Piazza Vecchia
The medieval square with its library, fountain and palaces.
hozinja — CC BY 2.0 · Moahim — CC BY-SA 4.0 · -jkb- — CC BY-SA 3.0 · -jkb- — CC BY-SA 3.0
**A complete medieval city on a hilltop inside Venetian walls, reached by a funicular** — ninety metres above modern Bergamo. Bergamo is **two cities**: the modern **Lower Town** on the plain, and the historic **Upper Town** on the hill — **connected only by a winding road and a funicular**. ✅ **The Upper Town is preserved entire**: **Piazza Vecchia** with its library and fountain, the **Palazzo della Ragione**, and the **bell tower that still rings a hundred strokes every evening at ten** (a survival of the signal to close the gates), with **stone lanes**, restaurants and workshops. ⚠ **It is ringed by six kilometres of Venetian walls** — a **World Heritage site** — and you can walk along them right around the city. ⚠ **Cars are effectively barred** from the core.
The medieval square with its library, fountain and palaces.
Six kilometres of Venetian walls around the city.
A cable railway up from the Lower Town in minutes.
Città Alta, 24129 Bergamo, Italy
**Bergamo's airport is the budget airlines' «Milan» — and many people pass through it without knowing the city is here.** ⚠ **The confusion**: **Orio al Serio airport** is marketed as **«Milan Bergamo»** **and is a major low-cost base** — so millions arrive bound for Milan, **board a bus immediately and leave**. ⚠ **Milan is about 50 km away** (an hour by bus). ✅ **The irony**: **Bergamo's Upper Town is only 15 minutes from that airport** — **so you are closer to one of Italy's loveliest cities than you are to Milan**, and most travellers never notice. ✅ **The practical advice**: **if you are flying in or out of Bergamo, give it at least half a day** — city bus 1 runs from the airport straight to the funicular station. ✅ **And if you have a long layover**, this is the best possible use of it. ✅ **From Milan**: a **direct train** from Milano Centrale in about **55 minutes** — a very easy day trip.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.