5 things you should know before visiting Bergamo 🇮🇹✈️
✈️ Flights
Ryanair flies to Bergamo from about 100 European cities, so it’s a pretty affordable city to fly to for those based in Europe. The flights are often easily less than €100 roundtrip. You can also get to Bergamo by train from Milan, so you can easily combine a visit to Bergamo with a Milan trip.
🏨 Accommodation
I recommend you stay in Città Alta (the old town) if you can find accommodation that fits your budget. However, there are also some more affordable stays in other parts of the city. The prices depend on the time of year and how early you book, but cheap hotel rooms for 2 people start from about €60-80/night.
🍕 Food
You can find delicious and relatively affordable food in Bergamo. You can find pizzas and other dishes from restaurants for about €8-14. Don’t forget about gelato!!
Some food recommendations:
📍Circolino Città Alta: good pizzas for under €10, menus for €15 (includes pasta+main dish+wine+water+coffee)
📍Polentone: polenta is popular in Bergamo, and you can get it at Polentone quickly and cheaply for €6.50-7.50
📍Il Fornaio: bakery, known for its focaccia
📍La Marianna: stracciatella ice cream originates in this cafe, and they also have other good gelato flavors and baked goods
There are also many other great restaurants! These were just the most memorable to me personally 🙂
🗺️ Activities
📍Città Alta, the historic center of Bergamo (free)
📍Campanone (tower for views + museum about €7)
📍Torre Castello San Vigilio (+ Funicolare di San Vigilio about €3)
📍Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (€5)
📍Porta San Giacomo (free)
📍Accademia Carrara (if you are interested in art, €10)
📍Watch Atalanta play ⚽️
📆 Best time to visit
I think Bergamo is a great destination any time of year, as even winter has some sunny days, and it’s a bit warmer than Northern Europe. However, I would personally choose to visit Bergamo in the spring next time, because the weather is already quite good and sunny, but more pleasant than the summer heat, and there are probably also fewer tourists.