Sign in with Facebook"Where Two Halves Make More Than A Whole!" Bergamo by johngayton
Bergamo Travel Guide: 1,050 reviews and 4,272 photos
Bergamo is a town I would never have thought of visiting (in fact I'd never even heard of it) until it was chosen as the venue for VT Euromeet 2012. Having now been I can genuinely say that I loved the place and so before I start writing it up properly I'll take this opportunity to thank our intrepid trio of Leics, Suvanki and Gillybob who did an absolutely spiffing job of organising the meet - CHEERS GUYS!
The city is composed of two very distinct halves - the Medieval Upper City (Citta Alta) and the more modern Lower City (Citta Bassa) which grew as a residential and industrial area during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Arriving from (and departing to) Milan by train I decided to base myself in this lower city, close to the railway station, which suited me perfectly.
This is quite a small city but has everything you could want from a rural regional centre.
The main shopping street, via XX Settembre, provided me with a couple of much-needed changes of clothes - I'd arrived with, literally, just the clothes I was wearing. There's all the useful services such as banks, a tourist information office, post office and if its your thing various art galleries and museums.
Much more my thing though is that down here I discovered some cracking little bars and restaurants and the prices are comensurate with this half of the city's position.
Citta Alta is the original settlement having been established by the Celtic tribe Cenomani who migrated to the area sometime around 400 BC.
The Romans took over and expanded the settlement from 49 BC and with its easily defensible hilltop location Citta Alta became an important garrison town on the crossroad of two major military routes. At its peak this upper town had about 10,000 inhabitants which made it one of the largest towns in Italy during that period.
Today's upper city was mostly crafted during Venetian occupation - from 1428 to 1797. The Venetians opened up the piazzas, built most of the significant edifices and constructed the substantial city walls which completely encircle, and hence define, the town.
We, as a group, were particularly fortunate in getting our introduction to the Citta Alta from the tourist office's excellent guides who took us on a tour of the main sights (and a few lesser known ones) but even without a guided tour the upper city is well worth just wandering the cobbled streets and alleys to see what you find for yourself.
Me, I found bars!
The main means of travelling between these two halves is the funicular railway which was completed in 1887 linking Viale Vittorio Emanuele (in Citta Bassa) to Piazza Mercato delle Scarpe. There are two coaches, each with a capacity of about 50 people, which shuttle almost continually from early until late, the 240 metre tracks ascending (and descending obviously) through a height of 85 metres.
As well as the funicular there's also a regular bus service from the railway station to the upper city with both of these being run by the local public transport company - ATB - and tickets are valid on either.
For those who relish the challenge there are several footpaths connecting the two halves which wind relatively gently up and down passing through the Venetian gates. An ideal compromise is to take the bus or funicular up and then walk back down. This is especially scenic at night as the cobbled paths are atmospherically lit and you get views of the lower city and the Venetian walls as you descend.
BTW for a minor pub crawl there is a bar at both the top and bottom of the funicular!!
- Pros:A Bar At The Top And A Bar At The Bottom!
- Cons:Too many (virtual) tourists clogging up my pics ;-)
- In a nutshell:There Was Actually More Than One Bar At Each End ;-HIC!
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Comments (10)
It's always nice to read your restaurant tips - unfortuantely, my stomach doth crave Casoncelli and that ain't 'appenin'!!! How tough it is to commit to a travel year at the start which leaves little, if any, movement for the rest of the year. Oh Bergamo, how doth I love thy food!!!!
i could just eat a bit of Rabbit, although I have a nice bit of Beef Brisket with wine, root veg and tomatoes slow cooking in the oven to make Youvetsi for tonight!
Just make us jealous, Gareth!!!!
Hello, John!~ Thanks for sharing your interesting story! You all had a wonderful stay there, I see!...
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the thumbs up - we enjoyed hosting too! Great tips - might even use that B&B on a future visit (no, I'm not Bergamo'ed out, even with 4 visits!). Gillybob greetings
Cool page John! I prefered the Sunday dinner to the one on Saturday. We also had a similar B&B near the station :-)
I love your Bergamo page! For those of us who could not make the meet, I can imagine what the trip was like! Thanks!
It seems we had a similar bed and breakfast experience in Bergamo!!!
Ciao!
I can't thank you enough John for taking such good care of me (and my BoyToy) on this adventure...and the chardonnay was superb! I love your tale of the trip and the photos were outstanding (yours, not mine--lol).
I look forward to reciprocating somewhere, sometime, and even meeting up with you. I owe you a drink--or two!!!!!
Thanks from both of us.
Ann, TS.
Hi my dear friends Maciej and Urszula, nice to meet you both again. Maciej still carries the 'ball' on his waist! Thank YOU very much John for the Fun Historic Bergamo Trip :D I love to be a 'mystery' guest, LOL. I owe you a 'table' of food and 'drink as much as you can' beer.
John, great start here. I am looking forward to seeing more.
John! John! John! What a fabulous trip to Bergamo you gave your VA's. As one of them, I appreciate the fun times, careful chaperoning, and plain silliness....lol. You are one great host! Where are we going next??? Kathy