Bergamo

Bergamo sits just five kilometres from Orio al Serio international airport, yet it feels worlds away from the modern rush. The Airport Bus drops you at the Città Alta in roughly thirty minutes, and from there the funicular hauls you up into a medieval hilltop district that has barely changed in centuries. Two cities in one — that is Bergamo's particular trick, and it works every single time.

What to see in Bergamo

Funicular

The Bergamo funicular is far more than a way to dodge the uphill walk. This historic railway connects the lower town with the upper town while delivering sweeping panoramic views across the Po Valley. It has been making the short climb for well over a century, and the ride itself is part of the experience.

Fontana Contarini

Standing at the heart of Piazza Vecchia — widely regarded as the city's finest Renaissance square — the Fontana Contarini is a Baroque fountain adorned with Venetian symbols. Surrounded by historic palaces and the Torre Civica, it makes for one of the most photographed spots in all of Lombardy.

Museo Storico di Bergamo

This museum tells Bergamo's story with a particular focus on the nineteenth century — a period that shaped the city's identity considerably. The collections are well-organised and surprisingly absorbing, even for visitors who wouldn't normally make a beeline for a local history museum. Worth an hour of anyone's time.

Teatro Donizetti

Bergamo's principal theatre is dedicated to the composer Gaetano Donizetti, who was born here. It runs a regular programme of opera performances throughout the year. The building itself is worth a look even if you're not attending a show — the façade alone gives you a proper sense of the city's cultural ambitions.

Museum and Treasury of the Cathedral

Beneath the cathedral lies an underground museum housing a rich collection of sacred art and medieval artefacts. It's the sort of place that rewards the curious — quieter than the main piazzas above and genuinely surprising in the quality of what it holds. A good option on a warm afternoon when shade is welcome.

GAMeC

Housed within a former monastery, the GAMeC is Bergamo's modern and contemporary art gallery. The contrast between the building's origins and what's on its walls is striking in the best possible way. If you have any interest in post-war Italian art, this is not one to skip.

Borgo Santa Caterina

Tucked between the upper and lower towns, Borgo Santa Caterina is where Bergamo's everyday life plays out. No grand monuments here — just local bars, neighbourhood trattorias and a social atmosphere that feels entirely unperformed. It's the kind of place that reminds you why you travel in the first place.

Convent of San Francesco

Two cloisters, a series of frescoes and a photography museum — all relatively off the beaten tourist path. The Convent of San Francesco offers a quieter counterpoint to Bergamo's busier sights, and the calm of its courtyards is genuinely restorative after a morning spent on the main piazzas.

Audio guide for Bergamo with Guipock

Exploring Bergamo's two distinct districts — the medieval hilltop Città Alta and the broader, more modern lower town — takes a bit of planning. A Bergamo audio guide through Guipock helps you move at your own pace without having to peer over someone's shoulder at a shared screen or wait for a group to catch up.

The app uses GPS-guided maps that track your position as you walk. When you arrive at a point of interest, Guipock notifies you so you can open the audio guide at the right moment — there's no fumbling with a guidebook mid-cobblestone. The commentary itself is delivered in high-quality generated audio, available across a broad range of languages and regional accents: English (British, American, Australian), French (European and Canadian), German (Germany and Austria), Spanish (Spain, Argentina, Mexico) and more. You choose the voice that suits you.

Planning a family trip? The family code feature means a single purchase covers everyone. Each person opens the app on their own phone and listens in their preferred language — no sharing devices, no arguments about who's got the earphones. And for younger visitors, the kids' mode offers the same route with shorter explanations, a lighter tone and content that actually holds a child's attention rather than glazing their eyes over.

One practical detail worth noting: the offline download option lets you pull the entire guide onto your device before you set off. Once it's downloaded, the app works perfectly without mobile data — which matters in the narrow lanes of the Città Alta where signal can be patchy. The Bergamo audio guide app is the kind of tool that quietly makes a trip better without drawing attention to itself.

How to make the most of your visit to Bergamo

Two full days is a reasonable minimum for Bergamo, though three allows you to breathe. On your first day, focus on the Città Alta — the funicular ride up, a wander around Piazza Vecchia and the surrounding medieval streets, and a visit to the Cathedral museum. The upper town is compact but dense with things worth stopping for.

On your second day, come down to the Città Bassa. The Sentierone — a tree-lined avenue that serves as the lower town's social spine — is a good place to start the morning. From there, the GAMeC, the Museo Storico and the Teatro Donizetti are all within easy walking distance. The lower town is often underestimated; it repays attention.

For food, look for casoncelli — a fresh pasta filled with meat and finished with butter, sage and cheese. It's the city's signature dish. Polenta taragna, made with local cheeses such as bitto or taleggio, is the other essential. And if you pass a pasticceria, ask for polenta e osei: a sweet exclusive to the Bergamo area that you won't find anywhere else.

Getting around is straightforward. The Airport Bus connects Orio al Serio directly to the upper town in around thirty minutes. Within the city, the funicular handles the climb between districts, and buses, trams and shared bicycles cover the rest. The Città Alta itself is best explored on foot — the streets are too narrow and too characterful for anything else. Go slowly. There's no queue for the cobblestones.