Hello to everybody!! How is 2018 going? I have already decided, more or less, what my future destinations will be this year…But first of all, I would like you to explain part of my trip through the north of Italy. Although you have some information about Milano and is a very popular destination as well, it’s less common to find some interesting information about Bergamo. So…let’s go!

In the last trip through northern Italy, our point of reference was Milano but we wanted to see and visit as many places as possible and one of these was Bergamo.

We took a train from Milano to Bergamo (trenitalia.com).

This city has three parts: going from the first one, where the train station is, till the top of the third one, where the castle is placed.

TIP: moving through the city with funicular is one of the best ideas: is fast and comfortable and it’s also a part of one of the most interesting attractions.

Just at the arriving, you will be in Piazza Marconi. In order to see the main attractions and going directly to the center, the best street is Via Papa Giovanni XXIII.  In there you will be able to see Porta Nuova. We were very happy to be there in that season of the year (beginning December) because everywhere was decorated by Christmas lights.

It takes a while to arrive at the “second part” of Bergamo where you are able to take a funicular in order to “climb” till the called “Città Alta”.

TIP: you can buy the funicular ticket at the same station and it’s very easy and fast. Moreover, the machine has the possibility to explain the indications in lots of language such as English or French.

In “Città Alta” the buildings seem to look more like a performance than a reality. Everything there has something magic: the environment, the people, the shops, it was like a fairytale.

So in the center, there are lots of things to visit never-mind what kind of tourism you prefer: religious, cultural, gastronomic,…Bergamo in his little space, as is Piazza Vecchia, has all kind of offers from all kind of visitors.

Personally, what I liked the most was the façade of Basilica Maggiore.

In the entrance, you can read: “This church was built in the second half of the 12th century. Giovanni da Campione added the two Gothic porches in 1351. From 1449 the Basilica has been under the custody of the Consortia Della Misericordia, on behalf of the town, which has the patronage. Inside there are frescoes, Baroque stuccoes, tapestries and Lorenzo Lotto’s famous inlays. Many prestigious maestri di cappella conducted the chapel choir, including Simone Mayr from Bavaria, who worked here from 1802 to 1845, and was Gaetano Donizetti’s teacher. Both of their tombs are here.”

So as you can appreciate, there’s a lot of history hidden in this part of the town.

In the third part of the city, there is the Saint Vigils Castle. Before going directly there, we checked in Google if it was worth it to go till the top as the weather wasn’t very nice. It was freezing!

Finally, as all the opinions in the several web pages we looked up were really good we went till the top!! Moreover, this time we didn’t take the funicular as we wanted also to see the amazing views walking from the center to the hill.

What a hell!! We were about to die by the time we were arriving at the castle. Bad idea going by walk.

TIP: if it’s a foggy day it’s not really worth it to visit the castle as, actually, there is only a waste ground and a little tower.

TIP: if you want to take a deep visit to Bergamo you don’t need more than two days.Personally, one is enough just for having a light idea what does it look like.

About food…if your idea is to have a quick bite there is a perfect place called “Il Fornatto”. The pizzas there are amazing!!

If you have any question or you would like me to write about anything else please let me know 🙂

Safe travels!! XOXO