Bergamo Travel Guide

Getting There

By Train -- Trains arrive from and depart for Milan hourly (50 min.); service to and from Brescia is even more frequent, with half-hourly service during peak early-morning and early-evening travel times (50 min.). Given the frequency of train service, you can easily make a daylong sightseeing loop from Milan, arriving in Bergamo in the morning, moving on to Brescia in the afternoon, and returning to Milan from there. If you're coming from or going to nearby Lake Como, there's hourly service between Bergamo and Lecco, on the southeast end of the lake (40 min.).

By Bus -- An extensive bus network links Bergamo with many other towns in Lombardy. There are five to six buses a day to and from Como (2 hr.) run by SPT (tel. 031-247-247). Service to and from Milan by Autostradale (tel. 02-3391-0843) runs every half-hour (1 hr. trip time). The bus station is next to the train station on Piazza Marconi.

By Car -- Bergamo is linked directly to Milan via the A4, which continues east to Brescia, Verona, and Venice. The trip between Milan and Bergamo takes a little over half an hour. Parking in or near the Città Alta, most of which is closed to traffic, can be difficult. There is a parking lot on the northern end of the Città Alta near Porta Garibaldi (about 1€/$1.30 per hour) and street parking along Viale delle Mura, which loops around the flanks of the walls of the Città Alta.

Visitor Information

The Città Bassa tourist office, Viale Vittorio Emanuele 20 (tel. 035-210-204; fax 035-230-184; www.apt.bergamo.it), is 9 long blocks straight out from the train station; it's open Monday to Friday 9am to 12:30pm and 2 to 5:30pm. The Città Alta office, Vicola Aquila Nera 2 (tel. 035-232-730; fax 035-242-994), is just off Piazza Vecchia, open daily the same hours.

Festivals & Markets -- Bergamo is a cultured city, and its celebrations include the May-to-June Festivale Piantistico, one of the world's major piano competitions. In September, the city celebrates its native composer Gaetano Donizetti with performances of his works, most of them at the Teatro Donizetti in the Città Bassa.

City Layout -- Piazza Vecchia, the Colleoni Chapel, and most of the other sights that bring visitors to Bergamo are in the Città Alta -- the exception is the Accademia Carrara, which is in the Città Bassa but on the flanks of the hillside, so within easy walking distance of the upper-town sights. Via Colleoni cuts a swath through the medieval heart of the Città Alta, beginning at Piazza Vecchia. To reach this lovely square from the funicular station at Piazza Mercato delle Scarpi, walk along Via Gombito for about 5 minutes. Most of the Città Alta is closed to traffic, but it's compact and easy to navigate on foot. Down below, the main square known as the Sentierone is the center of the Città Bassa. It's about a 5-minute walk from the train station north along Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII.

Getting Around

Bergamo has an extensive bus system that runs through the Città Bassa and to points outside the walls of the Città Alta; tickets are 1€ ($1.30) and are available from newsstands and tobacco shops. With the exception of the trip from the train or bus stations up to the Città Alta, you probably won't have much need of public transit, since most of the sights are within an easy walk of one another.

To reach the Città Alta from the train station, take bus no. 1 or 1A and make the free transfer to the Funicolare Bergamo Alta, connecting the upper and lower cities and running every 7 minutes from 6:30am to 12:30am. You can make the walk to the funicular in about 20 minutes (and see something of the pleasant new city en route) by following Viale Papa Giovanni XXIII and its continuations Viale Roma and Viale Vittorio Emanuele II straight through town to the funicular station.

If you're feeling hearty, a footpath next to the funicular winds up to Città Alta; the steep climb up (made easier by intermittent staircases) takes about 30 minutes. Bus no. 1A also continues up and around the Città Alta walls to end just outside Porta San Vigilio, and hence more convenient to hotels San Lorenzo and Gourmet.