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Bergamo to start our trip to Lake Como?

Kportgrl

10+ Posts
Was thinking of starting our two week trip to Lake Como with a 3 or 4 nights in Bergamo, as in reading about it it seemed like a manageable size town and a place that is interesting enough to stay busy but also that would be fine just to hang out and get over jet lag . We’re likely going to choose two towns on the lake to stay in for the rest of the time so we thought Bergamo might be a little different. Are there day trips from Bergamo that folks would recommend or other smaller towns you might suggest instead. We’ve never been before so are happy to be coached. We aren’t sure yet if we will have a car, still doing research. We did not have one in the Amalfi coast because were encouraged not to and this area sounds similar? But we could possibly rent a car for a few days in Bergamo if having one would allow us to do interesting day trips. Thanks in advance.
 
Bergamo Alta is very nice.
You could day trip from Bergamo to Brescia by train if you want another city or by car to Lake Iseo and Montisola, the biggest lake island in Europe. Or Mantova by car, but longer - an hour and a half....
 
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I really enjoyed Bergamo, but I have a friend who lives there who turned me on to it. It's a manageable city with enough to do for 3-4 day trip. I second Lake Iseo and Brescia as day trips. Lecco would be another good day trip, but I would stick to maximum two places with 3 or 4 nights. Be sure to visit the Donizetti museum.
 
Thanks so much to both of you. Joe or Tina do you have any accommodation recommendations? Usually I just use Tripadvisor but if there’s any gems you are aware of....
 
Bergamo is a wonderful place to visit. We stayed in Città Bassa, because we had a car, and we wanted a place which could be easily reached, with parking. We stayed at the Hotel Excelsior, a very nice property, but I wouldn’t call it intimate, or a gem, but it worked perfectly for us. They have a rooftop restaurant which has a great view onto Città Alta. It is a short stroll to the funicular, which will take you up to the Città Alta.
 
I spent my first two nights of a trip to Italy back in 2006 in Bergamo. I stayed at Hotel Agnello d'Oro, which was located in Città Alta. It was a simple hotel but in a great location, especially when walking around in a jeg lag haze! I just did a search though and it looks like it either closed down for a while and then recently opened again or it is just closed. Hard to tell.

Bergamo Città Alta could keep you busy for a couple of days. Città Bassa is also an interesting part of Bergamo to explore. I have friends who live 30 mins away in Coccaglio. We have also visited Bergamo together a couple of times on day trips.

For info/photos from my visits, you will find the Bergamo part of my trip report on an older blog here and info about 2 day trips to Bergamo on my current blog here.

If you have a car, Iseo would be a great day trip. Iseo is beautiful and so much less crowded than the other northern lakes in Italy. Here's my SlowEurope trip report - Iseo, Lago d'Iseo & Franciacorta, where you will find lots of info on the town of Iseo. Scroll down a bit and you will also find info on Monte Isola. I visit Iseo almost every time I visit my friends from Coccaglio. It's very relaxing.

Hope this helps!
 
I spent my first two nights of a trip to Italy back in 2006 in Bergamo. I stayed at Hotel Agnello d'Oro, which was located in Città Alta. It was a simple hotel but in a great location, especially when walking around in a jeg lag haze! I just did a search though and it looks like it either closed down for a while and then recently opened again or it is just closed. Hard to tell.

Bergamo Città Alta could keep you busy for a couple of days. Città Bassa is also an interesting part of Bergamo to explore. I have friends who live 30 mins away in Coccaglio. We have also visited Bergamo together a couple of times on day trips.

For info/photos from my visits, you will find the Bergamo part of my trip report on an older blog here and info about 2 day trips to Bergamo on my current blog here.

If you have a car, Iseo would be a great day trip. Iseo is beautiful and so much less crowded than the other northern lakes in Italy. Here's my SlowEurope trip report - Iseo, Lago d'Iseo & Franciacorta, where you will find lots of info on the town of Iseo. Scroll down a bit and you will also find info on Monte Isola. I visit Iseo almost every time I visit my friends from Coccaglio. It's very relaxing.

Hope this helps!
Yes this is amazing and in fact your blog made me wonder if adding a couple of days in this region might be interesting before we do Lake Como. Thanks so much!
 
I also stayed at Hotel Excelsior San Marco. I did not recommend it as it is not "intimate,"but located in convenient location. They also have parking should you have a car. It's easy to get to Città Alta by bus and funicular. If you like pizza try da Nasti on Via Zambonate. There is a really delicious restaurant not too far from Lago d'Iseo, but I can't recall the name. There is also another high quality pizzeria just outside of Bergamo. I will contact my friend to find out the names of these places.
 
I also stayed at Hotel Excelsior San Marco. I did not recommend it as it is not "intimate,"but located in convenient location. They also have parking should you have a car. It's easy to get to Città Alta by bus and funicular. If you like pizza try da Nasti on Via Zambonate. There is a really delicious restaurant not too far from Lago d'Iseo, but I can't recall the name. There is also another high quality pizzeria just outside of Bergamo. I will contact my friend to find out the names of these places.
Oh Joe so kind of you! We love a great pizzeria. And I think we are leaning towards a car so probably staying outside Alta will be what we’ll need to do. I’ll check out Excelsior. Comfy beds and quiet, to deal with sleep recovery are certainly are priorities when trying to get over jet lag, everything else is gravy.
 
Oh sweet memories...Can't speak about Bergamo itself, but visited Lake Como around a year ago and it was really lovely! Highly recommend a boat rental if you love that kind of thing... We rented a sailboat through a boat rental platform (think it was Click&Boat) but you can also find a boat on the spot once you are there, although I presume it would be more expensive. The skipper (and I think owner if I remember well) was Dario, an uber-friendly local with bad English but a wry sense of humour. Also recommend a visit to Lecco, it's a rather small and not very touristic place but really picturesque and tranquil. Trying to remember the name of the place where we had 'gelato' - ice cream basically...Overall a lovely place!
 
Oh sweet memories...Can't speak about Bergamo itself, but visited Lake Como around a year ago and it was really lovely! Highly recommend a boat rental if you love that kind of thing... We rented a sailboat through a boat rental platform (think it was Click&Boat) but you can also find a boat on the spot once you are there, although I presume it would be more expensive. The skipper (and I think owner if I remember well) was Dario, an uber-friendly local with bad English but a wry sense of humour. Also recommend a visit to Lecco, it's a rather small and not very touristic place but really picturesque and tranquil. Trying to remember the name of the place where we had 'gelato' - ice cream basically...Overall a lovely place!
Thanks so much for these tips and the advice..
 

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