The next day we left Verona and traveled to Bergamo. Upon arrival we found the TI located on the piazza in front of the Bergamo train station. Bergamo is divided into the old walled city on top of the plateau, and the newer city below where the train station and our hotel were located.
We walked around 15 minutes from the train station to Hotel Excelsior San Marco (best hotel and breakfast of any on this trip). We dropped our bags then headed out for lunch at Delfino Bistrot.
After lunch we stayed in the new city and visited the art museum Academia Carrara. Later we strolled the best part of the new city including the area around the Donizetti Theatre.
Later in the afternoon we made our way to the funicular to ride up to the old city. Tickets can be purchased from a machine at the entrance. We toured the quite picturesque old city that was quite packed with tourists. Eventually we had dinner at Il Sole in the old city.
The next day we set out early and rode the funicular up to the old city. From there we walked west to the St. Alessandro Gate where we rode a second funicular that took us up to San Vigilio Castle. There isn’t much left of the castle, but views from the top were wonderful and made the trip worthwhile. After riding the funicular back down, we walked back inside the city walls and toured the botanical garden, worth a visit.
We then walked through the old town which was very crowded. As lunch time was approaching, we continued walking down to the new city. We had a great lunch at Café T, then coffee and dessert at nearby Café Balzer, established in 1850.
Heading back up to the old town after a siesta, we found a long line at the funicular. We decided to hoof it up to the old city (also, Bus 1 or 1A will take you from the new to the old city). We visited the interiors of 3 churches on Piazza Vecchia in the old city, Colleoni Chapel, the Duomo and St. Maria Maggiore. By this point in the trip we had seen plenty of churches, but we agreed that the décor of St. Maria Maggiore was the most over the top of all the churches we had visited.
After this we walked the city walls around most of the old city, with very nice views in all directions. Giving up on the funicular due to the long line, we walked down to the new city and had dinner at Restaurant Curlo. After a stroll through the shopping district, we had a gelato at Gelato al Quadrato.
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Idaho, USA
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Hi, thanks for sharing your trip report! I like Bergamo, too, and have stayed up in the older Citta Alta portion of the city at Hotel Gombit twice and once at Hotel Piazza Vecchio. This avoids the issue of long lines at the funicular for anyone else reading this trip report and planning to stay here.