A short stay in Bergamo

I’ve never thought of travelling to Bergamo, Italy. Even though there are direct flights from Cyprus to Bergamo – Milan, most people take the plane, land in Bergamo and go directly to Milan and other Italian cities and don’t visit Bergamo. The purpose of the trip was to travel to Pisa for a Business meeting with a colleague, and the only suitable way to travel there, was to take a Ryanair flight from Paphos to Bergamo, then travel to Milan and from there take the train to Pisa. So according to our schedule, we planned a one night stay in Bergamo in order to get the train the next day to Pisa.

Taking the Taxi
We arrived in Bergamo at about 8 at night and got a taxi from the airport to the old town. The cost was 30 Euros, fixed price, which seemed quite expensive considering the distance from the airport to the hotel but the driver indicated that the price is fixed. We went straight to the AgnelloD’Oro Hotel.

The Hotel
To be honest, we didn’t expect the hotel to be that nice. The location was in the heart of the medieval town. It’s a nice cosy hotel, whilst the decoration downstairs is all over the place. Too much! But I guess that’s the hotel’s concept. We paid 50 Euros for each single bedroom which included breakfast. Most important thing was that the hotel was very clean and the people there were very friendly and helpful.

Spectacular Views

The town has two parts, the upper city which is called ‘Citta Alta’ and the lower city known as the ‘Citta Bassa’. The two parts are connected by the funicular and footpaths. Through these you can enjoy the spectacular views from both parts. We walked from the upper city to the lower city and enjoyed the views from both parts. You should walk all around the old city via the ‘viale mura’ and ‘della fara’ road/paths.

 

Food & Drink

Before visiting Bergamo we checked Tripadvisor and found a few places we could dine & drink. We dined twice at Da Franco which turned out to be an amazing place. The food we had, including octopus starter, risotto, seafood pasta, pepperoni pizza etc, turned out to be delicious. The place is highly recommended and worth paying for.

 We then had a glass of local white wine at Ca Del Fasa which has a nice atmosphere. It almost slipped my mind; on our way back from the lower city to the upper city we had a coffee at the Funicolare Cafe which is right outside the Funicolare. You will have a coffee and enjoy the lower city views.

If you get the chance to visit Bergamo don’t forget to

  • walk all around viale mura
  • walk from the upper city to the lower or vice versa, and depending what you do, take the funicolare on your way back
  • have a coffee at the Funicolare Cafe
  • try Bergamo’s traditional sweet Polenta e Osei

 

Bergamo is a pretty town nestling in the foothills of the Alps.

Widely acclaimed as a city of rare beauty, Bergamo is famous for its wealth of artistic treasures and enchanting medieval atmosphere.