Bergamo, a beautiful town in Italy, and a good place for a weekend for two. Stop there even for a moment if you are planning a longer trip, but watch out – you will leave wanting more. Have a look.
Flying to Bergamo is easy, tickets from Katowice go for very little, even 100 PLN return, and it pays to think twice about the time of year. My two days in Italy in autumn turned out to be very rainy. Luckily it only spoiled part of the sightseeing. And for photos the rain gave me a mood I would not have got otherwise.
Bergamo is usually not the destination. Most people take a bus from here to Milan, 45km from the airport. I was no different, but it was Bergamo that got to me, far more than Milan did, and that is what I want to start with. The center of Bergamo is only 5km from the airport, and an all-day ticket costs about 5 euro. 
Bergamo is split into two towns. The two photos above show “Citta bassa”, the lower town, busy, with a lot of traffic on its streets. Down there you can see a few nineteenth-century buildings, and walk along the Sentierone, a wide avenue with several other interesting spots next to it.
Citta Alta
The real draw is the upper town, “Citta Alta”. Medieval, green all around, and it makes a big impression.
Start at Piazza Vecchia, a square built in the fifteenth century. Narrow stone lanes run off it, and there are all sorts of nooks around it. There is also good pizza here, sold by weight. For a tourist town it comes out surprisingly cheap, a few euro a piece. 
Even in the rain the place felt good, and it got better further on. Next came the climb up the hill, toward the castle and a small village, with a view over the whole town. 
The fog and the rain were a nuisance, and on the other hand they helped with the photos, because mine came out nothing like the ones you find online. 
True, I would like to be there at a better time of year, and for longer, because that quiet castle hill had something magic in it. It probably has to do with the history of the place, which was already being built in 46 BC, then destroyed in the fifth century and rebuilt. 
On San Vigilio hill, stick to the trail you picked. Otherwise it is easy to wander off and get lost. A bit of adrenaline and walking odd paths looking for the way back is a nice change, though not exactly what you want. :D 
At one point it turned out we had walked onto private land without noticing, where a path all but invited you to walk along an unfenced hillside. 
A little common sense took us back toward the castle, where besides climbing the walls you can sit on the benches, or hide from the rain in a turret. 
One of the last things we saw was a small park with an unusual fountain, a fine place to rest in good weather. 
That was more or less the end of the trip. One more try at a panorama shot, with the fog making itself felt. Then back to the airport. 
Do not file Bergamo away as just an airport and cheap airlines. There are plenty of interesting places here that, rain and all, beat crowded Milan. I left wanting more, which is why I will gladly go back. Milan gets its own post, with a selection of photos waiting to go up. Watch out for it :)
Note: all the photos are mine. You can use them for your own purposes, but please credit the author, and let me know while you are at it. I would be grateful. :)
Comment, ask me anything about this town. I will gladly answer, and every response is a shot of energy that makes me want to publish more of these.
