It is one of the most beautiful cities in Lombardy and is divided into two distinct parts: Bergamo Alta and Bergamo Bassa. An area that is not so large and allows travellers to visit in a single day too.
It is possible to concentrate everything in a single itinerary, obviously giving more attention to Bergamo Alta visit, the oldest part of the city as well as the most evocative area and able to attract more tourists’ attention.
Bergamo Alta is a pearl, an ancient walled city that is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site; leaving the center you arrive in Bergamo Bassa, which is instead all that is outside the ancient walls, a very modern area where commercial and industrial activities are concentrated.
Let’s see what to visit in Bergamo in just one day, focusing on both areas of the city and starting from the fact that today reaching Bergamo is easier thanks the presence of Orio al Serio airport, which over time has become a reference point in Italy especially for companies low cost, especially Ryan Air.

Bergamo fast route

If you want to concentrate your visit in one day, the advice is to focus on Bergamo Alta, which is the most suggestive part of the city where the heart of ancient Bergamo is enclosed.
There is a delightful medieval village that stands on the top of a hill: to reach Bergamo Alta you can take the funicular, still today the most practical method with two separate cars capable of carrying up to 50 passengers. Alternatively you can get to Bergamo Alta with public buses.
Once you arrive at the place you can visit Bergamo Alta even in a single day starting from Piazza Vecchia, the hub of city life. You can continue by visiting Palazzo Nuovo, a white marble building that houses the Angelo Mai Civic Library. Then there is the Palazzo della Ragione with the Solar Clock, a building dating back to the 12th century and paved with a sundial.
Also to be seen in the surrounding area is the Civic Tower of Bergamo, known as Campanone; and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore with the tomb of Donizetti, a well-known composer who was born in Bergamo.

Bergamo Alta in one day

Near Santa Maria Maggiore, easily reachable and to be included in one day visit of Bergamo Alta, there is the Cathedral of Bergamo with the Chapel of Pope John XXIII: a religious building whose entrance is free, as in the case of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in whose chapel there are the relics of Pope John XXIII, originally from Bergamo.
To visit then, once out of the Duomo, the Antico Lavatoio of Bergamo Alta: it is an ancient wash house from the end of the 1800s (in the city there are also others) that for decades carried out its function when in Bergamo Alta it wasn’t running water in homes.
More generally, once you are on site, all the streets of Bergamo Alta are a place to visit with interest and attention, where you can lose yourself in the local atmosphere, which is also full of flavors and smells. All collected within a limited area that allows the visit of the city in a single day.

Other places in Bergamo to visit in one day

But there is not only Bergamo Alta, even the lower part of the city can be included in a quick visit to be concentrated in a single day. A tour of Bergamo Bassa includes a visit to the Sant’Agostino complex; the Porta Nuova, monumental gate of the city of Bergamo; the Partisan Monument; the Donizetti theater; the Sentierone, which cuts some of the most beautiful streets of the Bergamo bassa; piazza di Santo Spirito with the church.
All this can be accompanied by a small food and wine tour, to discover the typical dishes of Bergamo among meats, cheeses, dishes like Casoncelli or Foiade, Polenta Taragna and Donizetti cake. Many specialties to savor when you need a rest and a walk throughout the alleys and shopping streets of Bergamo.