful view of Milan.’ I didn’t think twice and bought a flight to Bergamo, a city that turned out to be one of my travel discoveries of the year. Welcome to Bergamo.

Cheap flights to Bergamo near Milan

You can fly cheaply to Bergamo from Vienna and Budapest. There’s no direct flight from Bratislava to Bergamo at the moment, though. Ryanair flies from Bratislava to Milan Malpensa instead. Fares on these routes are so low that I wouldn’t pay more than €30 one way. Ideally, I’d aim for flights at €10 to €15.

Where is Bergamo and why is it worth visiting?

The charming city of Bergamo lies in Lombardy, in northern Italy. For years tourists passed it by, until it was granted UNESCO World Heritage status. It’s a typical Italian city, full of fun and delicious desserts that do the mind and soul good. They certainly did mine.

Where to stay in Bergamo and how to get from the airport to the centre

Finding accommodation in Bergamo is no drama. There are plenty of Airbnb flats to choose from, and lots of hotels on Booking. I stayed near the railway station, at the B&B Hotel Bergamo on Via Autostrada. That way I could catch the early train to the airport in Milan.

If I hadn’t been in a hurry, I’d definitely have looked for accommodation in Città Alta, the historic centre, or just below it (the old town sits on a hill). For my liking, it was a bit of a long walk from my hotel to the centre. ATB bus line 1 runs from Bergamo airport every 20 minutes. It stops at the railway station, in the centre and by the lower station of the funicular, and ends right in Città Alta. A single ticket costs €3 and you can buy it at the airport.

What to see in Bergamo: the sights not to miss

1. The Venetian walls are made for a walk. Don’t miss the city gates
2. Stroll around Città Alta, the old town
3. Have a coffee in Piazza Vecchia
4. Take a selfie with the Cappella Colleoni and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
5. Take the funicular up between the houses
6. Try the focaccia

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The Venetian walls of Bergamo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

This ring of walls around the old town is more than 6 km long. It’s an ideal place for a romantic walk and for watching the sun go down. Their place on the UNESCO World Heritage List shows just how much the Venetian walls are worth, artistically and culturally. The Republic of Venice built the walls in 1561 to fend off enemy attacks, but history was kind to them. Perhaps because of their sheer beauty, they never faced a single siege. So they have survived almost intact to this day.

The walls have 14 bastions, two platforms, 100 cannon embrasures, two armouries and four gates, not to mention the underground structures with corridors, passages and tunnels. Building them meant demolishing more than 250 buildings, eight of them religious. Rather like Bratislava’s New Bridge (Most SNP), whose construction wiped out a large part of the old town below the castle. A disaster.

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Città Alta, the most beautiful part of Bergamo and its sights

Città Alta is the medieval upper town, enclosed by the Venetian walls from the 16th century. The Rocca di Bergamo fortress towers over it. Its squares are full of historic buildings, such as the arcaded Palazzo della Ragione, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with its remarkable gilded interior and the Colleoni Chapel, known for its elaborate marble façade. The lanes are lined with upmarket boutiques and cake shops, as well as centuries-old cafés, trattorias and wine bars.

As well as the old funicular up the hill, there’s wonderful scenery and some fine architecture to admire. Once you’ve seen the old fortress known as the Rocca, the main street takes you to Piazza Vecchia, the heart of the city. It’s home to one of Italy’s oldest libraries and a 52-metre tower. Even the buildings in Piazza Duomo deserve a look, while the museums in Piazza della Cittadella take you through the history of science and art. In other words, there’s a lot here, especially if you’re obsessed with history.

Piazza Vecchia and the Contarini Fountain

Piazza Vecchia is the centre of Città Alta and was the heart of political power for centuries. The restaurants and cafés in the square are good for a drink, breakfast or a romantic dinner. From your table you can admire the Palazzo della Ragione, the oldest municipal palace in Lombardy, and the Torre Civica, the bell tower known as the Campanone.

In the middle of the square stands the Contarini Fountain, a gift to the city in 1780 from the chief magistrate Alvise Contarini. On the opposite side of Piazza Vecchia stands the Palazzo Nuovo. It was Bergamo’s town hall until 1873 and today houses the Angelo Mai Library. Its collection of 16th-century books, incunabula, engravings, manuscripts and other artefacts makes it one of the most important libraries in Italy.

Bergamo had its own units of measurement in the Middle Ages

The buildings around the square are so harmoniously arranged that when Le Corbusier visited Bergamo, he said: ‘You can’t move a single stone, it would be a crime’. In the past, every city had its own units of weight, volume and length. That’s why the notches on the outer wall of Santa Maria Maggiore show the units of measurement used in Bergamo in the Middle Ages. For several years now, Piazza Vecchia has hosted an international event, I Maestri del Paesaggio (The Masters of Landscape), organised by artists and landscape architects. Every time, they turn the squares into green spaces full of all kinds of plants, shrubs and trees.

Cappella Colleoni and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore

The Cappella Colleoni is the most beautiful building in Bergamo. Its façade of red and white marble is a genuine masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. The interior is full of works of art: the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, a military commander from Bergamo, marble sarcophagi, the tomb of his daughter Medea and inlaid wooden tables. Legend has it that touching the coat of arms on the chapel gate at midnight brings good luck. Believe it or not, it’s a good excuse for a night-time walk through lovely Città Alta.

Santa Maria Maggiore

As I mentioned above, the old measures used in Bergamo in the Middle Ages are fixed to the wall between the two portals on the north side. They are the Capitium Communis Pergami (a rod, 2.63 metres) and the Brachium (an arm’s length, 53.1 cm), which weavers and merchants used as a reference.

One of the church’s most distinctive features is the missing main entrance and façade, which once formed a single wall with the palace next to it. At the north and south entrances, four lions of red and white marble stand guard at the base of 14th-century columns by Giovanni da Campione.

Take the Bergamo funicular up to Città Alta

For more than 120 years, the funicular from the lower town has linked the centre of Bergamo with Città Alta. More precisely, it takes you to Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe, where trading once took place. The square (its name means ‘shoe market square’) was a shoe market as early as 1430. The building overlooking it, once the seat of the shoemakers’ guild, now also houses the funicular station.

The people of Bergamo are genuinely fond of their funicular and couldn’t manage without it. Is there any other means of transport that lets you travel back in time and pass through the ancient Venetian walls that protected Bergamo from enemy attacks?

Two beautiful historic cars travel up and down the hill, surrounded by gardens and lovely scenery. On a cloudless day you can look out over the Po Valley and even catch sight of the Apennines. The line dates from 1887 and was designed by the engineer Alessandro Ferretti. A steam engine moved the first car, and the two cars were linked so that they moved back and forth. The weight of the first car helped the second one climb.

In 1917 the machinery and the stations were modernised and an extra rail was added. The upper station gained a waiting room and a panoramic terrace, where you can have a coffee or a drink and enjoy the view over the whole city. The funicular is still running today. It climbs 85 m over a distance of 240 m in just a few minutes, with a maximum gradient of 52%.

The historic funicular in Bergamo

Try the focaccia

Focaccia is a flatbread similar to pizza dough, and it can be sweet or savoury. In Italy, Liguria is the region best known for focaccia. In Genoa the ‘classica’ is thicker, with a pale crust and a surface full of dimples that hold the oil. Another Ligurian favourite is focaccia di Recco, made from a very thin sheet of dough filled with fresh cheese such as crescenza.

Focaccia is one of Italy’s best street foods, ideally eaten fresh from the oven. It comes plain or filled with vegetables, sausage or cheese, depending on the regional version. In Genoa it’s sold by the slice, plain or with onions. It’s a perfect starter, and just as good at midday or as a snack. You can also read my article on what to see in Genoa, the city that gave the world pesto and Christopher Columbus.

Is Bergamo worth visiting?

Bergamo won me over completely. I had filed it away in my head as nothing more than a busy airport, and it took me totally by surprise. I’d happily recommend it as a trip of its own, without visiting Milan, which in my view has no Italian atmosphere at all.