Bergamo Travel Guide: 2-Day Bergamo Itinerary

Bergamo is a city in Northern Italy that is often overshadowed by its much more famous neighbour, Milan. Many people fly into Bergamo Airport to visit Milan, but few decide to spend time in the city itself, which I think is a mistake.

Bergamo is a city lost in time, with its Città Alta transporting visitors back to a foregone era with its cobbled streets and many beautiful towers.

In this post, I’ll be sharing all of my tips for visiting Bergamo, Italy, as well as my perfect 2-day Bergamo itinerary.

Getting to Bergamo

Bergamo has its own airport, Milan-Bergamo Airport (BGY), with direct flights available from several UK cities.

The airport is just a 20-minute taxi ride from the city centre.

You can also take the number 1 bus to various points in the centre, including both the Città Bassa (new town) and the Città Alta (old town). The bus takes 15-30 minutes depending on your stop and costs €3.50 for a one-way ticket.

You can buy your tickets from a kiosk at the airport or as you board using a contactless card. Buses depart approximately every 15 minutes.

Where to Stay in Bergamo

The best place to stay in Bergamo is in the Città Alta.

Not only is this where most of the things you’ll want to see are located, but the Città Alta also has a more peaceful and relaxed vibe.

I highly recommend staying at the Hotel Piazzia Vecchia, a 4-star hotel just off the main square in the Città Alta, the Piazza Vecchia. The hotel offers comfy rooms in a fantastic location.

Bergamo 2-Day Itinerary

Bergamo might be small, but there is plenty to see and do during your visit.

The following itinerary has been designed based on a Friday night to Sunday night trip to Bergamo but could be adapted for other trip lengths.

DAY 1

08:30: Breakfast

I would recommend eating breakfast at your hotel as there are not as many café options in the Città Alta as in larger cities, especially this early in the day.

09:00: Piazza Vecchia

The Piazza Vecchia is the main square in Bergamo’s Città Alta.

The square is lined on all sides by beautiful Renaissance buildings, including the Campanone, a 52.76m-tall clock tower that serves as one of the main points of the Città Alta’s skyline.

The Piazza Vecchia leads right onto another important square, the Piazza Duomo. This square is home to the Città Alta’s three main religious buildings:

• Capella Colleoni
• Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
• Bergamo Cathedral

09:30: Capella Colleoni

The religious buildings in Bergamo open pretty early, so I recommend spending the first few hours of the morning visiting all three.

First on the list is Capella Colleoni, the Colleoni Chapel.

The chapel has the most beautiful exterior of the three, with a stunning red and white marble façade. No photos are allowed inside but, to be honest, this leaves a lot to be desired and is by no means a must-do on your trip to Bergamo.

However, if you want to see inside the chapel, it is free.

09:45 Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

From the most beautiful exterior to the most beautiful interior.

Built in 1137, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore has a rather unassuming façade but, once you step inside, you’ll be greeted by stone columns, painted ceilings and gold details.

10:30: Bergamo Cathedral

Bergamo Cathedral is the last of the three religious buildings in the Piazza Duomo. Once again, it has a rather plain-looking façade which hides an interior of white columns and painted ceilings.

Bergamo Cathedral is also free to visit.

11:00: Have a Coffee in Piazza Vecchia

I recommend Lalimentari Cafe.

11:30: Climb the Campanone

Well, when I say climb, I really mean take the lift.

From the top of the Campanone, you get a better view of the outside of both the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and Bergamo Cathedral.

Note that your ticket for the Campanone includes entry to the Palazzo del Podestà and its museum, but I don’t personally think it is worth a visit when there are so many other things to see.

12:00: Explore the Old Streets

Stepping into Bergamo’s Città Alta truly feels like stepping back in time, so you should set aside some time during your trip to simply explore the old cobbled streets.

From the Piazza Vecchia, there are a number of streets you should explore on your way to lunch:

• Head behind the Piazza Duomo to Piazza Reginaldo Giuliani for a close-up view of the Basilica’s bell tower.
• Head back to the Piazza Vecchia and down Via Bartolomeo Colleoni, a great place for both shopping and dining.
• At the end of Via Bartolomeo Colleoni, there is another beautiful clock tower to admire.
• Beyond this is the Piazza della Cittadella.

12:45: Lunch at La Marianna

I don’t usually make lunch recommendations as I don’t consider myself a food expert, but I’m going to make an exception for Bergamo and recommend La Marianna.

This is because La Marianna is the restaurant where stracciatella ice cream was invented in 1961. As well as ice cream, they serve sandwiches, cakes, pastries and luxury chocolates.

13:30 Take the San Vigilio Funicular

This is a good point in the post to explain that the city of Bergamo is split into three levels:

• Città Bassa – the new town
• Città Alta – the old town
• San Vigilio – the highest part of the city

The easiest way to travel between the three levels is by funicular.

The San Vigilio Funicular lower station is just around the corner from La Marianna. Quite a queue can build up, but it does move quickly.

You can buy tickets for the funicular at the station kiosk. Several ticket types are available:

• Single Pass (valid for 75 minutes): €1.50
• 24-hour transport pass: €4.90

I recommend buying the 24-hour pass, which offers unlimited travel on city transport (including all the funiculars and buses). And, as you’ll see later in this itinerary, you can get a lot of value from this ticket.

You can also just tap in using a contactless card. You will be charged for a single pass.

14:00 San Vigilio Castle

As soon as you step out of the funicular, head to the left to visit the station’s viewing platform. This is the best view of the Città Alta from anywhere in Bergamo.

Once you’ve taken in the view, head 2 minutes uphill and to the right of the funicular station to reach the ruins of San Vigilio Castle.

While not a full castle, the ruins are in pretty good condition. You can climb one of the towers and walk along a small section of one of the walls, providing yet more panoramic views, this time of the snow-capped Alps in the distance.

Amazingly, access to the San Vigilio Castle is completely free.

15:00: Take the Funicular Down to the Città Alta and Enjoy a Drink

16:00: Take a Break at the Hotel

18:00: Dinner + Piazza Vecchia at Night

Nighttime in Bergamo is a more relaxed affair.

I recommend having a long, relaxing meal in one of the Città Alta’s many Italian restaurants and then spending time soaking in the atmosphere in the Piazza Vecchia.

DAY 2

08:30: Breakfast

09:00: Head to the Città Alta Funicular

While most of Bergamo’s attractions are in the Città Alta, it is worth heading down to the Città Bassa for at least an hour or two.

If you’re staying near the Piazza Vecchia, take a walk down Via Passaggio Cà Longo and through Piazzeta Luigi Angelini on the way to the funicular station. Here you’ll find the Lavatoio, Bergamo’s old washhouse.

09:15 Take the Funicular + Bus to Porta Nuova

The Città Alta funicular works in exactly the same way as the San Vigilio funicular. If you purchased a 24-hour transport ticket the previous afternoon, that same ticket should still be valid for use.

The Città Alta funicular is quicker and has two lines, making it a much speedier experience to get to the Città Bassa.

Once there, hop on the Number 1 bus with the same transport pass to the Porta Nuova. You board the bus on the same side of the road as the funicular station.

09:45: Porta Nuova

The Porta Nuova is the main square in Bergamo’s new town.

It is a nice area to take a stroll, with several building façades to admire, but the highlight is the Torre dei Caduti, a memorial tower commemorating Italian soldiers who died in WWI.

While you’re down in the new town, I also recommend enjoying a morning coffee at Caffè del Colleoni, which has outside seating offering a view of the tower.

11:00: Porta San Giacomo and Venetian Walls

After taking the funicular back up to the Città Alta, head slightly downhill to the Porta San Giacomo, the main pedestrian entrance to the old town.

The gate is made of pristine white marble and marks the end of an ascending cobblestone bridge that serves as a grand entrance to the Città Alta.

While I wouldn’t recommend walking all the way up from the Città Bassa, it is definitely worth heading slightly down the bridge for the view of the Porta San Giacomo and the Città Alta rising behind it.

This bridge is also one of the best places to see Bergamo’s Venetian Wall.

The wall surrounding the Città Alta dates back to the 16th century and was built by the Venetian Republic as a defensive measure. The amazing thing is that the walls remain mostly intact to this day, with over 6km to explore.

You can’t walk on the walls as such, but you can walk beside them and enjoy the jaw-dropping views down to the city below on all sides. I recommend walking from the Porta San Giacomo to the Parco San Giovanni to get a good feel for the experience.

12:30: Lunch

13:30: Rocca di Bergamo

End your trip to Bergamo with a visit to the Rocca di Bergamo, a 14th-century castle that houses a museum.

The ‘Rocca’ is home to the Museo dell’Ottocento, a museum charting the history of Italy’s unification in the 19th century.

To be honest, visiting the museum is optional. The real reason to visit is for the views of the fortification from the outside and the views that the garden areas surrounding it provide of the Città Alta.

The Rocca di Bergamo is the best place to get a close-up view of the Città Alta skyline against a backdrop of the Alps.

Getting Around Bergamo

Bergamo is a very easy city to navigate.

The Città Alta is very walkable, so you don’t need to worry about transportation to get between attractions.

However, you will probably want to use the city’s two funiculars to visit both the Città Bassa and San Vigilio. You may also want to use a bus to get to the Porta Nuova and to get to and from the airport.

As I mentioned earlier, there are two main ticket types:

These tickets can be purchased from kiosks at the various funicular stations. You can also choose to simply tap into each form of transport using your contactless card, which will charge you €1.50 per 75 minutes.

Tapping in with a ticket is easy. There are tap-in stations at the entrance to the funiculars and on board the buses.

For more information on transport in Bergamo, visit the ATB official website.

Day Trips from Bergamo

Milan

Bergamo is actually part of the Milan metropolitan area, and it is just a 1-hour train ride away from the fashion capital of Italy.

There’s more than enough to do in Milan to spend an entire weekend there, but if you do choose to just do a day trip, don’t miss:

• Duomo di Milano (cathedral)
• Sforzesco Castle
• Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper

Brescia

Another smaller Italian city, Brescia is home to many religious buildings and monuments and is just a 1-hour train ride from Bergamo.

In Brescia, don’t miss:

• Brescia Castle
• Roman Archeological Park
• Brescia Cathedrals (yes, there are two)

Sirmione (Lake Garda)

Bergamo is one of the main airports serving Lake Garda, and it is just about possible to do a day trip to the lake from the city.

One place that particularly caught my eye was Sirmione, a lakeside town with a beautiful castle to explore right on the waterside.

This day trip is a little more complex: you have to take two trains to get there (one to Brescia and then another to Desenzano)

Should You Visit Bergamo?

If you love architecture but want to get away from the hustle and bustle of a busy city, Bergamo might just be the perfect city break for you!

There is plenty to see in the Città Alta, from the Piazza Duomo and its religious buildings to the Venetian walls and more.

It’s true that you could probably see most things in one day as a day trip from Milan but, in my opinion, Bergamo is a much nicer city to stay in.

I hope you enjoyed reading this Bergamo travel guide and that you find it useful in planning your own trip to Bergamo.

If you have any questions about visiting Bergamo, leave them in the comments section below and I will be happy to answer them.

If you enjoy my content, please consider subscribing to my email list below for regular updates when I upload new posts. Thanks in advance!

You can also keep up with my travel adventures in real time on Instagram.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

Sign Up To My Email List